June 25,
2009

Stories This
Weeks
• High
School Boys Lacrosse: Springer, DelPrince deserving
All-Americans
• High
School Track and Field: Cole flirts with state meet mark; Buck
hits big throw at right times
• Outdoors
Sports Column (June 4): Bassmasters treat war vets to
fishing
• Outdoorsmen
Column:

Outdoor Sports: Minnow meeting sets stage for
control zone
By
Forrest Fisher

It is common knowledge across the
Lake Erie sector of Region 9 that yellow perch fishing is
great and emerald shiner minnows are the best bait. There are
other baits to use, like golden shiners, fathead minnows and
other minnows that can also work, but no substitute minnows
are as effective a “fish-catcher” as the emeralds.

The
first problem is that due to current regulations to contain
VHS disease, local anglers dipping their own bait in the
Niagara River are not allowed to transport their bait in an
overland vehicle. They can use a boat, but no one can afford
the gas to run from West Ferry Street to Evangola on a
repeated basis.

Anglers can use certified emerald
shiner minnow bait, but it must be purchased from a certified
bait dealer and the angler must have the receipt of purchase
in hand to avoid a hefty fine. The bait is only good for seven
days, after which, a new batch of bait must be
purchased.

The second problem is that the cost to local
bait dealers to test a pack of minnows is about $1,000 and it
takes four weeks to get the test results. Many of the minnows
die over that period. So bait dealers purchase certified
minnows from Wisconsin and other distant bait farms that are
disassociated with Great Lakes waterways. It is expensive and
the transportation cost is passed on to anglers in the price
of the bait, which is now at $12 per hundred.

Four or
five years ago, a $5 dip of minnows would yield about 300 to
400 minnows, allowing anglers to go fishing for a reasonable
cost. Today, 300 to 400 minnows cost between $30 and $50,
depending on where they are purchased. The entire Region 9
baitfish issue is throttled to a higher level by the news that
the Department of Environmental Conservation has not found VHS
disease in any of more than 50 tests per year in the last two
years. Is it gone? Not sure. It’s a big lake! Add that any
angler with a very small minnow net could catch his own
emerald shiner minnow bait along the Niagara River in one
quick dip and you have the elements of conflict.

Perch
anglers along Lake Erie have a passion for catching their
favorite fish and they know that emerald shiners are the only
bait that work best. The concern by the DEC is that they do
not trust anglers to dip their own bait and then only fish in
Lake Erie. So DEC wants to assure that Lake Erie minnows with
the potential for carrying VHS disease are not transported
over land, hence the regulation. On June 9, a meeting to
discuss these baitfish regulations was held between the DEC
and a new group called the Lake Erie Civilian Baitfish
Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the
three bordering sportsmen federations along Lake Erie.

The Erie County contingent included Dave Barus, a
project engineer from Moog; Rich Davenport, CEO for We Love
Outdoors.com; Herb Schultz, Lake Erie fishing specialist and
former minnow bait wholesaler and retailer; and Paul Stoos, a
machine repairman from Buffalo. Niagara County was represented
by Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council representative, Tom
Marks; Chautauqua County was represented by Zen Olow; Niagara
County by Paul Jackson; and the area bait dealer (wholesale
and retail representative) was Ms. Pat VanCamp. Paul Stoos,
also the vice-president for the Erie County Federation of
Sportsmen, wrote a letter to Helen Domske of the state’s Sea
Grant on April 24, requesting a meeting with NYS-DEC Bureau of
Fishery personnel, Steve Hurst (chief), Doug Stang (assistant)
and Region 9 director of fish and wildlife, Ms. Abby
Schneider. Domske coordinated with Assemblyman Jack Quinn and
others, and a meeting was held at the UB-North Campus under
the facilitated direction of NY Seagrant.

Domske was
assisted by NY Sea Grant’s Dave MacNeill. The DEC attendance
included Doug Stang, assistant director of Fish and Wildlife;
Steve Hurst, Bureau of Fisheries chief; Abby Snyder, Region 9
director; Russ Biss, Region 9 Natural Resources supervisor;
Capt. David Bennett, Regional 9 Law Enforcement; Paul McKeown,
Region 9 Fisheries manager; and Don Einhouse, Lake Erie Region
9 Unit Leader.

The stage was set! Barus and Davenport
presented a slide show that included the history of VHS,
current regulations, the request for a change by Region 9
sportsmen, and the statistical relevance of the Lake Erie
fishery in the local and state economy. Stoos said, “The
intention of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of
requesting that DEC consider changing the current regulations
to allow the transport of uncertified baitfish in vehicles
along a “buffer zone” corridor formed by Interstate 90/190 and
west.” Davenport added, “Region 9 is home to 24 percent of New
York’s licensed sportsmen, making us significant in the nature
of all state considerations, a number that may not have been
realized by the DEC Albany folks, considering they all took
notes at mention of the data.”

During the presentation,
VanCamp mentioned that the certified emerald shiners they
purchase for their wholesale and retail business are not as
hardy or strong as the ones that were previously dipped here
in the Niagara River. Schultz said, “Emerald shiners are also
found in huge numbers along the whole Lake Erie shoreline in
the bays and small creeks entering Lake Erie, not just the
Niagara River.”

The discussion included mention of the
economic hardship on bait dealers along Lake Erie that could
previously dip their own bait and retail it. Some businesses
have closed, others are ready to close and some are for sale.
Bait dealers in Western New York are having hard times
compared to dealers in other parts of the state.

How
VHS is most easily spread was included, identifying boat bait
wells, water and equipment as primary transfer mechanisms.
Waterfowl can carry the disease from waterways too, but not as
easily as fish to fish transport. The VHS virus is rather weak
in one regard and does not survive well, though DEC admitted
that they were not aware if tests had been conducted to
identify if the virus could survive in the stool of seagulls
or other waterfowl that fly from the Great Lakes to other
water bodies.

Stang said, “We are primarily trying to
stop the ‘fish to fish’ spread of the disease. The most
primary means of transporting the VHS virus, hence the current
regulations.” He also said that they cannot stop birds from
flying. Capt. Bennett discussed enforcement and the
ramifications of not being able to follow every vehicle if a
regulation change were to take effect. Stang wanted to know
from the committee, ”If there was a regulation change would
the average angler follow the new rules? Would they stay west
of the boundary?” The overall feeling of the participants was
that they would. Hurst wanted to know if the Federations and
organizations would help with an outreach program and the
answer there was a definite yes.

Hurst said that VHS is
consuming almost 70 percent of his time. The question of the
non-NYS certified emerald shiners diluting the current genetic
strain of our local emerald shiners came up and Don Einhouse
answered, “There is a small possibility.”

After many
more questions and answers, Domske smiled and added, “it seems
like the DEC is trying to work with us today.” She continued
and asked, “what does the DEC want from the Federations and
anglers to move this forward?”

Hurst said, “I would
need to count on the federations to extend a massive outreach
program to educate the anglers. That would be a start, but
remember, my job is to protect the fisheries of New York
State.” Hurst added, ”I believed when the regulations were
originally put into effect and what they are now, is what they
should be. I believed it then and I believe it now. My job is
to protect the fisheries of this State.”

Davenport
asked about a possible “pilot project” to try the
transportation of bait in the Lake Erie/Niagara River area.
Rich said there will be many challenges, but working together
would be the best answer. He tried to express the idea that
the biggest economic engine is Lake Erie with 24 percent of
the state licensed anglers being here and that a pilot project
here would be the best way to test changing the regulations.
He asked them to set some hard rules for a pilot
project.

Domske thanked the Civilian Baitfish Committee
for their professional presentations and the DEC for coming
and listening to what is going on in this end of the state.
She asked all federations to come up with more ideas and
stated that DEC did not think a letter writing campaign would
be a good idea. MacNeill said, “The next step might be for all
to go back to their respective organizations and let them know
that the discussions were open and honest. Sea Grant said they
would be more than willing to help with an outreach program.”

This meeting was a start for continued open discussion
with the DEC. Stay tuned, a follow-up meeting here or in
Albany is in the cards, Hurst agreed. More to come!

Outdoors Calendar

June 13-21: 25th
annual Lake Erie Southtowns Walleye Tournament, call Bob
Witulski at 691-3787 or visit
www.southtownswalleye.org.

June 19: Catch-and-release,
artificials only, bass season closes, Lake Erie trophy bass
season closes.

June 20: Bass and muskellunge seasons
open (statewide, general regulations).

June 20-July 19:
Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Summer Trout and Salmon Derby,
call 888-REEL-2-IN or visit www.LOC.org

June 20: Lower
River bass contest, Wagon Wheel Restaurant, $20 registration,
100% payout, sunrise to 4 p.m., call 283-9861.

June 27:
Youth Fishing Day, Chestnut Ridge Park Lake Commissioners
Cabin, call East Aurora Boys/Girls Club at 652-4180 to
register.

Stories This
Week
More Stories
• High
School Boys Lacrosse: Springer, DelPrince deserving
All-Americans
• High
School Track and Field: Cole flirts with state meet mark; Buck
hits big throw at right times
• Outdoors
Sports Column (June 4): Bassmasters treat war vets to
fishing
• Outdoorsmen
Column:

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