Stewardship Tip of the week

Catch and release fishing is one of the most powerful tools for conservation.  It is also used across a wide, and diverse, population of anglers.  Consider:

• In the United Kingdom, course anglers have practiced catch and release for more than a century to prevent target species from disappearing from heavily fished waters.
• In the Chesapeake watershed, catch and release angling has been a critical component in restoring the American and Hickory shad runs.
• An Illinois angler released a 105-pound blue catfish back into the Mississippi River after catching it in a tournament in 2010.

We usually associate catch and release fishing with the “glamor” fish such as Salmon, Trout, and Bass.  While catch and release fishing has benefitted many populations of these highly prized fish, all species can benefit from catch and release.  For example, the shad runs, famous in the Chesapeake watershed, have been in decline since the 1970s.  A moratorium was placed on the possession of shad in the Chesapeake and its tributaries; this led to the growth of a catch and release fishery.  In addition to the catch and release regulations, the various departments of fish and game in the Chesapeake watershed have introduced stocking programs.  In Virginia, for example, tagged shad were introduced into the headwaters of the James, Rappahannock, Potomac, and Pamunkey Rivers.  Studies by the Virginia Department of Fish and Game have shown that the numbers of American shad returning to the James River have increased dramatically.

Catch and release is a tool that can be used for any type of fish, not just the fish that get the headlines.  It is certainly a tool that you should use as a conservation measure.  It is also a tool that you can use to return large fish to the population.  A trophy that is returned to the water may live to fight another day.  More importantly, that trophy may reproduce and pass its genes on to the next generation of fish.

by Mark Riley

Actions by EPA possibly as a result of much work by TU, CTU and Headwaters Chapter.

Click here for article in Denver Post.

Stewardship Tip of the week

“It can have some of the water, but not all the water.”  Geoffry McQuilkin, the former Co-Executive Director for the Mono Lake Committee, speaking at the Walker Lake Summit in 2002, was referring to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

In 1941, the LADWP extended the Los Angeles Aqueduct to Northern California and diverted four of the creeks that fed Mono Lake.  By 1982, its water supply strangled at the source, Mono Lake had dropped 45 vertical feet.  It had lost half its volume and doubled in salinity.  The Mono Lake Committee pursued litigation.  Eventually, the courts and the California State Water Resources Control Board ordered restoration of the damaged resources.
 
Although, the lake is now 25 feet lower than its prediversion level, Mono Lake and its surrounding environment are on the rebound.  It will never be completely restored, but the situation is improving.
 
You can have some of the water, but not all of the water.
 
Today, natural gas and oil companies are using tremendous amounts of water to extract fossil fuels through hydraulic fracturing.

In Pennsylvania alone, there are about 71,000 wells that use hydraulic fracturing.  A low volume frack may consume 20,000 to 80,000 gallons of fracking fluid, the majority of which is water.  A high-volume frack may use as much as two to three million gallons of water.  Removing such large amounts of water from the watershed can have a severe impact on our fisheries.  Here in Nebraska, Pumpkin Creek no longer flows.  Overzealous irrigation practices dropped the water table so low that the creek dried up.

The time is now.  We need to let our congresswomen, congressmen, state legislators, and parliaments, know.  The hydraulic fracturing industry can have some of the water, but they can’t have all the water.

Despite the snow, the BFC Youth Night last Friday evening was a great success.  We had 25-30 youth participants with their parents attend the various workshops sponsored by the local fly-fishing shops, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, Umpqua Feather Merchants, and the CU Fly-fishing Club.  Every youth attendee left with large bags of “Schwag” including hats, & filled fly boxes.  Thank you to all of oour sponsors who made this possible with their donations.

The highlight of the event was the 4 year old young man who won the raffle grand prize of a youth rod & reel combo.  His eyes and smile said it all!

Good Morning!

The  Bass Pro Fishing Classic is coming up and the Colorado Division of Parks & Wildlife is looking for help!   Allison Kincaid, the Division Hunting and Angling Outreach Coordinator, is recruiting volunteers to assist with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife fishing info. booth on the following days and time:

Saturday, February 25     8:00 AM-12:30 PM, Noon – 5 PM

Sunday, February 26        9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Noon – 5 PM

Saturday, March 3           8:00 AM-12:30 PM, Noon – 5 PM

Sunday, March 4              9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Noon – 5 PM

Allison is looking for volunteers who are comfortable interacting with the public and answering questions using the Fishing Brochure. Please let us know if you can help and also what day and shift(s) you are able to help by contacting: 

Allison Kincaid

Hunting and Angling Outreach Coordinator – NE Region

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

6060 Broadway

Denver, CO 80216

Phone: (303) 291-7291

[email protected]

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a controversial method of extracting oil and gas from shale formations.  Hydraulic fracturing is a process that occurs naturally.  Oil and gas companies attempt to accelerate the process to release oil or natural gas by drilling into rock formations and injecting highly pressurized fracking fluids.  Fracking fluid is composed of a 98% water and sand mix.  The remaining 2% contains chemical additives some of which are found in common household products.  It also contains toxic components such as acid, benzene, a known carcinogen, anti-bacterial agents, clay stabilizers, and surfactants.

Wastewater from fracking may contain radium, a radioactive element, and corrosive salts, all of which occur naturally thousands of feet underground.  According to a recent NY Times article, the wastewater is “sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water.”

Unfortunately, there have been numerous cases of illegal dumping.  A waste hauler in Southwest Pennsylvania was indicted in 2009 on 98 criminal counts of illegally dumping millions of gallons of wastewater from natural gas drilling.  Two men recently plead guilty to dumping 200,000 gallons of wastewater down an abandoned oil well.  Illegal dumping of wastewater from fracking operations can have a disastrous effect on our fisheries.

If you live in an area where fracking wells are present, be diligent in watching your waters.  If you see someone illegally dumping fracking wastewater or if you spot signs of pollution such as bubbling gas, turbidity, oily surface film, or dead fish, report it immediately to your state department of environmental protection.  You can find links to your state or territorial environmental agency on the EPA’s website.

by Mark Riley

Click here to read an article in the New York Times.

by Mark Riley

Here is an article in Denver Post regarding lawsuit against this controversial project.

Click here to link to the article.