CLAYTOR LAKE — Six thousand sterile grass carp were released in three areas of Claytor Lake early Thursday morning, drawing a crowd of onlookers, residents and wildlife specialists.

The fish eat hydrilla, a plant that covers an estimated 400 acres of the more than 4,000-acre lake. The monster vegetation has caused concern among homeowners, business owners and officials in Pulaski County.

John Copeland, fisheries biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said officials hope this will help them start to get the hydrilla problem under control.

“At Claytor, it’s going to become a boating and navigation issue,” he said.

The lake water was just 56 degrees Thursday morning, an important consideration for transferring the fish from the hatchery. When the lake gets warmer, the fish can get stressed.

The plant-devouring carp average about 13 inches long. Thirty-four of the largest ones were tagged with radio transmitters for research purposes. The fish won’t erase the hydrilla completely but could help bring it down to a “dull roar,” said Lloyd Hipkins, an extension weed specialist with Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech.

The county budgeted $12,540 for the fish to be brought from Arkansas and distributed, with oversight by DGIF.

“A biological control like a grass carp lasts a long time and is cheaper than spraying,” Copeland said.

Although many people will be happy to see the plant go, there are others who are worried about losing it — mainly anglers who say that cutting back the hydrilla will hurt fishing habitats and that chemical sprays will kill fish.

Along with the carp, plans call for chemicals, specifically Komeen, to be sprayed on hydrilla in the lake this summer, paid for by a $50,000 grant from Appalachian Power Co.

A former professional fisherman and a businessman on the lake, Rock House Marina owner Mike Burchett can see both sides of the hydrilla debate.

Burchett is a member of the committee of Pulaski County officials, the citizens group Friends of Claytor Lake, business owners and wildlife experts that has been planning the most substantial collaborative effort to date to fight what they call the “hydrilla gorilla.”

For fishermen, it’s a bonus because, if it’s not too thick, hydrilla provides cover for fish, Burchett said. But left unattended, the plant can decrease oxygen in the lake and hurt native habitats.

The plant is often introduced into lakes by boaters who have picked it up in another lake, which is why education is important, Burchett said. Its tubers and seeds can also be transported by animals.

Hydrilla makes a good fish habitat for a few years but will cause more harm than good if left untreated, said Mike McLeod of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

Chemicals have been sprayed by private contractors hired by residents to treat hydrilla on Claytor Lake for three or four years, and “there are no records of direct cause and fish kills,” McLeod said.

Plans call for the use of Komeen, a contact herbicide. It contains copper, but the copper in the herbicide is biologically inactive, McLeod said.

It also kills the plant only where it makes contact, unlike a systemic herbicide, which goes throughout the plant.

“There’s really no reason to believe it’s going to hurt any fish,” Hipkins said.

For now, researchers from DGIF and the Virginia Tech department of fish and wildlife conservation will monitor the grass carp movement and eating habits in the lake.

The fish are made sterile in the hatchery — DGIF requires all non-native fish brought into Virginia waterways to be sterile to avoid invasive species being introduced, Copeland said.

In August and September, the plant’s peak growth times, specialists will study the plant growth to decide how many fish will be needed next year.

“They can’t put enough fish in there to take care of the problem the way it is, so what they’re trying to do is integrated management and kill a good portion of it,” Hipkins said. “If they can use the fish to maintain a very low level, then ultimately the business about treating with chemicals could go down year after year.”By Amy Matzke-Fawcett

By Danelle Landis, Ketchikan Daily News

Cheers flew as grinning kids, stuffed into yellow, red and blue lifejackets jostled to show off their catches of the day.

Fawn Mountain’s counselor, Norm Noggle, held a two-week after-school fishing workshop in April. He then took his 14 fourth- and fifth-graders for a five-hour fishing trip Thursday.

This was the second year that Noggle has conducted the workshop and taken the kids fishing on the Cotant, he said.

“Last year, we were boarded by the Coast Guard,” he said. The students were worried, and had no idea what to expect.

The crewmen “handed out little chits for free ice cream, because they noticed all the kids had their lifejackets on,” Noggle said.

At Fawn Mountain, for one hour per day in the workshop, Noggle taught the students how to tie knots, cast, put line on reels, and identify fish species. He also taught them about Fish and Game regulations, fish habitat and fish-catching strategy.

Noggle brought in experts from the U.S. Coast Guard to teach the students about boat safety, and Fish and Game professionals who taught them about fish species, gave a pop quiz, then coached them through making a “mepps spinner” salmon lure.

He also took his group on a field trip to the Whitman Lake Hatchery, and students asked the staff questions they had created and rehearsed ahead of time.

He said he’d like to add a fly fishing course next year that would teach students about fishing etiquette, how to “read” the water, tie flies and how to cast.

Among schools offering educational fishing excursions is Point Higgins Elementary, where teacher Linnaea Troina will take her fifth graders out on Wednesday. Knudsen Cove Marina sponsors their fishing trip, she said, supplying boats, fuel, and guides.

Ketchikan Charter School teacher Greg Gass also headed up a fishing class this year. Instead of an after-school workshop, his was offered as a physical education elective.

He chuckled when he explained why, out of all the sixth-through-eighth graders who could have participated, only one eighth-grader was in the group of 12 on the fishing trip. Students in eighth grade were allowed to sign up for their choice of elective classes first, and most of them chose more traditional classes, like sports.

Gass laughed and said that the ones who opted out of the fishing class were seriously rethinking their choices when his group was gearing up for the fishing trip.

Water rushes past old railroad bridge abutments near the Sandifur Memorial Bridge just west of downtown Spokane on Friday.
(Full-size photo)

30 May 2011

LAST week’s Fishers for Fish Habitat Forum held in Tamworth saw more than 60 recreational fishos join forces with landholders, scientists and natural resource managers to discuss ways to improve fish habitat.

“The Forum provided an unparalleled opportunity for fishers from across NSW to learn
more about the latest research into fish habitat and to share their stories about efforts to
rehabilitate habitat and make more fish,” said Craig Copeland, Conservation Action Unit
Manager with NSW Department of Primary Industries, organisers of the Forum.

“Recreational fishers assessed the Forum as a major success and plans are now
underway by many fishers to fix some fish habitat in their local area over the coming year.”

President of the NSW Recreational Fishing Alliance, Malcolm Poole said recreational
fishers at all levels were inspired by speakers at the Forum who explained what fishers
could and should be doing to create more fish naturally for the future.

Ecofishers President, Ken Thurlow said the Forum was “a superb opportunity to network
with recreational fishers from around NSW and discuss the key role of fish habitat in
supporting our fisheries.”

President of the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers, Rodney Tonkin said a highlight was
Dr Martin O’Grady’s presentations on issues affecting fish habitat in Ireland and how these
were being addressed.
As well as being a mad keen fisher himself, Dr O’Grady challenged fishers to seriously
look at habitat repair as a cost-effective way of improving fish numbers.

Forum participants were taken on several site visits and received presentations from scientists and managers on the importance of fish habitat. They also saw a demonstration of long-stem tree planting and heard about fish habitat work being done by local landholders and school children.

Malcolm Poole said the Recreational Fishing Alliance thoroughly recommends all anglers
get involved and take time out to attend next year’s Forum.

More information: http://www.fishhabitatnetwork.com.au/