It seems that 2007 is going to be to be a busy year on the conservation front for all anglers.
VHS -
By far the most important issue facing all anglers, not just bass anglers, is the discovery of a potentially devastating disease: Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) that has been found in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and even in Conesus Lake. VHS strikes the fish’s organs (of just about all species) and in simplistic terms causes them to bleed to death internally. As far as threats we face, VHS
seems to be by far the most dangerous and devastating.
So other than running around calling for the end of the world, what is it we as a B.A.S.S. Federation Nation can do? Our goal should be to readily accept our role and take responsibility for helping to prevent the spread of VHS by educating our clubs, members, and the general public about VHS, and by reporting any violations we see regarding the DEC’s emergency regulations.
Our number one goal for 2007 (and beyond) is to make sure that we as bass anglers are doing all we can to keep VHS contained and out of our inland waterways and potentially other states’ waters. This will require tournament anglers, tournament organizers, recreational anglers and boaters to make some important and necessary modifications to our on the water activities.
As tournament anglers/organizers we need to prevent anglers from leaving non-VHS waters and traveling to potentially VHS infected waters during the course of an event and we need to make sure that our members know how to (and more importantly DO) thoroughly drain and clean our live wells and bilges, and to stress the importance of removing any debris from boats and trailers.
We need to pass this message on repeatedly to as many people as we can so that they understand the importance of these steps. I would also ask all tournament anglers to make sure that you are informing tournament organizers about the dangers and letting them know whenever they are holding an event that may directly or could indirectly come into contact with VHS positive waters.
Please make sure the tournament staff appropriately warns all anglers about the virus, stress the potential for disaster, and reminds their anglers of the need to thoroughly clean/drain/disinfect their live well and bilge areas.
Should an angler decide to disregard this advice they may very well wind up being the angler that is responsible for bringing this deadly disease to their favorite waters.
KNOWLEDGE is the key to PREVENTION.
Release Boat
In case you missed it the Oneida Shores Onondaga County Parks staff recently released a Large Tournament Protocol. In 2007, large tournaments like B.A.S.S., ABA Weekend Series, FLW and B.F.L events are going to be required by Oneida Shores to supply a release boat (or an appropriate number of tournament boats) with the proper DEC permitting to successfully handle and release all captured bass
a minimum of 400 yards off shore. Those large events will not be allowed to dump bass directly into the shallow waters around the park area. ** B.A.S.S. run events have been providing release boat(s) for at least a decade, so KUDOS to them and their conservation minded approach to tournament angling**
In 2008, this protocol will be more wide reaching and will require tournament groups that field more than 75 boats to provide a release boat(s).
I believe we will start to see more and more of this as tournament cities and hosts move towards protecting the valuable natural resources they have. Lake Amistad in Texas, has implemented there own version of a tournament protocol. Obviously communities and politicians are starting to realize the economic benefit from bass fishing be it from tournaments or from tourism. As such more and more of them will want to do everything
they can to ensure that their valuable resources (bass) are around and plentiful year after year.
This means that more and more tournament groups are going to have to start stepping up and providing that extra level of fish care by either involving a group of tournament anglers, or in providing a release boat to allow for deep water release of fish.
I am going to be looking for a group of volunteers to step up and be part of an ACTIVE committee to discuss the release boat issue and come up with a plan to present to the membership at the first winter meeting in 2007. Along the way, I am hoping that all of you start thinking about a release boat option and keeping your eyes and ears open to funding options (matching funds), and to any available boats, motors, trailer,
material/equipment that will get us closer to a NYBFN release boat. Based on the information I’ve read, we need a fairly large boat (28’ or more) to account for the weight of the water and equipment.
For the “right” person(s) this has an opportunity to be a fun, challenging, and extremely beneficial project. I’m hoping a few of the right people are reading this message right now and volunteering to help out. (email mike@nybassfed.com)
See you on the water,
Mike Cusano,
Conservation Director
|
