DCNR at Valley Forge

[Brownie101]

Was fishing Valley yesterday afternoon, and ran into 4 guys when I was leaving (I was near the Iron Bridge) who work for the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. They had 5 browns in a tank, and they said they were testing them for PCB's. They said they were going to kill the largest one (about 14") and do a more thorough test I geuss. I was just curious why they would be doing this, as the stream is obviously doing fine. Is this something they do yearly?

Ryan

 

[Chaz]

They regularly take fish and test them in streams with known pollution problems, such as PCB's. PCB's were found in the fish in Valley Creek years ago and they've been monitored since. There is a warning for Valley Creek to not eat the fish.

 

[TYoung]

That's the main reason why Valley Creek has catch and release regulations.

 

[Brownie101]

TYoung, I knew that was the reason it is c&r only, but i was still wondering why they were doing it. What if the PCB count went down, and harvest is permitted in the stream? Just a disturbing thought.

 

[Chaz]

The regs probably will never be lifted, but it's always good to be vigilant. They most likely took water samples too, and the levels probably have dropped.

 

[TDB]

Funny - I thought the same thing Ryan. I work with some of those guys and it just seems stupid to me that they do that. And do it when water is low and HOT! Might as well keep all the ones they goof with. Why not wait for a cool day or better?

Plus, who cares if the PCB levels have gone down a bit or not at all. Just leave it C&R and quit messin' with it...

They always have more casualties than reported and it is a shame.

 

[Brownie101]

I thought the same thing about the warm water temps and stressing fish, and I took the temperature there before I fished, I was very surprised that it was 61 (Cool nights I guess?) in the heat of the day. There is still not really a reason to survey it at all IMO. If the streams trout population is declining then sure, go ahead, but not when it's thriving!

 

[caveman]

TDB wrote:


Plus, who cares if the PCB levels have gone down a bit or not at all.

Gotta make sure they are safe for the poachers to eat.

 

[tulenkot]

I have an uncle who fished the creek frequently in 70's and 80's and he swears that the PCB thing was a big myth perpetuated and used by TU to establish the catch and release regulations on the stream. I don't believe him but it makes for a good story.

 

[troutbert]

Some info on the Valley Creek pollution topic:

http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/PAD980692594.htm

Some info on PCBs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl

 

[afishinado]

I recall reading info from the PFBC from last year that the PCB levels found in Valley Creek fish (trout) to be below the acceptable limit for consumption. Hopefully no one gets the idea to lift the C&R regs to have a fish fry.

 

[tomitrout]

uhhhm, why exactly do you guys object to DCNR monitoring the pollution levels in the stream, any stream? Seems to me the PCB levels in the fish would to be a pretty decent indicator of the overall health of the watershed? Imagine this has more to do with than just the trouts...

 

[jdaddy]

tomitrout wrote:
uhhhm, why exactly do you guys object to DCNR monitoring the pollution levels in the stream, any stream? Seems to me the PCB levels in the fish would to be a pretty decent indicator of the overall health of the watershed? Imagine this has more to do with than just the trouts...

Thanks for bringing some logic to the conversation.

Edit: To clarify, this was not directed at afishinado or Troutbert. I am shocked at the others suggesting additional followup testing to a Superfund site is note needed because "the fishing is good".

 

[afishinado]

Agreed. More testing and monitoring our streams and rivers is what we need, not less.

The ironic thing, to me anyway, is on page 39 of the FBC rules and regs guide, Valley Creek is listed as C&R / no harvest with a one meal / month fish consumption advisory. Guess they don't want any of the poachers to get sick?!?

Anyway, the silver lining is the stream is recovering for the PCB pollution that happened in the 80's.

 

[Chaz]

IT's beyond me why there are any objections, certainly can't be water temperature, it's a Class A stream. My guess is it interferes with their fishing therefore they object.

 

[bikerfish]

jealousy that THEY cant catch the big trout that DCNR was going to kill.
DCNR has the worst job, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
bottom line, trouts are NOT the most important part of the stream, the majority of our waterways are eventually used for drinking water, trout just happen to live in them.

 

[FiveWeight]

tomitrout wrote:
uhhhm, why exactly do you guys object to DCNR monitoring the pollution levels in the stream, any stream? Seems to me the PCB levels in the fish would to be a pretty decent indicator of the overall health of the watershed? Imagine this has more to do with than just the trouts...

Wasn't going to say anything but glad you brought it up. I was thinking the same thing. It just can not be a bad thing that it's monitored. I would think it would be worse if they did not.

 

[JasonS]

Best thing that could happen to this stream is them lifting the C&R regs and instituting some type of slot limit , allowing harvest of 8" to 12" fish.

 

[vealboy]

Valley is All Tackle C&R and what I was told by the PFBC was that PCB levels were low enough to change from no kill on all fish to the current reg.You can harvest any fish but trout now.And a big thank you to VFTU for helping get the pollution cleaned up from the Paoli rail yard which is where the PCBs came from.

 

[TDB]

Haha. There is much more to the story. I've worked on several cleanup projects in the "Valley". I am by no means saying that we (DEP) shouldn't be investigating and collecting data. My point is that there are much better ways to do it than shock fish in July/August, kill some of them, and really still be none the wiser as to what is going on.