Freshwater Fishing News

The United States Department of the Interior recently announced the creation of a new federal partnership. The Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) is a federal union of 11 agencies.

The partnership aims to stimulate regional and local economies, create local jobs, improve quality of life, and protect Americans’ health by revitalizing urban waterways in under-served communities across the country.

UWFP will focus its initial efforts on seven pilot locations:

- the Patapsco Watershed (Maryland)

- the Anacostia Watershed (Washington DC/Maryland)

- the Bronx & Harlem River Watersheds (New York)

- the South Platte River in Denver (Colorado)

- the Los Angeles River Watershed (California)

- the Lake Pontchartrain Area (New Orleans, La.)

- the Northwest Indiana Area

Agencies of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership include:

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of the Interior

United States Department of Agriculture

Corporation for National and Community Service

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Department of Commerce/Economic Development Administration

Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Army Corps of Engineers

Department of Transportation

Housing and Urban Development

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

For more information, visit: http://www.urbanwaters.gov

source: Department of the Interior press release

Natural stream flow suits native trout populations best, according to a study that examines the impacts of dam operations on threatened freshwater trout. The study appears in River Research and Applications.

In a study to identify the potential impacts of Hungry Horse Dam (Montana) operations on declining native trout populations, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Miller Ecological Consultants, Inc., Spatial Sciences & Imaging and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks examined how changes in river flow affect fish habitat on the upper Flathead River in Montana.

“Our research suggests past flow management practices created sporadic flow fluctuations that were likely detrimental to threatened bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout populations in the upper Columbia River Basin,” said Clint Muhlfeld, project leader and USGS scientist. “With Montana providing 40 percent of the U.S. water storage in the Columbia Basin Power and Flood Control system, water demands –and biological impacts—are significant.”

Populations of native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout have declined throughout ranges in western North America due to a many factors, including habitat destruction, fragmentation and non-native species. Dam operations in the Columbia River Basin have contributed to these declines by changing flow and habitat, and disrupting routes of fish migration.

Loss of habitat connectivity and habitat modification can be especially detrimental to native trout populations, the study found. These fish migrate to spawn and feed and prefer large, relatively pristine habitats that are connected without any barriers such as dams.  Although the upper Flathead River system in Montana and British Columbia, Canada, is considered a regional and range-wide stronghold for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout these populations may be threatened by the effects of 55 years of altering flow downstream of the Hungry Horse Dam.

Results of the study further suggest that dam management strategies that are more similar to the natural flow of the river will likely improve the chances of protecting habitat and help to maintain and restore bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout populations.

“Analyses comparing the natural flow of the mainstem Flathead River (predam, 1929–1952) with five postdam flow management strategies (1953–2008) show that natural flow conditions optimize the threatened bull trout habitats and that the current management practices best resemble the natural flow conditions of all postdam periods,” Muhlfeld said.

One caveat to this observation, said Muhlfeld, is the practice of increasing flow in the late summer to help fish species such as salmon and steelhead, known as “anadromous” because they migrate from salt water to fresh water to breed.  According to the study, increasing flow to benefit one species is actually reducing the amount of suitable habitat for another – the bull trout, a species listed as a threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

“Several studies have shown that dam operations have profound effects on anadromous fishes, yet before ours, few studies have examined the impacts of flow management strategies on habitats of threatened, native trout species in the upper Columbia River Basin,” Muhlfeld said.

Results from the study are featured in the April 2011 early online edition of River Research and Applications.  The article is titled “Assessing the impacts of river regulation on native bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) and westslope cutthroat trout (oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) habitats in the Upper Flathead River, Montana, USA” and can be viewed online.

source: USGS

In May, the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC)  released its 2011 Asian Carp Monitoring and Rapid Response Plan (MRRP), outlining an aggressive set of actions to track and remove Asian carp in the Upper Illinois River and the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) to prevent this invasive species from establishing in the Great Lakes.

In 2010, Federal and state partners executed an aggressive, coordinated Asian carp monitoring and sampling strategy, dedicating more than 16,000 hours to surveying and removing Asian carp in more than 200 miles of Illinois waterway. On-the-ground actions ranged from cutting-edge scientific analysis of water samples for Asian carp DNA to intensive use of traditional fishing methods such as electrofishing and netting.

These actions were part of a comprehensive, multi-tiered Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework first released in May 2010. The 2011 MRRP summarizes the monitoring results from 2010, continues and intensifies these monitoring and sampling actions to take advantage of new technology, tools and understanding of this invasive species, and outlines a strategy for rapid response in the event an Asian carp is found above the barrier system in the CAWS.

The 2011 MRRP, which represents an estimated $7 million Federal investment, is designed with the flexibility to respond to new threats.

The ACRCC is led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation and all eight Great Lakes states, as well as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the City of Chicago.

For more information on the 2011 MRRP, 2010 actions, or to view the entire 2011 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, visit: www.asiancarp.org

source: Illinois DNR

NOAA Fisheries and the National Fish Habitat Board have announced the release of a report entitled: “Through a Fish’s Eye: The Status of Fish Habitats in the United States 2010.”

The report follows a nationwide assessment of human effects on fish habitat in the rivers and estuaries of the United States, developed by the public/private partnership of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

The report summarizes threats to rivers, estuaries, and other aquatic habitats, as well as identifying major sources of these threats, including pollution; urban development; agriculture; barriers to migration; and climate change. Some of the successful, ongoing efforts to address these threats to habitat are also featured within its pages.

This report also provides information concerning the challenges and opportunities facing fish and those engaged in fish habitat protection and restoration efforts. It also illustrates the need for strategic use of limited resources though partnerships—such as the Fish Habitat Partnerships established under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan—to identify the most effective use of funds and help the nation as a whole make progress in fish habitat conservation.

Through a Fish’s Eye can be accessed at:

http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/pdf/fishhabitatreport.pdf

During 2011 and 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting the 12th National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

American hunters, anglers and other wildlife enthusiasts will be asked to participate in interviews. The survey, which has been conducted every five years since 1955, will involve 53,000 households.

The survey is funded by the Multistate Conservation Grant Program authorized by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000. The survey provides the only comprehensive statistical database available on participation and expenditures for hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching in all 50 states.

The information is collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, primarily through telephone interviews to be conducted April to June and September to October in 2011, and January to March in 2012.

Respondents will be asked about their participation and expenditures in several categories of wildlife-associated recreation. The results will be available in a national report and in 50 individual state reports.

The survey hopes to include 19,000 anglers and hunters and 10,000 wildlife watchers (wildlife photographers, feeders, and observers). The reports, when completed, will be published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For more information, visit www.fws.gov