Tag: angling

Hunters and Anglers Disagree With Bush Policies

A group that generally considers itself to be conservative disagrees with many of the Bush administration’s policies on the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on a survey of hunters and anglers:

Transcript

A group that generally considers itself to be conservative disagrees with many of the Bush
Administration’s policies on the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports on a survey of hunters and anglers:


The National Wildlife Federation commissioned a nationwide survey of people who hold hunting or
fishing licenses. It revealed that hunters and anglers generally liked some of the Bush
conservation programs, but disagreed with the Bush approach to controlling mercury pollution,
drilling for gas on public lands, and changing how wetlands are protected. Brian Preston is with the
National Wildlife Federation. He says the survey shows hunters and anglers want to protect the
environment; not just their hunting and fishing rights.


“They’re not the ‘Bubba’ that just cares about filling a bag limit. They do care about their natural
resources, and based on those values, they’re not happy with some of the current policies put forth
by the White House.


More than two-thirds of the hunters and anglers voted for Bush in the last election, but an even
greater number disagree with some of the Bush policies on the environment.

A New Generation of Fishery Managers

People who fish the Great Lakes for a living are getting a chance for some training in fisheries management. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

People who fish the Great Lakes for a living are getting a chance for some training in
fisheries management. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network has put together a program for commercial fishers,
charter boat captains, tribal fishers, sport-fishing groups and others. The program is
called the Great Lakes Fisheries Leadership Institute. The Institute’s goal is to better
inform those people through science training and leadership training. Brian Miller is with
the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. He says they hope to train a new generation of people in
the fisheries:


“In a lot of the organizations the leadership is aging and there is a need for new leaders to
emerge that have a good biology and scientific background that helps them understand a
lot of the complex issues they’re dealing with in the lake.”


The Sea Grant Network has found too often individual interests are so wrapped up in
their one issue, they lose sight of the bigger picture – the overall environmental health of
the Great Lakes. It’s hoped that the training will give them a greater perspective.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Anglers Face Lead Sinker Ban

The U-S Fish And Wildlife Service is planning to ban lead sinkers in
parts of the national wildlife refuge system. The agency wants to
reduce lead poisoning in loons. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Stephanie Hemphill reports:

Cormorant Control Begins in Earnest (Part 1)

In many ways, the double-crested cormorant is a wildlife success story. The
birds were almost wiped out by pesticide exposure in the 1960’s. But in
recent years, they’ve returned in large numbers to prime fishing areas in
the Great Lakes and elsewhere. In fact, they’re so good at catching fish,
commercial fishermen have been affected. In the first of a two part series,
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly found that the biologists who
protect these birds are also looking for ways to get rid of them:

Legacy Left by Cormorant Slaughter (Part 2)

The double-crested cormorant has been an enemy of fishermen for centuries.
They’ve eaten salmon on the Atlantic coast, catfish in Missouri and game
fish in the Great Lakes. Fishermen complain the cormorants are bad for
business. And last summer, fishing guides on Lake Ontario made their point
by killing more than two thousand birds. A year later, they’ve been caught
and arrested. In the second of a two part series, the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports the effect of those killings is still being
felt:

A North Woods Bait Shop

Fishing season opens in the Wisconsin northwoods and the sign outside
the baitshop says, "Crappie (Crop-pee) Minnows a dollar seventy-five a
scoop." The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nick Van Der Puy visits a
local bait shop to talk about fishing:

Leeches Stuck in Sport Fishing Battle

Another skirmish is erupting in the ongoing battle between Ontario and
Minnesota over sport fishing. Ontario recently banned the importation
of leeches without a permit. The reason – the Province says it doesn’t
want to risk exotic species piggy-backing on the popular bait. But as
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports, experts
on controlling exotic species say the reasoning is faulty:

Worm Dispensing Machines?

When vending machines were first introduced, they mostly dispensed
coffee, soft drinks, and cellophane-wrapped sandwiches. But today, some
vending machines are offering up a very different kind of grub; they
dispense fishing bait. It’s a growing trend in vending. There are now
about two-thousand bait machines across the country, with the largest
concentration in Michigan, Ohio, and New York. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports: