President John Durben, Green Bay Area Great Lakes Sport Fishermen, began our meeting at 10:18 a.m.
Secretary and media director Larry Van Veghel, Wisconsin Fishing Club Ltd., read the minutes from our statewide fall meeting. The minutes were approved as read.
Treasurer Cornell Stroik, Wisconsin, The BASS Federation, gave us an excellent breakdown on our treasury transactions. We have $4,782.82 in our checking account and $3,059.76 in our savings account. His report was approved as read.
Director Bureau of Fisheries Management, WDNR, Mike Staggs, told us we have 1.4 million licensed anglers in Wisconsin. We are second in the nation to Florida.
Staggs said there is an intensive fish survey on Lake Puckaway starting this spring. A commercial fisherman’s carp contract was terminated due to killing 2,000 walleyes. Per a DNR estimate, this is 8 to 10% of the walleye population. Due to this crime, the DNR has revised rough fish removal contract procedures, and they are reviewing 2010 proposed contracts.
Our WDNR is helping Illinois with their Asian carp problem. Per Staggs, Asian carp DNA has been found in Waukegan. To urge involvement, Wisconsin’s Attorney General Van Hollen wrote to all Governors and to President Obama regarding the necessity of closing off this river from Lake Michigan. In his letter, he referred to these non-native carp as “large bodied planktivorous invasive fish.”
Staggs stated that the silver carp is the #1 food fish in the world. The #1 food crayfish is the red swamp crayfish, and it has been found in two Wisconsin ponds, one in Germantown and another in Kenosha County. This crayfish is native to Louisiana, and it is larger than the rusty crayfish. It has blue pinchers with red protuberances. The Germantown pond was eradicated on Nov. 12, 2009 and the Kenosha pond will be eradicated ion a few weeks.
VHS has entered Lake Superior. DNA was found by Michigan DNR and Cornell University scientists.
The DNR’s tough 2010 choices are:
• Warm water habitat improvements (-42%),
• Special Studies (-45%),
• Publications (-24%),
• Fewer regulation proposals,
• No trout stamp contests or actual stamps,
• Public outreach activities (-50%),
• Fish kills & unplanned surveys (-75%),
• Surveys/services in counties without biologists &
• Stocking reductions.
Good work to be done in 2010 by the DNR includes:
• All inland walleye, muskellunge, and wild trout stocking,
• All Lake Michigan Chinook and most due this year stockings &
• The Wild Rose Hatchery cool water species (Part 2) is ready to go. No tax money was used to build this hatchery.
Mike Staggs went over the major fish questions on the Spring Rules Hearings. No major changes are being questioned.
Regarding our electronic Newsline, President Durben said to send notices, news and events information to him for posting. As an option, you can also send info to Secretary Van Veghel, should you wish to have it entered on the event calendar or edited before being entered online Newsline by our president/webmaster.
Next, George Meyer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation (WWF), said they are working toward getting phosphorous removed from household cleaning chemicals. Phosphorous as an effective fertilizer causes rampant aquatic plant growth.
Mike Arrowwood is the new fisheries person for WWF. He’s on the Walleyes Unlimited U.S.A. board.
Regarding AB 4, it repealed past legislation establishing an early musky season and a ban on barbless hooks for bass.
Per Meyer, the Class A Little Plover River has gone virtually dry in a five mile stretch and Long Lake, in Waushara County, plus Bloody Run Creek have gone dry in summer when irrigation wells are turned on. These pumps do 70 GPM and up.
Some “special interest” groups are erringly bypassing the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and are going directly to the legislature. Meyer said these groups should go through the “Congress” and the Spring Hearings to get proper feedback and a good cross sectional representation. In these cases, it involved turkey and bear hunting seasons, but it could also occur to future fishing seasons.
Meyer commented on money being regulated to use general purpose dollars to the DNR to regulate commercial fishing. Right now, sport fishing money is doing this.
WCSFO members present unanimously voted to support the SB 620 groundwater bill and unanimously to support funding the Wisconsin Commercial Fishery proposal.
The North Lake launch, which was supposed to start being installed this spring, is still having opposition.
Cornell Stroik said tournaments and regulations have not recently been discussed by either of the major statewide bass organizations, as they’ve had elections where new officers were elected. Stroik is also our C.A.S.T. representative. C.A.S.T. educates tournament people about how to ethically run fishing tournaments in Wisconsin.
Our upcoming April 10th 26th annual Kids Fishing Klinics are set for 10 Milwaukee, four Waukesha, one Washington and one Racine County park ponds. Thank you to all volunteers for you contributions.
We ended by being in favor of continuing to produce our “in demand” 48 page Kids Fishing book.
Our annual, statewide fall meeting is scheduled for the third Saturday in October 2010 at the Walleyes for Tomorrow Headquarters in Fond du Lac.
Our meeting ended at 2:20 p.m.
For representation, member clubs must send their delegates. New member clubs, individual members and business members are always welcome.
Respectively submitted,
L.A. Van Veghel
No comments:
Post a Comment