Arkansas Striper Stockings -- Kansas Striper Association

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Date Posted: 06:03:33 04/14/04 Wed
Author: Jack Hoskinson
Subject:

Arkansas Striper Stockings

Hi All, the following message is a problem that needs to be addressed by each and everyone who loves to striper fish. The writer is trying to stop Striped Bass stockings in Arkansas. So please read and mail or call your comments to the Editor! Sincerely Jack Hoskinson PRES. KSA

The Sentinel-Record, Page 2B, April 11, 2004

J.C. Harp
Sportsman�s corner

Striped bass clutter lakes; help needed

�Though no biologist, I assume that striped bass, resembling a black or Kentucky (spotted) variety, belong to the bass family. They swim in the same water because they were stocked.
For a better understanding of striped bass, it must be stated that striped bass is not native to Arkansas fisheries. One can grow to 50 to 60 pounds and with no predators other than man, it becomes a constant eating machine. As a table entr�e, they rate with scrub fish like drum, buffalo and carp.
Anyone fishing area lakes has witnessed schools of striped bass in a feeding frenzy. Like black bass and spotted bass, hordes of these monsters locate large schools of shad and consume their prey within minutes, usually down to the last morsel. They can, and will, deplete a fishery�s shad population.
What do they feed upon when their numbers swell? Documented evidence shows they will consume smaller sizes of black bass, spotted bass, crappie, bream, catfish or anything alive and eatable that swims. Trout, interestingly enough, is high on their menu of favorite baitfish.
It was reported last month that the Arkansas Game & fish Commission�s newly renovated (for $1.2 million) Andrew H. Hulsey Hatchery on Lake Hamilton will raise up to 6 million striped bass.
One question should come to mind of every native bass, crappie, catfish and bream fisherman: �Where does one stock these eating machines?�
My question: �Why stock them at all?�
US Fish and Wildlife Department figures indicate that 38 percent of fresh-water fisherman target native bass with blacks, smallmouth and Kentuckies the most popular species. Next are white bass and hybrids, followed by striped bass as the least favorite of the species. The 2001 survey indicates walleye, crappie, catfish and bream as a much more desirable catch for the average fisherman then striped bass.
The same survey says that in 2001, some 786,000 Arkansas anglers spent $446 million fishing for black bass, smallmouth bass, Kentucky bass, crappie, catfish, bream and walleye. Yet over the last decade, the major stockings have been striped bass, least desirable of the species and a detriment to more desirable varieties.
Taxes from the $446 million spent by fishermen helped fund the hatchery renovation, did it not? Is it little wonder the average fisherman wonders if this is a textbook case of the tail wagging the dog?
It�s time someone posed these questions, and our chance comes May 13 at an Arkansas Game & Fish Commission public hearing on fishing at Hot Springs Civic & Convention Center. It doesn�t take a rocket scientist to know that we need an established stocking of native bass, crappie, catfish and bream. Forget stripers; let the 25 striper fishermen delete their numbers. In about 200 years we should realize the difference.

J.C. Harp of Hot Springs is an avid fisherman, deer hunter, duck hunter and turkey hunter. He trains and kennels running and tree dogs of various breeds. He can be reached at 501-844-4070 or by fax at 501-844-4403.

Here is my reply to the editor of the paper:

Dear Sirs,

I must tell you how disappointed I am in the irresponsible opinion and false information you allowed J.C. Harp to write in your April 11th issue of the Sentinel-Record Sportsman�s Corner concerning Striped Bass. His article is full of erroneous and false information. He acknowledges that he is not a biologist, yet he wants to go on and tell the fishery experts how to manage a fishery. He points out that the striped bass is a stocked species of bass. In actuality, the only true species of bass is the white bass, the striped bass, and the hybrid striped bass. Largemouth, Smallmouth, Kentucky, and the other �black bass� are not even a member of the bass family, but are actually members of the sunfish family along with bluegill and pumpkinseed bream. Concerning reservoir fisheries in general, they in themselves are not natural. When man dammed up the rivers he made artificial fisheries that require a completely different management program. A well balanced fishery is one that supports a good population of all game and forage fish that compliment one another. Mr. Harp�s ignorance of fishery management is evident in his description of a striped bass as �a constant eating machine�consuming their prey within minutes, usually down to the last morsel�They can and will deplete a fishery�s shad population�. A good fishery management plan has the biologist carefully stocking the proper amount of fish to sustain the fishery. Mr. Harp�s ignorance in fishery management is also evident in the simple fact that striped bass are stocked in reservoirs for two main reasons. First, striped bass are stocked as a way to control shad populations from becoming too full of large non usable bait fish. Second, the striped bass fishery provides an additional fishery (and thus additional revenue and tourism) for those interested in them. Anyone who has studied fishery management knows that a body of water will only accept a certain biomass (measured in pounds) of forage fish. If those forage fish are 1-3 inch shad, the water will accept many more numbers of them and thus they can provide a food source for many game fish including smaller game fish such as crappie. However, if the majority of these bait fish have grown to the 16, 18, or 20 inch level, the water, although it holds the same biomass (pounds) it holds much less in numbers of bait fish and what other game fish can prey upon a 20-inch gizzard shad except a striped bass. It is a documented fact that without striped bass, the shad populations will grow to an uncontrollable level of large adult shad and that will make the fishery less than optimal. Anyway, under a controlled stocking program managed by the fishery biologist, how can the numbers of striped bass swell to a level of depleting the fishery of shad? I would like one example of a fishery anywhere in the Nation where the striped bass were managed by the biologist and the fishery was depleted of shad.

In 1995 a group of largemouth fishermen ignorant of the true practice of fishery management filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) about the stocking of an exotic non-native fish (striped bass) in Tennessee reservoirs using the same lane and misguided claims as Mr. Harp�s. The suit used Norris Lake as the primary example and stated that since Norris was a very infertile lake the striped bass were destroying the fishery population by eating the native fish to include largemouth, smallmouth, crappie, and bream. The judge ruled that a multiple year study would be done taking many hundreds of striped bass out of the fishery and taking stomach samples to determine what the striped bass were feeding on. This study was conducted from 1996-1999. At the conclusion of the study, not a single largemouth bass was found in the stomach of a striped bass. Additionally, approximately ninety-seven percent of the stomach contents of these hundreds of striped bass were forage (bait) fish. Will a striped bass eat a largemouth? Yes they are optimistic feeders and will eat smaller fish if the opportunity presents itself, but their preferred diet consists of bait fish when available.

One last comment on Mr. Harp�s cold and obviously misguided remarks concerning the table fare quality of striped bass. Last Summer, the NBC�s Today�s Show�s Summer Wedding program, where they provide a wedding for some lucky couple from across the country, the wedding reception menu was none other than, yes, Striped Bass. They described the striped bass as a delicacy!

In conclusion, at a time when certain organizations are organizing and arming themselves with the primary objective aimed at taking away the sportsman�s rights to hunt and fish responsibly, it is a shame that an individual that calls himself a sportsman would write such an irresponsible article.

Respectfully submitted,

Warren E. Turner
President, National Striped Bass Association
864-915-5348

Warren Turner
President, National Striped Bass Association
Anyone wanting to respond to the Sports editor or the Executive editor, here is their email addresses.

Bob Wisener Sports Editor
robert@hotsr.com

executive editor email
editor@hotsr.com

Warren
Warren Turner
President, National Striped Bass Association

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Replies:

This threat is serious! -- Warren Turner, 20:41:21 04/15/04 Thu
Everyone, send an e-mail -- Paul, 19:38:19 04/22/04 Thu