Native Fish..what's the big deal?

Is this what you think of when you think of native fish?
(white sucker: Catastoma commersonii)


What about this?

(smallmouth bass: Micropterus dolomeiu)

...or this??
(flathead catfish: Pylodictus olivarus)

...or this???

(Bluegill sunfish: Lepomis macrochirus & largemouth bass: Micropterus salmoides)

Perhaps largemouth and smallmouth bass aren't the first thing that leaps to mind when you think of "native fish". But in their proper context, that's exactly what they are. If you're fishing for smallmouth bass or catching flathead catfish or largemouth bass in the Midwest, you're fishing for a fish that's native to this region...

...and that is a very big deal.

These fish have been together for many thousands of years. They have adapted to each other. They've rubbed the edges off each other and they fit together. They are the group of species that is most likely to persist into the future. They represent a part of a dynamic, evolving, very ancient whole. They are the raw material for healthy fish assemblages of the future.

The diversity of fishes represents a resource to the whole planet. Our sportfish are a part of that diversity. They play an important role. A big part of that role involves the interaction of fishers and the environment.

As a group, it is time to put on our "big boy pants". Due to the prodigious funding from the sport fishing industry, and state and federal conservation fisheries organizations, we are the de facto leaders of aquatic fish conservation in North America.

Do we as fishers promote the sustainability of that enormous of fish diversity or do we harm it? Are we even aware of what's out there?

What kind of leaders are we? What kind of leaders should we be?

Brutal cold and grant proposals

This is the season for pending things.

The grant proposals are for the most part written and sitting on someone's desk. The rivers are socked in with ice (and if you want to fish them this time of year, have at it but don't invite me). Everything in sight is cold, cold, cold, frozen, frozen, frozen....

...and what's this?

...driving past a farm pond the other day I noticed two yellow ochre Carhart coverall clad figures standing on the ice amid a couple dozen shiny brown lumps.

Ice fishing.

This year's minus 20 temperatures have put a thick, thick shell of ice on the lakes. We normally only get a few weeks of safe ice fishing. This year barring a tropical wave or excessive rain it looks like the ice will be good deep into February.

Why does ice fishing not seem like a miserable pursuit? Why can I not stand to be near a river in winter but I don't mind dressing like Elmer Fudd and fishing with a bobber through a 6 inch hole?

I have no idea.

But I'm going. As soon as I get the next layer of bills paid and a few more travel plans laid, I'm going. I might take the daughter too, but not until I've found a productive site. Bored 5 year olds are more dangerous than sub-zero weather.

Truck (aka "field behemoth") for...sale?

For sale or loan: 1994 Chevy C1500 2WD, 6 cylinders, extended cab. Bed liner. 160,000 miles. Some rust. Black (where it isn't rusted or scratched). Extensive memories. Smells of waders, river water and fast food. Excellent work truck and field vehicle. Reliable. Indefatigable.

Hoping to sell (or loan) it cheap (free) to someone who will let me drive it when I am back in the coutry from Belize. You handle insurance. Will also want rides to regional airports thrice a year. May be willing to throw in use of 16' royalex canoe, 9.5' kayak and 12.5' row boat.

Grinding along: civil forum members needed

Well happy New Year!

Things here have been busy and momentous. Unfortunately, fishing has been at a stand-still.

Belize work moves ahead in fits and starts. I will have much more to say about that soon.

The Native Fish Conservancy. Wow. What a kettle of fish that has turned out to be. If you have worked with conservationists or biologists (or people in general, I guess), you know they can be a tricky crowd. However objective and dispassionate we are supposed to be, the same old issues creep back in....more or less the same issues that make monkeys throw their feces at each other.

Get ready for a soap opera. Popcorn optional.

As noted in our previous episode, Joe T., Tim H. and Cindy K. joined the board. Great, except that Tim H. immediately took offense to some right-wing signatures among the other board members. Ok. Yes, political epithets are out of place in a conservation group. The focus should be on conservation not politics. Unfortunately, gratuitous infighting is also inappropriate, especially during your first contact. So bye bye Mr. Holschlag. Off the board you go. I agreed with you, but you're kinda rude.

Unfortunately, it now seems that I'M in the middle of some kind of battle. This discussion about evoluationarily signficant units has stirred up quite a bee's nest.

http://nativefish.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=264

Stop by and take a read. It's pretty entertaining stuff.

Education through adversity perhaps? I hope so. Evolution is always a tricky issue in a public setting. Some people are always going to run away from it. Some people will do whatever they can to sabotage any thoughtful discussion about it.

Please do stop by the discussion on the NFC web page above. See if you can elevate the tone. We are trying to set a course forward and we need to do that with a good scientific foundation and people dedicated to civil discourse.

It turns out the NFC is quite a fixer-upper. The membership is quite small these days and they include a cadre of members who seem to be threatened by widely accepted and relatively uncontroversial principles of conservation biology. We're going to have to appeal to a new demographic if we're going to get anywhere at all.

If it's possible, I'd like to have the NFC discussion about conservation principles out in the open. That means we need thoughtful contributors to the process. If you're at all interested in fish conservation, please do stop by and weigh in.

Native fish can use all the help they can get.