Clean Angling News

        National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) will be held from February 27 - March 3, 2012. The week will feature a full slate of events in Washington, D.C. as well as a host of associated events and activities in all areas of the country. First begun in 2009, NISAW is a great way to get out the message about invasives.   Visit the NISAW Site

     If you have an event or activity that will occur during or near NISAW you can have it listed as an official NISAW event. It is easy to get listed and I am happy to help. Just send an email to info@stopans.org and we will assist you in getting added to the official NISAW listing.  

   Just as the 2011 Holiday Issue of the Clean Angling News was being delivered we received word of a new felt ban being implemented in Rhode Island. We know that many of our readers are keenly interested in the felt issue so we sent out our first ever special edition to alert our readers of the upcoming ban.   Read More

   In the special edition we noted that the ban was developed with little if any public notice. Subsequently, we have learned that there was a public process for developing the regulation and anglers were at the forefront of the comment process. 

   The Rhode Island ban took effect on January 1, the same date, as the long anticipated Alaska ban. These two joined Maryland and Vermont as having statewide bans on the use of felt. Missouri is finalizing their ban on felt which will be implemented on the state's trout waters before the opening day of fishing season. 

  Felt bans are one of the hottest topics among anglers and we continue to provide a comprehensive accounting of all felt ban proposals in the US at  US Felt Bans

Minnesota and Montana AIS Summits produce positive outcomes

 Minnesota and Montana are both aggressively fighting invasive species. Although the two states are a thousand miles apart and have very different geography, ecosystems and populations, the core issues facing the states are very similar - how to do the most with the money available, how to learn from their programs to make improvements and how to generate additional legislative support for their efforts. Each state held an AIS Summit recently and both achieved similar results.

  More than 350 Minnesota and North Dakota residents and 10 Minnesota state legislators attended the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Legislative Summit 2012. The summit generated lots of media about the problem and has generated significant momentum for new AIS support in the legislative session just beginning. The state legislators attending pledged to provide additional support with Rep. Bruce Vogel reporting that "aquatic invasive species has gotten the attention of legislators"   Read More

   The Montana Summit also was well attended by citizens from all interests and all parts of the state. Through personal attendance and through video broadcasts of the meeting, legislators, agencies and the public learned about the Montana response and challenges. The Summit generated attention for the issue and provided the inspiration for Aquatic Invaders – The race to zero, a great article from the Clark Fork Coalition. State Senator Carmine Mowbray felt the meeting was important enough to be highlighted in a special release titled From Your Senator: Aquatic Invasive Species — Prevention is vital

Zebra Mussel Impacts Close Angling Club

   From Great Britain comes the story of the Ordsall Angling Club which decided to close in December after members failed to catch a single fish in their last four fishing competitions. Club officials blame the intentional introduction of zebra mussels as causing the loss of fish.  Read More

New “Don't Move a Mussel” video now available
 
  The Pacific States Marine Fish Commission has produced a new two-part high definition video to replace the original 2008 video of the same name.  
  The new DVD includes a 44 minute "Information and Education" video that addresses the origin, life history, distribution, transport vectors, impacts and issues surrounding the invasion of Dreissenid mussels in North America. 
  The DVD also includes a 28 minute "Watercraft and Equipment Inspection and Decontamination Training Video" incorporating the latest protocols, standards and science relating to watercraft and water-based equipment interception. The DVD has a 72 minute total running time, but can be shown separately.   

 To order a single free copy, email sanderson@psmfc.org and provide your shipping address. 

Lake Tahoe Inspection Fees Increase

Fishing With A Mission 

    It’s big, hungry, it doesn’t belong and it’s out of control. It’s the burbot. It’s also delicious, burbot’s often called “the poor man’s lobster,” and that’s why Ryan Mosley, with the Utah Division of Natural Resources hope anglers will help them take the burbot population down a notch during the upcoming Burbot Bash.

    The Bash, set for Jan. 25 - 28, is a chance for anglers to go after the burbot, an invasive species that is wreaking havoc on native fish populations in the Flaming Gorge reservoir. Cash prizes are up for grabs for different categories. Read More

State by State

   Texas - Officials say people who want to boat and fish on Lake Texoma could face some new regulations to prevent invasive species from getting into the lake and to keep them from getting out of it and into other waterways.  Read More

   Utah - Quagga and zebra mussels have devastated fishing waters, plugged water delivery systems and ruined boats all across the nation. But those things haven't happened in Utah.  Read More

  Colorado - Parks and Wildlife released the results of its 2011 campaign which saw 420,000 boat inspections throughout the state.  Read More

  Michigan - A new Invasive Species Council will make recommendations to the governor about aquatic invasive species being used as bait, food and as pets, in ballast water and other larger spectrum concerns in the shipping industry.  Read More

  Minnesota -  A Fargo man was charged with transferring water equipment with invasive species attached, a misdemeanor. Previous statutes only allowed prosecution if the invasive species was attached to a trailer or watercraft.     Read More

  Florida -  Officials say they're considering a controversial cure for a polluted lake by encouraging an invasive aquatic weed. Costly environmental rehabilitation efforts in polluted Lake Apopka have had little effect, leading the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to turn to hydrilla.  Read More

Invasive Species Research Center proposed in Minnesota

  Beating back invasive species with boat inspections, dams or bubble barriers only buys time at best, a University of Minnesota professor told a legislative panel recently. Instead, he said, let's out think 'em.

  That was fisheries researcher and carp expert Peter Sorensen's message to the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee when he recommended that a world-class invasive species research center be developed at the U to study not only how to keep leaping carp, clinging zebra mussels and other weird critters out of the state but also how to get rid of those already here.  Read More

  It will be some time before we see if Dr. Sorensen's proposal comes to fruition but his effort got a strong endorsement from the StarTribune when they published an editorial titled Invest in research to fight invasive species

North of the Border

   Recent articles discussing AIS in Canada.

    A new research paper suggests that Canada is not well prepared for the invasive species challenges that are likely to result from climate change.  Read More

    Canada seems to be lagging in their fight to reduce the spread of Asian carp. In recent weeks more than 6 tons of the invasive fish have been seized at the US border and experts fear that the Canadian response is inadequate. "The Americans have put $78 million into trying to detect where the fish are and to make sure they don't get into the Great Lakes at Chicago," said University of Windsor professor Hugh MacIsaac. "And here on the other hand we still have people shipping these things around as though it's legal and advisable, and it's neither."   Read More

   Something slimy and gross has overtaken Cowichan Lake — and it’s not the creature from the Black Lagoon. Didymo, also known as ‘rock snot,’ is an invasive algae species that has invaded the Cowichan River. Read More

Potpourri

  A selection of stories not directly related to aquatic invasives.

   Burmese pythons in Florida can withstand exposure to salt water for long enough to expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments, researchers say, raising concerns the invasive species may invade nearby islands such as the Florida Keys. Read More

    Feral pigs or boars have established a breeding population on the eastern edge of Adirondack Park. Scientists fear the animals could spread fast, wiping out native animals and damaging crops.  Read More

January 2012

    Winter has become a very busy time for those who work on AIS. This is the "off season" when little field work is conducted and was historically a slower time of the year. However, as the response to AIS grows, winter has become increasingly important as the only time available to assess and plan.

   Assessment and planning is exactly what the recent Minnesota and Montana AIS Summits were all about. These are two good examples of how all states are working hard to assess and improve their AIS programs.

   I think its important for us to recognize the great efforts that our agencies are doing as they strive to fight against AIS. They don't have a history of proven actions to learn from and we have to expect that errors will be made as everyone struggles  to figure out the most effective methods of combating AIS.

  Its most important that we learn from our experience, that we assess the actions being taken and that we look for the best ways to improve.  Don't waste time and emotion focusing on past actions but rather, be supportive of adaptive efforts that are being refined to produce the best possible outcomes.

   As always, email us at newsletter@stopans.org and let us know what you would like to see in future issues of the News.

Bob Wiltshire
Executive Director ISAN

If you prefer you can view the January 2012 Clean Angling News online

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