Certain sounds, like the motor on a boat, can cause Asian carp to go crazy. Incidents of anglers getting hurt by leaping fish are becoming common in some places.
Some anglers dream of getting rich by fishing tournaments and catching more bass than anyone.
What if you could figure out a way to catch more Asian carp than anyone, though? That could prove lucrative, too, at least in Michigan.
There, the state’s Department of Natural Resources – in an attempt to keep the invasive species out of Lake Michigan – is sponsoring an “Asian carp challenge.”
The state is seeking ideas on how to keep the fish outside its borders. The Governor and legislature have authorized paying out up to $1 million for ideas that hold promise.
“Ideas at any stage of development will be accepted, from concepts with sound rationale to projects that are already in development or testing phases,” reads a press release.
Details are here.
Reporting harvests
Kill a deer or a turkey in Pennsylvania 2018 and you’ll probably have to boot your computer or reach for the phone to report it.
The pre-printed, postage-paid report cards that have come with every hunting license for decades are likely going away.
It costs the Pennsylvania Game Commission money to print the cards, money to have them mailed and money to have someone enter all of that data, said executive director Matt Hough. It’s much cheaper to have hunters report harvests online or by phone.
So it’s likely the cards are going to disappear as an option by 2018, he said.
That shouldn’t be a problem for hunters, said board president brian Hoover of Delaware County. It’s true there are rural parts of the state where internet service is slow, he said.
“But everyone’s got a phone,” he added.
Commissioner Jim Daley of Butler County, meanwhile, said he wishes report cards were different already in one way.
Hunters who report a kill that way are required to list their date of birth. That’s not only redundant – the commission knows each license buyer’s birthday thanks to their unique CID, or customer identification number – it’s also dangerous in an era of identity theft, he said.
“You shouldn’t give that out in today’s world,” Daley said.
Chronic wasting disease
It’s outside the fence.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials recently announced that they’ve found chronic wasting disease, or CWD, in a free-ranging deer for the first time ever.
The deer was a 1 ½-year-old buck taken by a hunter. It was found to be sick after samples taken from it were submitted for testing.
Agency wildlife veterinarian Bob Dittmar said no conclusions about the disease or its prevalence can be drawn from one animal. It’s best to contain it where possible, though, so immediate rules limiting things like the movement of deer parts have gone into effect in what’s been declared a disease containment area, he added.
The goal is to “contain the threat of this disease spreading any further while we collect more information and gather more data,” reads a statement by commission chairman T. Dan Friedkin.
Pymatuning crappies
Heading to Pymatuning Lake? If so, the Fish and Boat Commission wants to remind you that some new rules are in effect for fishermen.
As of March 1, anglers are limited to keeping 20 crappies per day, all of them at least 9 inches long.
Up until now, there have been no size or creel limits on Pymatuning crappies.
The change is meant to protect some crappies from harvest, thereby allowing them to reach larger sizes.
“These regulations have been used to improve crappie size structure and density in other Pennsylvania lakes where they have been applied and will likely have similar positive results in Pymatuning Reservoir,” said Jason Detar, chief of the commission’s division of fisheries management.
“Growth rates for crappies in the reservoir are well above the Pennsylvania state average, suggesting that the forage base is sufficient to support an increase in crappie density.”
Butterflies and birds
Pheasants Forever exists to protect and promote pheasants and pheasant hunting, as its name would suggest.
So why is it involved with butterflies?
Call it a case of finding friends where you can.
Monarch butterflies thrive best in the very same habitat that supports ringnecks. So, in an attempt to build strength through numbers and team up with conservationists whose primary focus is butterflies, Pheasants Forever is getting involved to create places for both species to live.
According to scientists, the over-wintering population of monarch butterflies in central Mexico fell by 27 percent in 2016. To combat that, Pheasants Forever has set a goal of establishing at least one million milkweed stems by 2020. That would be more than created by any other conservation entity, public or private.
That would, of course, benefit upland birds like pheasants, too.
Last year alone, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever planted more than 326 million milkweed seeds nationwide.
Target ban
Enjoy shooting exploding targets?
Do it while you can. One Pennsylvania lawmaker would like to ban the practice.
Dom Costa, a Democrat from Allegheny County, is prime sponsor of House Bill 292. It would make it illegal to possess or sell exploding targets such as those made by Tannerite.
In a memo to fellow lawmakers explaining his reasoning, Costa said such targets are dangerous. They have “the potential to cause property damage, serious injury and even death when used improperly, or when large amounts are used,” he wrote.
Worse, he said that in at least one case, a man was arrested for planning to use the targets to blow up a state police barracks. Costa himself is a former City of Pittsburgh police officer who was once shot on duty.
His bill has just seven cosponsors, so it’s not found a huge welcome in the House. It has been referred to the judiciary committee for consideration, however.
