they like hooks in their mouths...

[Guest guest]

Hundreds of Wisconsin Bass Found Dead After Meet

 

July 25, 2006 — By Associated Press

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Hundreds of dead bass have been collected from La

Crosse-area river waters, days after a major fishing tournament was held in the

region, a state official said.

 

Nearly all of the 582 bass were marked with a clipped tail fin, evidence they

were caught and released during a bass-fishing tournament from July 12-15, said

David Hobbs of the state Department of Natural Resources.

 

This is the second year that higher-than-normal fish deaths were reported in the

area following the Wal-Mart FLW Stren Series Bass Fishing Tournament, which

attracted 400 anglers.

 

Last year, most of the dead fish tested positive for largemouth bass virus,

which can cause death when the fish is stressed.

 

The majority of the fish Hobbs collected this year were largemouth, and he said

the stress of being caught, held in a livewell and released might be a factor in

their deaths.

 

As part of an ongoing study, the DNR clipped the tail fins of the more than

2,000 bass caught and released during the four-day tournament. The research,

conducted by the DNR and fishery biology researchers at the University of

Wisconsin-Stevens Point, focuses on mortality rates in bass-fishing tournaments.

 

The study is in response to a 2003 Wisconsin law calling for an investigation of

the economic, sociological and biological impacts of catch-and-release programs

in bass tournaments. Results are expected in early August.

 

Veteran tournament angler Ed Stellner, 53, of Onalaska, said anglers are

concerned but they question the DNR study.

 

" If we are killing the fish, we definitely want to know why, " he said. " However,

I also should point out that there's a bass-fishing tournament in La Crosse

every weekend, and when's the last time you saw this many dead? After last

year's tournament (which was the first year of the study). "

 

Perhaps the way the DNR conducted the study was a factor, Stellner said.

 

The agency put about 100 fish a day in 8-by-8-foot holding pens on the Black

River. An equal number of tournament-caught fish and fish culled from the wild

using electroshocking were kept for a side-by-side comparison.

 

The pens didn't have proper current flow, which could have raised water

temperatures and limited oxygen levels, Stellner said. Also, the fish were held

for up to five days, another possible source of stress, he said.

 

Hobbs confirmed Stellner's account of the holding pens but said the

electroshocked fish weren't among those he collected because they did not have a

clipped fin.

 

Hobbs collected the fish from Pettibone Beach to Airport Beach.

 

Tournament official Dave Washburn of FLW Outdoors, based in Benton, Ky., said

Monday that " clearly we're all concerned " about the fish deaths.

 

But " we have a lot to learn about how to conduct the study, " he said.

 

Source: Associated Press

 

 

If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, " Views

Differ on Shape of the Earth "

[Guest guest]

This article is absolutely infuriating!!!!

 

It also makes me hate Wal Mart even more than I already did!!!

 

 

 

 

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