|
|
| i am curious to know the rest of the story within this mercury level crap? they say it was always present, then am i in for an early death for eating as much fish from there as i have? i am also very worried what the fishing will be like out there when the water is back up?? the fishing was just getting very hot out there the last few years... like not a problem to catch small mouth all day long and not a problem to go catch dinner... i for one was wishing this project would have gone through to the full extent. it could have become a trophy fishery..maybe even our own little slice a paradise close to home so we don't have to go so far away to catch big big fish... maybe could have brought some more people to enrich the tourism like the guy said above??  | |
| | |
| I believe that in the regulations, they propose you eat only so many meals of fish per week/month, because it takes a little while for your body to process out the Mercury, if it is present at all. I think in certain Minnesota waters, it is suggested that pregnant women only eat one meal of fish per month. If I'm correct, then the effects of Mercury wear off in time, such as the effect of alcohol wearing off in time. Although it may take longer.  I'm sure you'll still be with us for a while. Which body of water are you refering to? | |
| | |
Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | OK, the fishing was 'getting very hot', but the system had to be drawn down for repairs to the dam.The fish didn't leave via bus or trolley, so as the system comes back up they should still be there. Cribs and rocks don't make a trophy fishery, it takes quite a bit more than that. You say yourself the fishing was fantastic, right? I looked into this, and the media hardly carried anything on the story at all. I suggest you call the DNR and ask them about water levels, the future of the fishery, or whatever other questions you have.
Yes, many Wisconsin lakes have high mercury levels. Two little pristine lakes I fish that are surrounded by woods and have very few homes actually have signs with mercury level warnings posted. | |
| | |
Posts: 8776
| About Mercury contamination:
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/effects.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/sources.asp
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/mercury.html
The thing about mercury is that it never goes away. As soon as that 20 year old fish dies, all that mercury in its muscle tissue goes right back into the food chain. It's nasty stuff for sure. As Steve has attested to, many lakes that you would expect to be pristine actually have very high levels of mercury. | |
| | |
Posts: 101
Location: Northern Illinois | Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin. In some lakes it occurs naturally, as it is leached out of the rocks. Some sources are from industry. Coal burning plants emit some, and paper mills used to put alot in the Wisconsin River. British Petroleum puts about 5 lbs a year into Lake Michigan from their plant in Whiting IN. Pregnant women should avoid eating these fish to reduce the chances of birth defects. As the mercury levels are higher as you go up the food chain, eat the smaller fish, they taste better anyway. | |
| | |
Posts: 726
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Maybe this is a silly question but if you drain a river and fill it up again....won't that act alone stir up the lake bed and redistribute mercury?
Does anyone definitively know the answer? I'm not saying "don't fix a dam because of mercury". Obviously a dam in poor shape threatens a lot of people's safety. I'm just thinking that there will be mercury release no matter what.
Jono
| |
| | |
Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I think from what I have read the original question was adding rock piles, trees, and cribs to the lake bottom, and how much the actual distribution of those materials would disturb the lake bottom. If the system fills slowly, I don't think the layers of soil that were of concern would be disturbed, but I might be wrong there. | |
| | |
Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | just so everyone knows the lake being reffered to is dairyland flowage in ladysmith wi and yes the fishing was getting great our avg fish last yr was 42''and we put well over 30 fish in the boat in 06 also the smallie fishing was excellent with many fish over 20'' caught, as for how the fishing will be after it is refilled , only time will tell, speaking to the guys who fished it after the last draw down in 1985 they said it took about 5yrs before it was a decent fishery again but the bullhead population disappeared, i believe that the forage will take a big hit with this draw down and that alot of smaller fish will pass through the dam and move down stream towards holcombe maybe some bigger fish also will pass through as a 48 1/2 ski was caught(and kept) by a local a week or so ago in the river below the dam, also even after the mercury levels were tested by the WRA and Dairyland Power and found to be non existent or very low in the areas work was to be done the WDNR still is banning any work to be completed stating that the mercury levels were to high, am i missing something here or didnt the WRA and Dairyland Power prove through there own tests that the levels were fine, the WDNR also wants to remove the tire cribs on the lake bed, i dont know the effects these cribs have on the water ,being that they are made of old car tires, but there are alot of these type of cribs in dairyland and wouldnt removing these disturb the lakebed thus disturb the mercury? everyone involved locally believes this all political bs being that the head of the project (jerry carow) is a ex-wdnr warden and has disproved all the reasons given by the wdnr for the project stoppage. | |
| | |
| aside from genuine concerns about mercury contamination, why would the DNR possibly want to stop a project like this?
you refer to "political bs", but i'm just not seeing the reasons they'd have to stop it (since the water's already drawn down anyway) unless they're actually worried about the health of people who live and fish on the lake.
why do you believe they're stopping it if you don't believe it's because of mercury concerns?
| |
| | |
Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | first off let me state that the political bs i referred to is what the locals are saying, just passing it on, as for my feelings i guess i to feel it is somewhat political, why else after the wra and dairylands mercury test results(little to no mercury on project sites) are the mercury levels still such a issue ( I STILL HAVENT SEEN A DNR MERCURY TEST RESULT) also like i said before the dnr wants to remove all the tire cribs wouldn't this tear-up the lake bed thus disturb the mercury? the wndr also asked the wra to help remove these cribs and were told no, I believe this pissed some people off at the wdnr another question is why is the fox river dredging ( which has a 1000 times more mercury) allowed to continue and why were archaeological teams allowed to dig up the lake bed looking for artifacts( wouldn't this disturb mercury) i know it may sound stupid but the wra has gone over the heads of many wdnr officials all the way to the governors office to get help and i believe this also pissed some people off at the wdnr. jerry carow, the head of the wra and dairyland project leader is a retired wdnr employee who has worked the rusk county area his whole career, i truly believe that if the project was bad for dairyland or if it put people at risk(mercury) he would stop fighting to get this project underway. also i spoke to a wndr biologist a few weeks back at the boat landing on big sis we spoke of the project on dairyland and all i got out that conversation was that it made no-sense to plant grasses in dairyland because the rusty crayfish would eat them (makes the smallie fishing great) if the rusty's are such a problem shouldn't the wdnr do something?, i guess all in all i believe there is more to this than just the mercury levels, i use to believe the wdnr did what was best for the resource but after past decisions wolves, cwd extermination bear and deer numbers i am really starting to lose faith | |
| | |
Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Nothing anyone can do about the Red Rusty Crayfish; it's an invasive that can't be eradicated without killing the system off, and would just end up a factor again in the near future if the system was poisoned for that purpose. The PUBLIC introduced this invasive as Perch bait, and then wants that fubar to be 'fixed' by the DNR.
CWD is what it is, what would you have done differently? The PR was handled badly, that's a fact, in fact horribly; our DNR wasn't known for great PR back in those days, and still doesn't do well in that arena in many cases.
What does 'pissing people off' have to do with the DNR permitting the lake bed alteration the group wants to undertake? Of course, if a 'group' doesn't get what they want and immediately attacks the agency involved in public (WMRA style), YES, they will have a future problem dealing with that agency; that's a no brainer. Once bitten, twice shy, so to speak.
Find out exactly where the logjam is, why there IS one, what the facts are and then try to get something done. Who is the DNR official I can contact to get some questions answered? I'd be happy to make the call. I'd be happy to interview Mr. Carow; how would I reach him?
Exactly how much are the teams searching for artifacts 'tearing up the lake bed'? Have you seen this work underway? I've watched archaeological teams at work, and have assisted some, and they don't 'tear' anything up in my experience. let's focus on the real issues at hand, and maybe we can get a discussion going that has some continuity.
What does the Deer population estimates and Bear population estimates have to do with this issue? Totally different portion of the agency, different people in charge, and different subject matter altogether. if you disagree with them, call them and find out how those estimates are done, how the data is acquired, and how that effects management in the field.
The reintroduction of Wolves in the State is VERY popular with some, and VERY unpopular with others. Who is 'right'?
The Fox River dredging is a totally different issue, and shouldn't be compared to this issue in any context. | |
| | |
Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | Steve, first i will talk to Jerry Carow and see if he will be interviewed and get u his # he will be much more helpful than i am as to whats going on with dairyland, my rants about any wildlife issues are just my personal opinions, granted it is a different part of the wdnr, but most see it as one big agency lumped all together, i did not want any of my posts to be considered wdnr bashing and i apologize if they seem that way, the wdnr has done way more good than bad for our resources than they are given credit for , as for the teams i guess i overstated what they were doing , they were not tearing up the lake bed but just doing digs for artifacts, still wouldn't this disturb any mercury contaminated soil? again i am no expert on any of these matters concerning dairyland and will try to put u in touch with mr.carow. | |
| | |
Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Thanks, sir! | |
| | |
Posts: 178
| Steve, may I suggest that you give me a call? I see several misunderstandings among the observations made in this thread. I have served in an advisory capacity to my colleagues in WDNR's water regulatory program on this issue since it first became known that Dairyland Power would have to draw down the reservoir in order to perform maintenance on the gates at the dam. And I have met personally with retired WDNR warden Gerry Carow (now leader of the Wildlife Restoration Association of Rusk County) to discuss the habitat improvement options, many of which pose no threat to the environment and would be approved by WDNR if limited to refurbishing old wooden cribs and building large habitat structures out of rock and wood in appropriate areas. (Gerry is trying to do a good thing here, and I want to help him.) But WRA also wishes to excavate and pile a substantial amount of lake basin sediment into underwater reefs that come to within 5 feet of the full-pool surface in order to facilitate growth of aquatic plants (especially water celery), and this is where it gets tricky.
This is a VERY complex issue, largely because there are still unanswered questions within the scientific community about exactly how mercury and its neurotoxic form, methyl mercury, cycle in the aquatic environment. I had to do a LOT of homework on this one, including asking my son to photocopy over 20 articles in obscure scientific journals at the Cornell University Library so I could catch up with the current literature. Almost have to have a minor in chemistry just to follow the methods and results; but I think I have a pretty good handle on it now. I could write several pages here. But I would rather just talk. Give me a call and I'll fill you in. I could use your perspective on how to share such scientifically challenging information, especially in this rather charged political environment. Thank you, sir!
Dave Neuswanger
Fisheries Team Leader, Upper Chippewa Basin
Wisconsin DNR, Hayward
Edited by Dave N 8/30/2007 8:11 AM
| |
| | |
Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Issues like this is why we need Dave in the Chat this winter! Hope we can make it happen. | |
| | |
Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | steve, i spoke with mr.carow today and asked him if you could interview him he stated yes but would rather have you come to dairyland and give you a personal tour if possible because he stated it would take him over 3 hours to articulate to you everything that is going on here, is this something that is possible? | |
| | |
| it's nice to see this complex issue taking a turn away from rhetoric and into meaningful news dialog.
thanks for your help, Mike. it will be very interesting to hear the results of interviews with Mr. Carow and Mr. Neuswanger.
| |
| | |
Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I'll contact Dave after the holiday, and see if i can get over there after the In Fish Pro Walleye trail and Kevin Worrall Memorial events. | |
| |
|
Still wanting to know the rest of the story