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Use of Live Bait changed for 2008 on Lake Norfork.
The change limits bait used on Lake Norfork to farm-raised bait or bait caught in the
wild from the lake itself. Bait such as shad brought in from other areas is banned.
Thanks to AGFC District 2 biologists,
Ken Shirley for the below report.
This regulation originated from the public - specifically, the Lake Norfork
Striper Club and the
Lake Norfork Chamber of Commerce. It originated because the
National Striped Bass Association held a national qualifier tourney on Norfork
last year and plan to hold their national finals on Norfork next year.
This group intended to bring blueback herring for bait, then when told they
couldn't, decided to bring gizzard shad instead.
What the NSBA did not want to do is waste their time having to collect local
bait.
While it is already illegal to release shad or any other aquatic bait species
into waters from which they were not collected, it has not been illegal to use
them as bait.
That is, any bait not used would have to be disposed of away from the
lake. Unfortunately, some members of the club say that they “know” that some
qualifier anglers did release their bait into the lake.
So, the groups wanted the regulation change in time for the national tournament.
Of course there is no way of knowing if the tournament anglers caught the shad
on Norfork or if that even really happened.
The striper anglers fear that bait will come from waters such as
Lake Ouachita
infected with the striped bass copepod. While the copepod hasn’t caused serious
problems on Ouachita in spite of its abundance, the stripers on Norfork do get
very seriously stressed in late summer to the point of significant fish kills
some years.
The copepod might be a more serious problem here since it would be one more
stressor. It has caused striper kills in eastern lakes with similar
oxygen/temperature squeezes.
Another fear is that even if the excess bait is disposed of legally, bait used
could still transfer a disease. Or the bait water could contain the disease,
zebra mussels or other invasives.
The Lake Norfork Chamber of Commerce has taken the lead on aquatic diseases and
invasive aquatic life and is part of AG&FC Fish Pathologist Kelly Winningham's aquatic invasives task force which is in the process of formulating proposed
regulation changes dealing with the broader issue.
Lake Norfork is the only lake on the list right now because of local support and
the need to act before the national tournament.
Beaver Lake guides bring lots of shad from Grand Lake and are likely opponents
of any change.
The Ouachita lakes already have the copepod so the incentive on this issue is
nil there. However, after Kelly's task force makes its recommendation it is
likely that bait regulations statewide will be much more restrictive than now.
She can explain the broader issue better than I can but I’ll try. Certainly
there are much more serious disease problems out there than the striped bass
copepod (VHS for example) and there is a great fear from AR minnow farmers that
they will spread to AR.
VHS can infect many species and has caused huge multi-species fish kills in the
Great Lakes and surrounding waters. It has resulted in the complete closure of
interstate transport of fish from that region, once the major producer of wild
caught bait fish. If AR were to become positive for VHS (that is one single fish
testing positive), it would instantly shut down all interstate transport of
minnows from AR, devastating a multimillion dollar industry.
AR is by far the nation’s top supplier of farm raised minnows. Therefore on the
wider issue, the AR bait farmers are leading the drive to restrict bait imports.
While the regulations are not yet finalized and I am not on the team, from what
I have heard farms will likely have to be tested regularly to get and maintain
disease free status.
Bait shops will probably have to keep receipts of their shipments and copies of
their supplier’s disease free certificate. I believe the U.S. Department of
Agriculture will do the inspections of the fish farms.
Not sure who would do the bait shop monitoring but my guess is that it would be
spot checks by Wildlife Officers.
I have heard that in some states, even the angler is required to keep a copy of
the receipt of bait shop purchases.
Yes disinfecting boats (and waders) is very important to prevent introduction of
exotic species. Many problem plants, animals and diseases have already been
spread this way. For example LMBV virus is almost everywhere, Didymo algae which
is hurting our trout waters, probably came on waders from western trout streams.
The Lake Norfork Chamber of Commerce is leading the effort to get disinfectant
stations at lodges and accesses, publicizing the issue, and even demonstrating
their use at fishing group meetings.
The AG&FC has been actively involved in publicizing the issue as well with
articles in the AG&FC magazine Arkansas Outdoors, newspapers and our fishing
regulation book.
Of course, even with strict regulations and massive publicity, prevention of
disease and invasive introductions will still require the efforts of the anglers
and boaters.
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