Pollution Effects on Bass Fishing

[OKSTFISHER99]

This is a paper I had to write for my English class at Oklahoma State, I hope to inform some fisherman some harm they might be causing! If you would not like to read the whole thing I recommend starting at the paragraph that begins with "For many fishermen." Thank you and if there are any ideas to help combat pollution let me know! I had to upload these pictures of the essay as the word limit was too much.

 

 

[j bab]

Very interesting point about requiring a short quiz when getting a license. Not a bad idea, really. Thanks for sharing your ideas, as many people complain without proposing solutions.

[Harold Scoggins]

Have you declared a major yet, @OKSTFISHER99? Looks like you may have a passion for wildlife conservation.

[TOXIC]

You missed a major cause of degraded water quality and that is the systematic spraying and eradication of naturally occurring plant growth by both municipalities and waterfront homeowners (most often with regulatory approval).  Aquatic plants filter the water and promote healthy fish habitat for both water quality and fish reproduction including a safe haven for fry during their development.  We, as fishermen and women are rarely given much of a platform in these types of decisions.  More emphasis is on the recreational use (boating/Skiing/aesthetics, etc.).   Another factor is invasive species as well as invasive plants.  You highlight Lake Okeechobee in Florida and with a little research you would have found the major cause of the water quality problems they are having are due to massive government authorized spraying and the sugar industry controlling the water movement.  I would venture a guess that although we should all be cognisant of our plastic disposal, it is a very small factor in overall fish morbidity. Certain states have banned lead weights and have attempted to ban plastics as well.  In my waters, runoff from major metropolitan areas including trash, household appliances and every other imaginable man made products, pose a bigger problem than discarded baits.  Industrial polluters also cause a lot of harm.  A local shut down power plant here was going to flush their coal ash ponds directly into the Potomac river but due to conservation groups, they will now be required to pump them out and dispose of them in a more ecological manner.  Keep up the good fight and keep bringing issues to the forefront!!   

[webertime]

Big Beautiful Lake Champlain...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2016/02/160203-feminized-fish-endocrine-disruption-hormones-wildlife-refuges

The short is, hormones injected into cows and then pooped out is washed into Lake Champlain and is creating intersex Bass.  Definitely makes you wonder about our food...

 

[GreenPig]

Test for fishing license?  No! No! No! Absolutely no need for more government in my life. The law is already there about throwing trash in the lake. Simply enforce the law. I'm all for a $1,000 fine for discarding trash in the lake. I'm sure your liberal English teacher liked the suggestion for more government. 

[Armtx77]

Im opposed to making people take a test, in order to get a fishing license. What is next, making people register their firearms...wait, they want to do that too.

Im not saying we dont need to protect our natural resources, but you will find that corporations, do far more damage than outdoorsman do. You want see some scary stuff up close? Come down to Louisiana and spend some time South of I90.

Lousiana loses coast line every minute, because the Corps of Engineers blocks off the MS river with a few dozen lock and d**n's on the upper MS. We are literally being strangled to death, so the BigAgra...Cargill,ADM,Bungy...etc can move product. Not to mention the 1000's of miles of leaky petrochemical pipes that are all over the place.

[WRB]

Well written paper with a research and thought out. You might want to consider modern industrial man has only been on earth for a few hundred years to pollute water, air and ground. It's currently popular to put blame on everything that can be regulated or taxed. The biggest polluter by far is the planet we call home that caused 100% of pollution prior to a few hundred years ago with severe droughts, floods, fire, vulcanic erroptions, oil seepage ,etc.  Today man has added to pollution by decimating the rain forest, building cities, vehicles and industries adding unknown* % of pollution.

The Clean Water and Air act has been in affect for a few decades (1972) and made good progress on industrial pollution.

We should be good Steward's of our environment and control what you can control and aviod using science to support theory.

In today's world creating reserviors by building the dams we all enjoy bass fishing in is nearly impossible do to environmental regulations. Be aware of the impact of what you ask for, it's a double edged sword.                   

Tom

* somewhere between 10-20%

 

[sully420]

@TOXIC I couldn't agree with you more on the issue of spraying vegetation in lakes. I'm lucky enough to live in a state that frowns on spraying aquatic vegetation but it's still happens now and then. Sooner or later fishermen will have to take the lead on this issue and advocate for healthy lakes across the U.S and stop needless spraying of vegetation for purely aesthetic reasons. The harvesting of millfoil is a big thing in many of the lakes I fish and even that has a massive effect on fish.( milfoil harvest is the cutting and collection of aquatic vegetation from the surface down to 4') harvesting stops the grass from topping out and makes the problem worse IMO. For now all we can do is keep out lakes clean and make sure we don't leave plastics or line in the lake.

[Black Hawk Basser]

To the OP, thanks for sharing your work, and shedding some light on topics that are not often discussed here.  All we can do as individuals is try to do our part in keeping the Earth and its inhabitants in good shape.  We can all do more for the environment, willingness is the hard part.

[schplurg]

I think our planet is taking care of itself by trying to reduce our numbers right now  

 

Someday the planet will win - it ain't goin' nowhere! Us on the other hand....we'll get whatever we deserve.