Keeping tabs on fishing guides and more outdoor news

Posted on: April 20, 2018 | Bob Frye | Comments

Fishing guides put anglers on fish.

Fishing guides in Pennsylvania are required to be registered.
Photo: Pixabay

Fishing guides have to be registered in Pennsylvania. That’s the rule.

Not everyone’s been abiding by it, though.

So, this past year, law enforcement officers with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission got involved. They made a point of going after those operating outside the law.

Twenty-six un-permitted guides were discovered. Many didn’t have a current guiding permit. What’s more, they’d never had one at all, said Tom Burrell, of the commission’s bureau of law enforcement.

Twenty-one of those guides were prosecuted. Five were given warnings because of a technicality of sorts.

“Most of them were long-time guides who were not caught on the water. They were caught running a guide service or advertising a guide service,” Burrell said.

Two Fish and Boat Commissioners applauded that work. They pointed out there are other fans, too.

One, Len Lichvar of Somerset County, said the issue was brought to the agency’s attention by guides abiding by the rules.

“I can tell you that, among those guys I’ve talked to, they are aware of the additional enforcement and what you’ve done out there. And they aprpeciate it,” Lichvar said.

Commissioner Ed Mascharka of Erie County said the guides operating in his area do as well.

“They said I should give you guys a thumbs up over what’s happened in the last six to 12 months,” Mascharka said.

Economic impact

The total economic impact of the firearms and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $51.4 billion in 2017. That’s a 169 percent increase.

Those figures come from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. It’s the group representing the firearms industry.

The NSSF also reported that the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to almost 310,000, an 87 percent increase, during that time.

On a year-over-year basis, the industry’s economic impact rose from $51.3 billion in 2016 to $51.4 in 2017, “ticking higher even while the industry came off-peak production years.” Total jobs increased from approximately 301,000 to almost 311,000, a 3 percent increase in the same period.

“Our industry is proud to be one of the truly bright spots in our economy as an unprecedented number of Americans have chosen to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and to safely enjoy the shooting sports,” said Stephen L. Sanetti, NSSF President and CEO.

He noted that the industry has, since 2008, increased federal tax payments by 144 percent, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes that support wildlife conservation by 104 percent and state business taxes by 121 percent.

New hunters

Here’s an unusual idea under consideration for keeping new hunters interested in the sport.

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department is considering a proposal, put forward by a “becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop instructor, to guarantee first-time hunters a license.

In South Dakota, a limited number of deer licenses are issued each year. Not every hunter who applies gets one. Applications are due months before the season opens, too.

Janet Loux, the instructor, thinks it might make sense to make exceptions in the case of newly-minted hunters. She’s suggesting creating a new license for first-time deer hunters, similar to the one that lets children younger than 18 take an antlerless deer anywhere in the state.

Newcomers would be eligible only in the year they took their hunter safety course, and could not have previously held a license. They would need to be accompanied by a mentor, too.

State wildlife officials have put her idea out for public comment.

Erie creel limits

The Fish and Boat Commission recently announced something else: creel limits for Lake Erie yellow perch and walleye.

The limit is 30 a day for perch, six a day for walleyes. Those are the same limits as last season.

“The 2017 assessment showed that both yellow perch and walleye populations remain at maintenance levels,” said Chuck Murray, the commission’s Lake Erie biologist. “Based on this, the 2018 creel limits are being held at the 2017 limits.”

Based on a 2018 abundance estimate of 41 million walleye age two or older, the walleye population has decreased by about 23 percent from 2017 levels. Still, Murray said, the fishing should be “excellent” again this year.

The 2015 walleye year class – those fish about 3 years old – make up 56 percent of the population and should contribute significantly to the harvest.

White-nose syndrome

White-nose syndrome, which is doing to bats what chronic wasting disease is doing to deer, only on a much more dramatic and fast-moving scale, is now in yet another a new place.

It was recently confirmed in Kansas. That brings to 32 the number of states known to have the disease.

White nose is named for the white fungal growth often observed around the nose of infected bats. It invades their skin and damages their wings. But most notably, it often causes them to come out of hibernation early, leading to death.

The disease has reduced populations of some bat species by 99 percent.

White nose was first detected in New York in 2007.

Deer farms

Michigan lawmakers are trying to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Legislation was recently introduced that would prohibit the importation of live deer or elk into the state. It would also require deer farms to be surrounded by double fences. The goal would be to keep wild and farm deer from interacting.

It would also give hunters the opportunity to voluntarily contribute to a fund dedicated to CWD research. Donations would be accepted in $1, $5 or $10 increments.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering how to battle the disease in the Keystone State, too. The House of Representatives game and fisheries committee is even holding a CWD hearing on June 7 in Harrisburg.

Guns destroyed

There’s been some talk of what Dick’s and Field & Stream were going to do with the firearms and accessories pulled from store shelves in the aftermath of a Florida school shooting.

But now we know.

The company said it plans to destroy all of the AR-15-style firearms it was once selling rather than return them to manufacturers for distribution elsewhere.

A company spokeswoman told various media outlets that the firearms are being destroyed in accordance with federal guidelines.

Air rifles

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is debating whether to allow hunters to use air rifles to take big game starting this fall.

Initially, it said that .30 caliber and larger airguns – including Airbows — would be legal for harvesting deer and turkey effective Sept. 1. But it’s since backed off a bit, delaying any decision until after a May 24 meeting where hunters and others can offer input.

A number of other states already have such rules in place.

Bob Frye is the everybodyadventures.com editor. Reach him at 412-838-5148 or bfrye@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

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