RE: NANFA-L-- How Does Everyone Feel About.....

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus-in-hotmail.com)
Wed, 23 Mar 2005 13:26:42 -0500

Dean, I suspect that everyone on this list agrees with you. But that's only
several hundred-in-best... A state agency will respond to widespread,
continuous political pressure. They probably feel they're responding to the
greatest interest by stocking exotic salmonids. How many people who buy
fishing licenses and boat registrations are gung ho to catch bowfin or gar?
Not enough,-in-least for now(!). It would take the sustained work of a group
like NANFA to get even one state to change such a bundle of policies. Maybe
we should... the worst that would happen is that people would think we're
crazy. But most of us are already riverneckers, so what the hey.

--Bruce Stallsmith
along the severely altered Tennessee
Huntsville, AL, US of A

>From: "Dean A. Markley" <damarkley-in-earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
>To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
>Subject: NANFA-L-- How Does Everyone Feel About.....
>Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 12:39:32 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
>
>
>I hope this is "on topic" so here goes: I have lived in Pennsylvania all
>my life (47 years, uggh) and for all of that the PA Fish Commissions main
>focus has been trout fishing and the associated stocking programs. I am
>told that most of the Fish Commissions budget goes for trout programs. If
>this is true, it kind of upsets me for a few reasons:
>
>1. They stock Brooks, Rainbows, and Browns. Now only Brooks are native to
>PA so why stock with an invasive species? (yeah yeah, cause people like to
>catch them).
>
>2. With such great fish as smallmouth, largemouth and walleyes, why aren't
>they propagated and stocked more instead? And yes, I know some is done but
>I suspect it is insignificant compared to trout.
>
>3. I understand that Bowfin and Longnose Gar used to be common in the
>lower Susquehanna region but now they are rare if not extirpated. I do
>recall a Bowfin being caught in the Susquehanna a few years back. Why
>doesn't the Fish Commission raise and stock these interesting fish?
>
>Just rambling here so do I have any sort of case?
>
>Dean
>
>
>Dean A. Markley
>3628 Peregrine Circle
>Mountville, PA 17554

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