Spiel

Eels edging toward extinction in Lake Ontario June 6, 2009 WILLIAM KATES- AP / www.newsday.com CAPE VINCENT, N.Y. - The American eel has for millennia carried out a remarkable survival saga, swimming thousands of miles of ocean to reach Lake Ontario, where it matures the swims back to its ocean birthplace to spawn and die. But after 125 million years, the eel is struggling to run the gauntlet that humans have thrown in its way and is vanishing from the St. Lawrence River-Lake Ontario system, say New York and Canadian scientists. Scientists estimate when the Onondaga Indians fished the lake centuries ago, there were up to 60 million eels thriving in the Lake Ontario system. As recently as the 1980s, the American eel population in Lake Ontario topped 10 million eels, according to harvest studies. Today, its numbers are in the tens of thousands _ and each year fewer and fewer eels return. "It is commercially exploited in nearly every phase of its life," said Steve LaPan, a Lake Ontario fisheries unit leader with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. "Add the environmental pressures introduced by humans ... In some respects, you look at this creature's life and have to ask how it hasn't gone extinct already." When the Onondagas fished the lake, eels made up as much as 40 percent of the fish biomass in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and functioned as a control in the ecosystem. Scientists believe, for instance, the eels would have acted as a predatory buffer against the introduction of the round goby, an invasive species from the Black and Caspian Sea areas of Eastern Europe that has interfered in the food chain and reduced the Great Lakes' sport fisheries since first appearing in the early 1990s. "This fish integrates all the stresses we place on our freshwater environments," said Dr. John Casselman, a biologist at Queens University in Kingston and a former senior aquatics scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. "The Lake Ontario stock is the proverbial canary for the species." The Great Lakes Fishery Commission issued a statement of concern in 2002 about what it regarded as a "serious" decline in the American eel population. In 2003, eel biologists from 18 countries meeting in Quebec issued a similar declaration. The Canadian government identifed the American eel as a species at risk in 2006. But the U.S. government doesn't yet consider it a species-wide problem. In January 2007, after a five-year review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that while the American eel was declining in some locations, it did not warrant protection as an endangered species, said Heather Bell, a FWS biologist. "The eel population as a whole shows significant resiliency. If we look at eels over time, we see fluctuations in the population numbers, so a decreasing number of eels in one spot right now does not necessarily forecast an irreversible trend for the entire species," Bell said. Most Americans think of the eel with squeamish disdain _ and frequently confuse it with the sea lamprey, an invasive parasite that nearly devastated the Great Lakes' salmon and trout fisheries. Mostly, it is regarded as a bait fish in the United States, where the annual eel harvest of 330 metric tons is valued at about $2.7 million. But in Asia and Europe, eel is a culinary treasure and eaten in a variety of ways _ cooked, barbecued, smoked, stewed, and jellied. The Japanese alone eat more than 99,000 tons of eels a year _ the majority commercially raised in the United Kingdom, the Scandanavian countries, France, Morocco, Australia, China, Taiwan and Japan _ accounting for about 70 percent to 80 percent of global consumption. As recently as 2000, the U.S. exported nearly $8 million worth of eels, primarily to Belgium and South Korea, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. About 80 percent of the U.S. eel harvest is now taken in the mid-Atlantic states, but there, too, scientists have witnessed populations shrink by more than 50 percent over the last 20 years. All American eels are born in a massive area in the Bermuda Triangle known as the Sargasso Sea, spawning in the free-floating seaweed called sargassum that gives the sea its name. In recent years, people have started commercially harvesting sargassum for tea and use as an herbal remedy, shrinking the eels' nursery and leaving their eggs vulnerable. The larvae that do emerge float on the ocean currents up the East Coast into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, off the coasts of New Brunswick and Quebec, taking several years to complete the journey. The transparent eels are just a few inches long at this stage but can sell for over $100 a pound. "Right away, these animals are in high demand," said LaPan. In it's later stages, eels sell for just a few dollars a pound. At about 7 to 9 years old, the eels begin pushing up the St. Lawrence. For reasons scientists have yet to unravel, only females make the 750-mile journey up the river to Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. Moving upriver, the eels use the seaway locks and special steps to get through or over the series of giant hydroelectric power dams that have been built by Canada and the United States at Beauharnois, Quebec, and Massena, N.Y. When the females are about 20 years old _ and have reached about 3 1/2 feet long and over 8 pounds _ they begin their migration back to the Sargasso Sea. But the ladders they used to get by the dams are only for moving upriver, so traveling back the eels must pass through the dams' man-sized turbine blades, where about 25 percent are killed at Massena and another 25 percent at Beauharnois. Eels that survive the turbines face one last danger as they pass through the St. Lawrence tidal basin, where fishermen use weirs, or fenced enclosures, to trap eels in the tidal flats, taking another 20 percent. "So this animal has a lot of strikes going against it _ and it's not a furry, cuddly creature that embraces people's passion," LaPan said. Casselman added that the Lake Ontario population is key to the eel's overall survival because it accounts for as much as 60 percent of spawning females in the Sargasso. Additionally, Lake Ontario's older, larger females produce the most eggs, up to 30 million, he said. Despite the grim outlook, it has been difficult to develop a management strategy across more than two dozen jurisdictions, including two countries, two provinces and 15 states along the Eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. "We can't convince all the jurisdictions that there is a problem," LaPan said. New York is presently working with provincial governments in Ontario and Quebec to develop a recovery strategy. Ontario suspended eel harvesting in 2004; New York closed its fishery in 1982 because of excessive PCB levels in the eels. Meanwhile, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the nation's shores up to three miles out, is conducting its own assessment. "We have less data in other parts of the range," said commission biologist Kate Taylor. "That was one of the reasons FWS decided not to list the eel." The commission requires all states to monitor eel populations and submit yearly reports and is pursuing a comprehensive management plan, Taylor said. "Conservation efforts within a river, a state, even a country, will not be enough ... to be worthwhile, any effort has to be species-wide," Taylor said.

Potential state record blue catfish caught in Ohio River June 11, 2009 / www.wnewsj.com Chris Rolph of Clermont County poses with his 96 pound blue catfish. A new Ohio state record blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, may have been caught along the Ohio River in southwest Ohio according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Chris Rolph of Clermont County caught the fish weighing 96 pounds in the Ohio River near downtown Cincinnati on June 11. Rolph’s catch is 54.5 inches in length with a 36-inch girth. The fish was caught using frozen skipjack herring. Skipjack herring, Alosa chyrsochloris, a native forage fish found in the Ohio River, is a very popular bait fish used by catfish anglers. It took the lucky angler and a friend about 30 minutes to get the fish into their boat. The fish was then weighed at the Bethel Feed & Farm Supply. Mr. Rolph’s catch will be certified as the new state record blue catfish pending review by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee. It will replace the first ever state record blue catfish certified in 2008 of 57 pounds 3.2 ounces. Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist Doug Maloney, at Wildlife District Five, identified Rolph’s catch as a blue catfish. The blue catfish is the largest growing catfish in the Ohio River sometimes weighing in excess of 100 pounds. Regulations for submitting a potential new Ohio state record blue catfish are as follows: • No entries will be accepted for blue catfish caught before January 1, 2008. All potential record fish must be caught legally using a rod & reel. Fish caught from bank lines, trot lines, jug lines, nets, snagged, grabbing, or other methods will not be accepted. • All potential state record blue catfish are required to be weighed on state or county certified scales in front of two witnesses, whose name, address, phone number, and signature, must accompany the application. • All potential state record blue catfish must be examined by a fisheries biologist from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. • A clear photograph showing the fish must also accompany the application. • Fish will only be accepted from anglers with a valid Ohio fishing license caught from the main stem of the Ohio River within the state borders, any state of Ohio tributary, or from the shoreline of the Ohio side, or any Ohio public lake. Fish from “pay lakes” are not eligible. Fish caught from a Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia shoreline or tributary will not be accepted. A copy of the fishing license must accompany the application. • Non-residents will be eligible for Ohio state record fish recognition providing they have a valid non-resident fishing license at the time the fish was caught. • The minimum length for any blue catfish entered into the state record fish list must be 45 inches in length. • A downloadable application is available online at www.outdoorwritersofohio.org For information on fishing regulations, reports and access go to www.wildohio.com.

Cormorants down to almost half of peak numbers June 10, 2009 Jim Moodie / www.manitoulin.ca LAKE HURON-Cormorants may still be public enemy number one for many on Manitoulin, but their number has dropped dramatically over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). "In 2000, the peak count on Lake Huron was 33,914 nests," said Patrick Hubert, avian biologist with the MNR. "In 2008, the total was down to 19,421 nests." That means the number of cormorants on Huron has dropped by 43 percent-nearly by half-in less than a decade. And while results of this year's colony census are not yet available, Mr. Hubert doesn't anticipate a new spike in the population. "I'm not saying it could never happen," he said. "You could get an invasion of food species that would support cormorants, but based on the food sources that exist, they seem to be stabilizing." The ministry attributes the decline primarily to a collapse in alewives, an imported species that has formed a big part of the cormorants' diet. Mr. Hubert said harsh winters and salmon predation appear to be the two main factors in the alewife crash. Cormorants are scarcer across Lake Huron, according to the biologist. "The decline has been in all three areas of the lake-Georgian Bay, the North Channel and the main body." This represents the most glaring cormorant dip in the province, but numbers are also generally levelling off across the basin. "They've at least stabilized, if not declined, on the lower lakes as well," he said. "The population has probably reached its carrying capacity on the Great Lakes." An exception to the trend would be Lake Superior, where numbers have actually risen in recent times, although Mr. Hubert characterized this increase as "minor," and not enough to explain the dwindling number of birds in our area. Superior's cormorant accretion "is not an order of magnitude that is consistent with the decline in Lake Huron," he said. Angling groups feel the species is just as plentiful as ever, however, and has simply spread to other feeding grounds, whether that's neighbouring Great Lakes or various inland waterbodies. "We believe their nesting habitat is decreasing, so they have had to move on to other areas," said Rob Pineo, a forestry and wildlife biologist with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH), in the recent edition of Ontario Out Of Doors. If so, the MNR has little solid evidence of the diaspora. Banding of cormorants has been carried out in previous years at various nesting colonies on Lake Huron-400 birds were identified with pink-and-white leg bands in 2006, for instance, at a number of nesting sites in the North Channel and Georgian Bay-but none of these has been reported on Lake Superior, and few have shown up elsewhere in the province. Some have been observed in wintering grounds in the US, but on this side of the border they don't seem to have dispersed in any appreciable way. "We haven't heard of our banded birds showing up in other areas in large numbers," said Mr. Hubert. A few years ago, "there was a lot of concern about movement inland," he said. "But we've heard a lot less about that over the past couple of years. What we've heard, anecdotally, is that they may move in for a couple years, and nest, and then move on." While some of Huron's birds have no doubt sought greener pastures-or bluer pools, as the case may be-the biologist said there could be other factors. "It's very difficult to say what's happened to those birds," he said. "It could be attributable to survival during the breeding season and reproductive output as well." And while some may have found homes on inland lakes-be that on Manitoulin, or the provincial mainland-Mr. Hubert believes they prefer the bigger water, and will only reside temporarily on a smaller waterbody. "They show less fidelity to the inland lakes," he said. In part, this is because there tends to be more human activity at such sites as compared to the remote rocky islands of Lake Huron. "They're a pretty wary bird, and if disturbed enough times, particularly with ground-nesting colonies, they won't stay around," he said. Some of Huron's birds were removed a couple of years ago through vigilante culling, according to observations made by MNR personnel during nest counts undertaken in 2007. Between the birds that were shot or clubbed, and the eggs that would have hatched into birds had they not been crushed, it was estimated that about 3,000 cormorants were taken out in this fashion. This is still a fraction of the number that has disappeared since the year 2000, however. By last year, there were 15,000 fewer nests at known colony sites, meaning 30,000 fewer breeding adults, so illegal culling would only account for a tenth of the decline-if that, as the nest counts don't take into account non-breeding juveniles. Mr. Hubert said there was considerably less evidence of human disruption apparent at nest sites during last year's survey of colonies in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. "It appears that it's not the problem it was a couple of years ago," he said. The ministry is continuing to visit these roosting and breeding areas to track fluctuations in the population, with another round of nest visits occurring at present on Lake Huron, although it's too early to provide results. "We're not done counting for this year," he said. "Hopefully in another couple of months we'll have an idea of what the numbers look like." Apart from giving a picture of cormorant density, the colony assessments also provide researchers with a sense of the birds' dietary habits, based on regurgitant and other fishy remains that can be observed around the nesting areas. It doesn't provide a complete picture, as the smaller fish tend to be fully digested, but the MNR can glean some useful information about what the species is currently eating. "It seems to vary from year to year, even within a colony," said Mr. Hubert. "In some areas they are eating a lot of gobies (an invasive species), while in other areas it's crayfish, suckers, rock bass, and the odd sport fish. Last year, an alewife was seen once in a while, but they're mostly absent now." The birds' almost indiscriminate taste "is very consistent with what the literature says about their diet," said Mr. Hubert. "They're very opportunistic." Pointing out the various species that find their way into a cormorant's belly will inevitably draw a mixed response, he suggested. The mention of gobies and crayfish will add fuel to the argument of cormorant defenders that the species is mainly dining on invasive and non-sport species, while evidence of smallmouth bass or perch will come as confirmation to anglers that the birds are wreaking havoc on the sport fishery. "It's such a charged issue," said Mr. Hubert. "People see what they want."

You're not making the next two weeks any easier Rob.

You could fire off a PM to Fish farmer, he's selling his 17'-18' (?) Princecraft, complete package, electronics, riggers, trolling motor. I know it's on Kijiji somewhere.

yes 9 pages but only a handful of posters.

Have you tried deleting your cookies?

That's good enough to put you in charge of catching, cleaning and cooking them for all the folks who'd like to sample some at Lakair Rob.

Welcome to the board Chris (good name, I like it) and welcome back to fishing. Good luck at the Moon, it's been far to long since I wet a line there.

Walker Downriggers also offer a gimble mount style bracket (Quick Mount Base) for built in rod holders. They also have a Narrow Base Angle Stand available. (2-1/2 X 6) While I don't have them they are a nice option that allows for quick and easy removal of the downriggers when not needed and leaves a couple of rod holders behind.

Sorry I can't help you but welcome to OFC. I'm sure some of the good folks here can give you a few pointers.

Maybe it's time for a change, perhaps this is the place for you.

Grass Pickerel Chain Pickerel Yellow Walleye Blue Walleye

Well that was interesting. You know I've known of these otoliths (we just called 'em stones) since I was a kid and never once did I actually go in and dig 'em out and I think now I know why. Thanks for the anatomy lesson JPJ.

Congratulations, that's awesome, juuuuust awesome.

Very true, but I can't help laughing at all the "stoopid".

No, I mean the kind I design and build myself because it gives me exactly what I want.

Now I'm really starting to feel stupid. I mean why do I have all these level wind oufits designed for small lake trouting, big water trouting and of course steelies (that's a trout). Not to mention numerous casting outfits designed specifically for walleye. Oh and my favourite perch outfit on the big lakes, you guessed it......baitcaster. Guess I'll have to convert to bass fishing.

Prediction: Plenty of bass will still be on thier nests come opening day. That'll lead to more losses of bass young than OOS pictures posted in April.

It's gonna be the reel on my new musky stick Garry, opted for it over the Abu Garcia. It should last a lifetime considering the luck I have catching, hell even casting it will likely sideline it for the summer......bzzzzzzzzzzz *damn, bird's nest*

LOL.....maybe when I stops twitch'n.

Oh don't even get me going on the Calcutta. I gets all twitchy and starts to drool when I bring mine out to play. Shiny things!

Well seeings how I'm a "sucker" for "overated" fancy shmancy shiny things I allowed myself to be lured in by fancy "marketing" and today became the owner of this funny looking reel. TICA Caiman GT 200 Given my fondness for things "overated" I still think it beats out spinning as the reel for the job.

All true, I know. But todays package arrived intact and with no extra fees.

3 Yep, I've been heard to say "here, hold my beer....." more than a few times.