A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the editor suggesting some obvious fishing problems in the Bays de Noc and recommending some possible solutions to remedy those problems. The crux of the letter was that we must improve the lower end of the fish food chain in order to build up the top end fish that draw all the attention.
Most feedback I received was in agreement with my proposed solutions. Some very qualified people told me that many of my ideas have already been pursued to dead ends.
One effort would have provided volunteer manpower, volunteer equipment and volunteer financing to raise panfish in one or more of the currently idle walleye rearing ponds. That proposal met with a blunt: “NO” without the benefit of an explanation any better than that the DNR does not have any plans to proceed in that direction.
Several fishing tournaments were held on the ice this past winter. These provide monies for various charitable organizations. The numbers of people that enter these events are still very large. That will not continue if the winning fish is a six-inch long perch.
In a recent article in the Daily Press, it was announced that salmon planting in Lake Michigan would be reduced by 25 percent in hopes that the alewife population would rebound on its own to the higher levels of the past. (That sounds strangely similar to the plan to restore whitetail deer to the quality deer management units in the Central U.P.)
The number of hunters has been steadily on the decline. Gee! I wonder why? Rumor has it that an increase in price for hunting licenses is coming to offset the reduction in license sales. That is a clever philosophy: do less, hope for more, and demand more money to do that hoping. Shall we call this method: The Little Bo Peep Technique for wildlife?
Because fewer salmon will be planted, the next logical step would be to charge more for fishing licenses to compensate for the revenue lost due to frustrated fishing enthusiasts not buying licenses and likely turning to video games to replace the fish they cannot catch. Does the state have a plan to license the use of video games? Will the NRC establish a daily game limit for “Tomb Raider” and “Grand Theft Auto”?
Our end of Lake Michigan depends upon forestry and tourism for a large percentage of our employment and revenue. Hunting and fishing have traditionally been big contributors to tourism. Once those are gone, I guess we can guide tourists out and teach them to hug trees. That should do to the forestry industry what is being done to our fishing and hunting.
Hey, NRC! How much will a license cost to hug a tree?
Jeff Boden, Gladstone
Most feedback I received was in agreement with my proposed solutions. Some very qualified people told me that many of my ideas have already been pursued to dead ends.
One effort would have provided volunteer manpower, volunteer equipment and volunteer financing to raise panfish in one or more of the currently idle walleye rearing ponds. That proposal met with a blunt: “NO” without the benefit of an explanation any better than that the DNR does not have any plans to proceed in that direction.
Several fishing tournaments were held on the ice this past winter. These provide monies for various charitable organizations. The numbers of people that enter these events are still very large. That will not continue if the winning fish is a six-inch long perch.
In a recent article in the Daily Press, it was announced that salmon planting in Lake Michigan would be reduced by 25 percent in hopes that the alewife population would rebound on its own to the higher levels of the past. (That sounds strangely similar to the plan to restore whitetail deer to the quality deer management units in the Central U.P.)
The number of hunters has been steadily on the decline. Gee! I wonder why? Rumor has it that an increase in price for hunting licenses is coming to offset the reduction in license sales. That is a clever philosophy: do less, hope for more, and demand more money to do that hoping. Shall we call this method: The Little Bo Peep Technique for wildlife?
Because fewer salmon will be planted, the next logical step would be to charge more for fishing licenses to compensate for the revenue lost due to frustrated fishing enthusiasts not buying licenses and likely turning to video games to replace the fish they cannot catch. Does the state have a plan to license the use of video games? Will the NRC establish a daily game limit for “Tomb Raider” and “Grand Theft Auto”?
Our end of Lake Michigan depends upon forestry and tourism for a large percentage of our employment and revenue. Hunting and fishing have traditionally been big contributors to tourism. Once those are gone, I guess we can guide tourists out and teach them to hug trees. That should do to the forestry industry what is being done to our fishing and hunting.
Hey, NRC! How much will a license cost to hug a tree?
Jeff Boden, Gladstone