Message from John Arway about the Susky

[afishinado]

Susquehanna River Needs Your Help
December 18, 2012

Holidays are for reminiscing and sharing fishing stories with family and friends, so I would like to offer you the chance to share some of your memories of the Susquehanna River with your PFBC family.
The Susquehanna has been a friend and great company for many of us who have enjoyed the river over the years. Whether it is fishing, boating, floating or just sitting on the river bank watching the river flow by, the mighty Susquehanna really is part of our family heritage.
Right now our friend - the river - is in trouble and needs your help.

The government agencies in charge of protecting the river have gathered the facts which show that the fish in the river are sick. However, that has not been enough evidence to convince others in positions of authority to act.

Over the last several years, many of you have shared with us your personal stories about fishing the river and your concerns about the changes that are occurring. We invite you to visit our website and submit these personal stories about your good times on the river. Please include photos of big fish or creatures or tubing or boating on the river. Tell us about how you remember the river and how it compares to what you see today.

You can submit the stories online at: http://www.fishandboat.com/susq-impairment.htm.

This is your chance to make a holiday wish that the Susquehanna River gets healthy again and to show others that we really care about the river and why we care so much. I know that we can make a difference if we all work together to get our river back. Please help us to make our wish come true.

Thanks and happy holidays.

Your Director,

John Arway

Link to source: http://www.fish.state.pa.us/newsreleases/2012press/susq-help.htm

 

[dc410]

Article in today's Lancaster Sunday News - outdoor section by their outdoor writer - P.J. Reilly in regards to this topic requesting people to submit stories to the above mentioned website for public input on the issue of the health of the Susky.

 

[afishinado]

dc410 wrote:
Article in today's Lancaster Sunday News - outdoor section by their outdoor writer - P.J. Reilly in regards to this topic requesting people to submit stories to the above mentioned website for public input on the issue of the health of the Susky.

Here's a link to the article: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/797504_What-s-wrong-with-the-Susquehanna-River-.html#ixzz2GWhjXRB5

 

[afishinado]

Here's an article from the "York Daily Record."

("Ain't no problem, leave me and my feeshing alone" according to some of the Yorks)

http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_22293721/lesions-smallmouth-bass-susquehanna-river-sparks-controversy

 

[springer1]

To fix the Susq problem - start raising hatchery SM & release them the 1st week in June, and then once in September. WALA - there's SM in the Susq !

Why isn't that a good idea? After all that's how you & I manage the creek fishery isn't it? We're OK with doing this year after year after year after year .....

It's a valued tradition to defend. That's why there's no need to let the hatchery trout stocked in the Fall survive to April or even next June, let the creel limit wipe em out by winter. It's a tradition.

If we need more hatcheries for the SM, let inmates in the state prisons run them and feed the fish pellets made from the food scraps. Those fish would be the best fed on earth. Can we put just 5% of them in the Schuylkill ?

Hatcheries & put-n'-take .... that's the ticket !!

Sorry, thanks for letting me rant .....

 

[Maurice]

First of all to make it practical it would have to be a fingerling stocking effort to be cost effective considering the size of the susky. THe fingerlings are dying of disease. Which is the problem here....idea squashed, NEXT!!!

 

[franklin]

The fingerling stocking idea may have been sarcastic. I agree it probably won't work since the problem is the environment.

This is a hard one to see who is right (maybe both Arway and Krancer). What they fail to communicate is exactly what are the legal requirements to get 303 d listing and what 303d listing provides as solutions. Why is 303d listing so important and what can be accomplished without or prior to 303d listing? If 303d listing is so critical what would the plan be to get enough data and conclusions to get DEP to agree with listing?

I give Arway credit for getting involved, probably sticking his neck out, to raise the issue. What I don't see are creative ways to approach further understanding and potential solutions to the issue.

My guess is that this is a long term issue that will takes years to completely understand and and many more years and large sums of money to address. They may also be chasing a moving target as the problem is likely a collection of issues made worse by water temperature rise. They could implement large scale expensive solutions only to find it ineffective due to additional unplanned temperature rises.

If this is a problem only affecting SM how much do we spend to keep the Susquehanna a SM stream when many other budget issues are of greater importance?

 

[Fishidiot]

Fingerling SMB stockings were seriously considered several years ago and were - at least for now - ruled out.

 

[afishinado]

Wow, while the SMB is not "native" to the Susky, hopefully it won't become necessary to stock fish that have been growing wild in our streams and rivers for more than a century. Sad.

 

[springer1]

The fingerling stocking idea may have been sarcastic. I agree it probably won't work since the problem is the environment.

Yes, I was being sarcastic and at the same time cause some critical thinking about the Fall stocking/limit policy.

Obviously the Susq problem is the environment, and therefore requires a solution much broader than any given locality or stretch of water. I don't think it's just the Susq.

I wonder if simple steps can be made to reduce the overall cumlative causes of stress like improved medicine disposal & runoff control - while the expensive and time consuming studies continue.

After all, the studies just might find that the issue is the cumlative effect, not one silver bullet.