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Posts: 1530
| are we doing enough for our enviroment for fish. seems to me we raise hatchery fish and release them. what about what they have to swim in. fertilized runoff and pollutants. why are we not spearheading the real issues. |
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Posts: 32930
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Our government, both state and federal, supposedly do that for us. We, as individual anglers or even fairly large clubs, will have almost no effect attempting to attack issues like pollution, unless it's extremely localized and one that is easily addressed. Even then, it's the government offices in charge of that particular issue we would contact. Involve your efforts locally, unless you have a ton of political punch.
'Society' doesn't much care one way or another, except in generalities.
We CAN successfully work on habitat in small ways. There just are not enough of us to make a major political impact, unfortunately.
I think most clubs and individuals do what they can to effect things directly, like stocking, etc. |
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Posts: 299
Location: Nowheresville, MN | Lake associations and townships are really the only way to get things done. Riparian buffers (leaving an unmowed strip of vegetation along the shoreline) are the easiest and most logistically feasible way of controlling runoff and water quality. Even then, when a landowner goes against said association and township "rules" the gov't, be it county or DNR, doesn't have the balls to address the situation. The generations of the family cabins are dissappearing as the baby boomers retire and turn these seasonal cottages into permanent homes. This will be (actually already is) the concern and focus of state agencies and fishery professionals. There will be no point to stocking fish and setting length limits on sess pools and aquatic systems overrun with invasive species.
Edited by tfootstalker 1/30/2007 9:27 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Good point, Steve. I work in the protection field, most of our rules and laws are aimed at "protecting human health and the environment" (note the order given). Our discharge permits are designed to help waterways be 'fishable and swimable'. There is always the trade off between jobs/development and protection of the remaining resources.
As woodie points out, non-point source (runoff from urban and agriculture) is a major problem. It has always been a problem but seemend to take a back seat in the early days of EPA, when emphasis was placed on treating human and industrial waste discharges. Now that there is better control over these elements, more efforts are spent on the runoff issues.
I'm pleased to be a member of Muskies, Inc, who has as part of their mission:
FISHERIES - Muskies, Inc. works to conserve, protect and restore North America's muskie fisheries. Areas of concern include habitat preservation, water quality, water management policies, and developing and maintaining self-sustaining fish populations.
m |
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Posts: 8833
| That's a tough problem to tackle...
Urban runoff is a fact of life - parking lots and roads don't absorb and filter water like a natural landscape would. Add in shoreline development which removes what little buffer zone is left, and you have all the stuff that comes out of your car basically going right into the water. In many areas, agricultural runoff is also a big problem. From animal waste, pesticides, fertilizer, hormones they feed livestock, it all winds up in the water. Add in car exhaust, mercury from coal fired power plants, industrial emissions...
The unfortunate part of this is once a lot of this stuff is in the ecosystem, it stays there. Anything absorbed or eaten by the lakes inhabitants finds its way right back into the food chain when they die and decompose or become prey.
Some progress is being made in the form of stricter development regulations, watershed management, etc. The recent phosphorous ban in the Madison Metropolitan area is a good example. Stop putting stuff into the ecosystem, problem solved, right?
Well... Not necessarily. Phosphorous binds to the soil particles, where it remains for many years. One big rainstorm, a spring thaw, new construction, anything that washes sediment into the lake (or river) and you have the same problem all over again.
So as to your question of why we're not spearheading the real issues... We are. But business, industry, development, and ultimately money are what drive our society, and sadly, what washes into the lake ecosystem as a result of that is something that few people really care about.
Obviously we can't continue down the same path forever, and at some point we are going to have to make dramatic changes to the way we live our lives.
So what can we do as anglers? How can we help?
Cancel your lawn service
Fix that oil/anti-freeze etc. leak on your car
Recycle
Compost
Read up on the water quality issues in your local area, research the causes, and make it a point to have less of an impact on it.
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Posts: 93
Location: Minneapolis, MN | On a micro level, take it personally when you see trash and pollution on your fishing lakes. You wouldn't believe the trash I see littered across the ice by the end of winter. Empty propane bottles, empty bait containers, beer and pop cans, it goes on and on. I try to pick up as much as I can fit in my bucket.
Its not as easy in the summer with open water. There are items on shore that you can grab. But sometimes just calling in the right authorities is all it takes. Last summer I saw a big guitar amplifier in about 10 feet of water on my favorite trout lake!!! Called the WI DNR and they got it out. Not sure but I bet that thing was an evironmental hazzard waiting to happen.
The small stuff matters -- pack out what you bring in (to quote the wilderness campers). |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Be careful, though, in following 'oreno's advice. On LOTW, my boat partner headed toward a floating milk jug in the midst of a bay, intent on rescuing this piece of pollution. We both realized at the last moment that this jug was doing duty marking a big rock hump, and narrowly missed banging up the lower unit.
His point is well-taken, though, "if you pack it in, pack it out" and take some more with you when you go. m |
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Posts: 676
Location: Wisconsin | Some of the lakes in Milwaukee, the homeowners really like their nice little patch of grass to be really green and I have seen ChemLawn out there too many times spraying. Ofcourse this runs right into the lake along with all the other fertilizers. This makes for a weed mess in the summer and then you have the kids on the weed choppers come out in force every day. How about banning these chemicals within 1 mile of a lake? Hey, use the lake water to water your lawn, but have some respect for the lake. (Then the homeowners complain about the weeds around their docks, how ironic...) |
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Posts: 8833
| Actually, Muskiemetal,
you CAN make a difference with the very thing you just mentioned.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/index.htm
If you are concerned with what you see, chances are others are as well. Voicing your concerns can make a difference.
http://uwlab.soils.wisc.edu/madison/index.htm?Dane_P_ban.htm&conten...
Of course then the fertilizer manufacturers rise up and file a lawsuit:
http://uwlab.soils.wisc.edu/madison/index.htm?Dane_P_ban.htm&conten...
"but we have the right to destroy the lake ecosystem for profit so people can have a green lawn!"
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Posts: 199
Location: Anchorage | "Lake associations and townships are really the only way to get things done."
tfootstalker is right, but here in western Wisconsin many of the lake associations are the biggest part of the problem. Deer, Bone, Wapogasset, Round etc. don't have the problem with over-fertile water like many of the urban lakes do. However, the respective lake associations in this area have gotten in habit of spraying to kill weeds in order to clear out beach areas around docks, platforms, etc. Throughout the summer there will be signs posted at landings to avoid swimming in certain areas for 5-7 days. Not long after, one will start seeing numbers of sick and dead panfish in the sprayed area.
Mind you, they are not spraying Eurasion Milfoil. Most of these lakes have a cabbage vegetation base, with coontail running a close second.
Edited by woody 1/30/2007 11:07 AM
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Posts: 299
Location: Nowheresville, MN | I've seen them spraying out there, stupid. These people don't realize that the best protection against exotic invaders (beyond prevention) is a natural community of native macrophytes. They (Wapo) should be thankful that all they have is curly leaf pondweed, at least the stuff dies back during the summer...Milfoil stays put.
I agree that some lake associations are problems, but these people can be persuaded a lot easier than some shmo sitting in a county clerk office. They are the ones directly affected by activities in the water. And since they usually have a lot of money and collective pull you could say, they then could influence the higher governing agancies.
Edited by tfootstalker 1/30/2007 11:20 AM
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Posts: 1530
| wow. great thoughts gents. it just seems over the years i have watched waters become very influenced from run-off. the thames river adjacent to lake st clair was a proverbial walleye hatchery. now in a short time its a dead sea. farm runoff and downriver from london ont canada.. the sad part it emptys into l.s.c.. |
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Posts: 3911
| We're making great progress and I'm very encouraged. For example, when I was working in GA last winter part of my job was helping small cities develop and implement "illicit discharge identification and elimination programs". This means we satalite mapped and then walked streams/rivers to identify source points of various types of pollution. Tested water for all kinds of discharges and worked ouir way back to the culprits. We also walked the back lots of strip malls, inspected junkyards, etc. The municipalities had already passed ordinances to force quick elimination of any sources we found. For example, an oil change shop that allows ANY runoff faced a $1,000/day fine (or even get shut down) to stop the problem. We created and publicided a 800 number for citizens to report suspected illicit discharge. In one twon, the enforcement officer was a retired narcotics policeman who was also quite the outdoorsman and he LOVED nailing polluters, he was sure fun to ride around with.
Community education-wise, we made durable stickers that said "No Dumping - Drains to River!" and similar stenciles and had local boyscouts put them on metal drain tops along the sides of roads, especially in residential areas. Held river clean-ups each year, published articles in the local paper, etc.
Some great stuff is happening in some places. Don't forget that, under the current administration in DC, environmental protection is a low priority at best.
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