We are not against computers!  The advances associated with the huge strides in information transfer technology that we’ve experienced in the last twenty years are life changing, and mostly positive.  But wouldn’t it be ideal if we could retain some connection with nature?  And certainly not just on a computer screen, but in person and up close!  Catching a fish, splashing after a leopard frog, or sneaking up on a big old gander goose is the stuff of childhood, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to miss out on.

I remember a troupe of kids passing by with fishing rods in hand one day last summer, when one of the boys, lagging behind, complained about the sun being “too hot!”  A young gal in the group suggested he “man up”, at which point the young lad was pretty much forced by the amazing power of peer pressure to deal with conditions.  Not sure if those kind of life lessons happen frequently in front of a computer screen.

And kids don’t catch fish automatically.  Not even on Fish Fry.  They must learn the process, think it through, and then connect the dots.  Along the way, with a bit of patience, they are rewarded.  This is good stuff for kids.

There was a young gal that could not handle touching a worm.  When it came to touching a fish, that was at least as bad as the idea of touching a worm.  An hour later she was independently doing both.  Real life lessons, and a new connection with where food comes from.  More good stuff!

Today the majority of fresh water lakes in the U.S. are so nutrient rich that they are at risk of running out of dissolved oxygen, without which fish die.  Fish Fry Lake has turned this condition on its head.  We have learned how to cycle those same nutrients into fish, instead of algae.  Catch rate on Fish Fry is a fish every two minutes on average.  The 6.5 acre lake yielded 5,168 fish last year, which translates to 210 pounds of fish per acre.  And along the way the water in Fish Fry was kept within Cutthroat Trout temperature requirements.  A nearby public lake, with conventional management, yielded about ten pounds of fish per acre.  And those fish were stocked, while Fish Fry’s are wild and naturally reproductive.  In late summer, the bottom half of the public lake is devoid of breathable oxygen.  Trout that were stocked in that lake in the spring have a choice…they can cook in the warm water on top, or suffocate in the stratified cooler water below.  The same conditions repeat themselves in thousands of U.S. waterways every summer.  But it doesn’t have to stay this way.

What if we focussed on our public waterways, especially in cities and villages?  What if we took that water and cycled the nutrients that are already there, into fish?  This is a very real prospect.  We do have the science, and we have the tools.  Dive into our website and keep this vision in mind…of kids catching fish hand over fist.  This is a new vision of abundance, and it’s within reach.  We can concentrate nature’s wetland effect and the result is an upward spiral that leads to both clean water and huge abundance of healthy, vibrant and edible fish.

Following are a few Thank You notes by kids who’ve fished here on Fish Fry:

Dear Ms. Anne and Mr. Bruce.

SLM at Family and Youth Casting Call 2013-1.1

May 30, 2013 – Through its corporate volunteering program, The SOLution, SOLitude Lake Management, an industry leader in lake and pond management, fisheries management and related environmental services for the mid-Atlantic and surrounding states, participated in The Family and Youth Casting Call as volunteers, by stocking fish, and as a platinum sponsor of the event. The event was held May 3 – May 4, 2013 at the Fletcher’s Boat House in Washington, D.C. Over 700 youth attended this year.

In its 7th year, this annual event is geared towards getting kids outdoors, active, “hooked” on fishing, and educated about the importance of natural resources. SOLitude stocked just under 2,000 adult bluegill and largemouth bass, including several huge bass, in the C&O Canal for the children to catch and release.

SOLitude Lake Management also donated 97 total volunteer hours and set up a hands-on shad spawning game to demonstrate the shad’s difficult journey downriver to the open ocean, and then back upriver to lay their eggs. The children pretended to be in a simulated water environment, avoiding challenges and potential predators as they made their way through the obstacle course following the shad’s dangerous path.

“It was a really fun opportunity for our team to share our enthusiasm for water resources with the kids,” said Shannon Junior, Aquatic Ecologist and Regional Manager for SOLitude. “Many of them had never caught a fish before, and it’s an experience that they’ll remember forever.”

The SOLution is a company-wide program that encourages the company and all employees to strive to “create a better world” through volunteerism, community outreach, sustainability and environmental consciousness. SOLitude’s company leadership feels it is important to not only be good stewards of the environment and good corporate citizens, but also to fulfill company core values to “take action and be accountable” and to “protect and respect nature.” To participate or share a non-profit’s goals for consideration in The SOLution, contact Tracy King at tking@solitudelake.com.

Since 1998, SOLitude Lake Management has been committed to providing full service lake and pond management services that improve water quality, preserve natural resources, and reduce our environmental footprint. Our services include lake, pond and fisheries management programs, algae and aquatic weed control, installation of fountains and aeration systems, water quality testing and restoration, bathymetry, lake vegetation studies, habitat assessments and nuisance wildlife management. We are the second largest distributor of AquaMaster fountains and aerators internationally and in the U.S. Lake and pond management services are available in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey & New York. Fisheries management consulting and aquatic products are available nationwide. Learn more about SOLitude Lake Management and purchase products at www.solitudelakemanagement.com.

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Trade practices around the port city of Wilmington over the past century have caused a significant decline in the number of fish in the Cape Fear River.  But thanks to the efforts of a local non-profit, their populations are staging a comeback.  Cape Fear River Watch Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette says there are several reasons why the fish numbers have dropped, but main reason is the construction of three dams on Cape Fear River in the early 1900’s.  The dams were originally built to facilitate trade and commerce along Cape Fear River between Wilmington to Fayetteville.

“Barges would approach the dam and would move into a lock chamber adjacent to the dam and that lock chamber would be flooded or drained depending on which way they were going and those boats would continue upstream.”

While the dams were beneficial for navigating barges and vessels, they prevented migrating fish species like striped bass, American shad, as well as the endangered Atlantic sturgeon and short nose sturgeon from swimming upstream to spawn during the spring.

“The American shad for instance, we are basically at 10 percent of what historic levels were. Nine out of every ten fish that used to be in the Cape Fear River are not there now. But none of these fish, none of these migratory species are even approaching the population numbers that would be considered healthy.  So, they all need help.”

To help restore the natural migration of fish in the Cape Fear River, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed of a fish ladder at Lock and Dam one in Reigelwood last year. It’s the first one of its kind on the east coast of the United States.  Fish climb the stair-step like structure made from carefully placed rocks by leaping out of the water, level by level, until they’re over the twelve foot high dam.  It’s the first migrating season since the fish ladder has been in place, and Burdette says it’s being used.

“The Division of Marine Fisheries has tagged fish with sonic tags then they’ve gone out and collected this data and these studies show these fish are using these fish passages, striped bass and shad are both using these fish passages, they’re both moving upstream unassisted for basically the first time in one hundred years so it’s really a significant breakthrough for the Cape Fear River and the migratory fish in the Cape Fear River.”

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Now two more Cape Fear fish ladders are in the planning phase. Two grant applications were recently submitted to the National and Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund the design, construct, and monitor rock ramp fish ladders at the other dams on the Cape Fear River.

While one project focuses on helping migrating fish travel upstream, another project in the works will help restore breeding habitat.  Coastal Scientist Dawn York explains the project.

“Basically, the premise is to design a site where we can place about 1,000 tons of rocks down in an area that will help enhance spawning habitat for American shad.”

York is with Dial Cordy and Associates, an independent environmental consulting firm working with the Cape Fear River Watch as well as state and federal agencies on creating the fish habitat. She says the rocks will be placed at a half-acre area downstream of lock and dam 2.  An exact location for the habitat hasn’t been decided.  Crushed granite, ranging in size from 2 to 10 inches, will be set at the bottom of the Cape Fear River providing a safe place for striped bass, herring, and sturgeon to lay their eggs.  York says a dredging company in Wilmington will help facilitate the construction.

“They’ll travel up river it’ll take about 4-5 days to mobilize to lock and dam 2. They’ll use their excavator and smaller equipment to get the material onto a barge and they can handle about 90 tons per day. So we’re anticipating the construction of the restoration of habitat will take about 4 to 6 weeks.”

York says they want the first and last ton of granite material to be hand tossed into the water by volunteers.

“The rest of it would then be handled by the barge and mechanical means, basically an arm that will come down and grab large handfuls of material and place it into the river.  It’s going to be sort of spaced out over a half acre, so it’s sort of a flat area.”

Construction should take place between December of this year and February 2014. The project can’t begin sooner because of a moratorium banning the placement of material in the water due to fish migration.  Cape Fear River Watch Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette says the next several months will be spent finding the best location for the new fish habitat.

“It’s not nearly as simple as taking rock out there and dumping it off.  What we’re really going to do is side scan assessments of the riverbed and what we’re trying to do there is understand what the riverbed looks like and what the substrate looks like and identify the best places to put the granite.”

Even with the project wrapping up in early 2014, Burdette says their work repopulating the waters of Cape Fear River with migrating fish species is far from over.

“The project at lock and dam number one was a huge first step, but it’s not the last step.  We still have two more dams we need to have fish passage around because we really need these fish to get up into the fall line, that’s the area where they want to spawn, that’s the area where spawning would be most successful and so that’s where we need to go.”

Even though the construction isn’t underway, the project is already receiving national attention.  The National Fish Habitat Partnership has listed the Cape Fear River as one of the “10 Waters to Watch,” for its locally driven conservation areas and ongoing efforts.

Fishing is permitted at all three lock and dam sites, however, there is a moratorium on keeping striped bass.  It is illegal to keep sturgeon because they are an endangered species.  A dock was recently installed at lock and dam number one downstream from the dam structure and Burdette says it’s a popular fishing site for shad.   If you’d like to see a picture of the fish ladder in place at lock and dam one in Reigelwood, go to publicradioeast.org.

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For more on Cape Fear River Watches fishery restoration efforts, click here: http://www.capefearriverwatch.org/advocacy/fish-restorationBy JARED BRUMBAUGH