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StructureSpot

Day: April 21, 2011

The Largest Fish Habitat Restoration Project in America

Posted on by david
The Largest Fish Habitat Restoration Project in America
In 1992 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Arizona entered into an ambitious fishery habitat restoration project on Lake Havasu in partnership with 6 state and federal agencies and Anglers United. Natural fish habitat in the lake had deteriorated to the point that sport and bait fish populations were in serious decline and fishing was marginal.

Shimano donated a specially designed pontoon boat adapted from the Shimano Live Release boat program to transport and strategically place thousands of fish habitat structures throughout the lake.

Press Coverage

Shimano Boat .jpg

BLM, Anglers United Agree on $27 Million Project at Havasu

Lake Havasu News Release.pdf

Lake Havasu Kids Fishing Day

Havasu Kids Day.pdf

Bureau of Land Management Thank You Letter

BLM Thank You Letter.pdf

In 2002 the Lake Havasu habitat improvement project was completed, thanks to the donation of thousands of hours of volunteer effort to construct and place fish structures and $40 million dollars of government funding. As one of the largest and most successful fish habitat improvement projects ever undertaken in the U.S. , the foresight of the BLM Arizona State Office under the leadership of Director Les Rosencranz and his capable staff stands as a shining example of what can be accomplished when government natural resource agencies, anglers and interested members of the public and private sector companies work together on behalf of the future of fishing.

Bassmasters of Delaware add needed fish structure

Posted on by david
The Eastern Shore Bassmasters of Delaware, in conjunction with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) have completed a habitat restoration project at Griffith’s Lake in Milford. The club is an affiliated member of the National Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society or B.A.S.S. as it is more commonly known, and the Delaware B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, a state wide federation made up of other clubs within the state to help promote, educate, and conserve the basic principles of freshwater sport fishing in Delaware. 

The club participated in the DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife GO FISH program which stands for Fill In Structural Habitat. The GO FISH program consists of clubs applying to the DNREC program requesting to plant artificial or natural fish attractors in area ponds and lakes to enhance the habitat for all species of fish. Members of Eastern Shore Bassmasters collected discarded Christmas trees after the holidays and constructed bundles of trees that were weighted with concrete blocks and placed in the ponds in areas that are productive places for fish to seek shelter and food.

The tree bundles also serve as fish attracting features along the shoreline to provide more opportunities for shoreline anglers, or bank fishermen.  Multiple shoreline fish attractors were placed in the pond along the fishing access areas including areas along Griffith’s Lake Drive. Two (2) of tree bundles will be made visible to bank fishermen through the Division of Fish and Wildlife identifying the two locations as fish attractors on the pond’s map, and placement of signs at the park indicating such. The other thirteen (13) tree bundles were placed in areas to provide cover and safe habitat for fish throughout the pond.

The tree bundles were constructed by taking two (2) trees joined side by side and tied at the trunks and tips. The concrete blocks were then fastened one to each end of the bundle to help sink the trees and hold them in place in the water. The trees were placed by members of the club, with the assistance from the DNREC Fish and Wildlife workboat and crew on hand to assist, in various locations on the pond in no less than five (5) feet of water, as not to impede boat navigation.

The club considered the idea to enhance habitat in area ponds due to the large numbers of ponds with featureless lake cover and structure such as stumps, weed beds, submerged timber, rock piles, and dock pilings. The consideration was given to bank fishermen as well to attract more numbers of fish closer to shore. The fish attractors will provide opportunities for more anglers as more fish become accustomed to using the tree bundles for cover, food, and staging areas.

Griffith’s Lake was selected as this year’s location as somewhat of a resource management option. The lake back in 2006 suffered an unexpected partial drawdown that occurred when a leak developed under the dam and put it at risk for losing quality fish and habitat. It is the club’s goal to help restore some of the habitat and provide for a better angling experience for more fishermen, as well as provide the necessary habitat and cover with the tree bundles for promoting healthy populations of all fish species.

Club President Dave Perrego and Conservation Director Bob Wallace have been in contact with DNREC’s Cathy Martin, a fisheries biologist for the Division of Fish and Wildlife and GO FISH program administrator since early this year. This is the 2nd habitat planting project in Kent County in two years. The last took place at Killen’s Pond in Felton back in April of 2008.

For more information on how your Delaware club or organization can participate in the GO FISH program you may contact Ms. Cathy Martin at (302) 653-2887, or email her at catherine.martin@state.de.us.

To contact the club to inquire about future conservation projects and general membership, please call Dave Perrego at (302)339-2133, or email the club ateasternshorebassmasters@yahoo.com. The club’s website can also be found at www.eteamz.com/easternshorebassmasters.

 

Fish and Game and Volunteers Restore Fish Habitat

Posted on by david

Fish and Game and Volunteers Restore Fish Habitat

Page Last Updated: Wednesday April 20, 2011 10:40pm MDT
Idaho Fish and Game 

Idaho Fish and Game

Today at the old Cove Dam site Idaho Fish and Game along with dozens of volunteers released around 1000 Bonneville cutthroat trout into the wild as a final step in a project that began years ago. Joselin Matkins Director of Sagebrush Steppe Regional Land Trust explains why today was a great day for the partnership. Joselin Matkins, Director, “This is a great day for the partnership with PacifiCorp energy, Fish and Game, all the other partners at the Bear River Coordinating Committee because we released about 1000 Bonneville cutthroat trout into the stream today.”

David Teuscher, Regional Fisheries Manager for Idaho Fish and Game explains the vital role that the cutthroat trout have in the bear river ecosystem

David Teuscher, Regional Fisheries Manager, “The cutthroat trout play an important role, fish eating birds rely on fish resources so in the past native cutthroat trout filled all these streams and tributaries and they were food resources for other things like fish birds so the played an important role in a larger picture.”

Today is the culmination of years of hard work Fish and Game and volunteers have put in to restore the habitat of these fish.

But converting this once dam site to a useable habitat for the fish takes time and effort. Teuscher says many of these fish and game projects like this one would not be possible without the help of volunteers.

Teuscher, “So volunteers play a huge role in the amount of work we’re able to do because as you know labor and things are very expensive and we’re limited by how much we can do on an annual basis on budgets, the more volunteers we get the more work we can do.”

All the hard work and effort does pay off as an important investment in Idaho fisheries for the future.

Teuscher, “In two years when these fish come back upstream to spawn they’ll have that good spawning habitat.”

Those interested in volunteering for Idaho Fish and Game can find more information on their website.

 

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