An Inch At A Time
You don’t often hear the statement “our lake is in great shape, the fishery is better than ever, our shoreline is cleaner, and the overall water quality is better”. The truth of the matter is that it is unfair to compare our lakes today vs 50 years ago simply because lakes change, populations increase and more human activity is evident everywhere. But if you compared your lake to 20 years ago there is little doubt many of them are actually in better shape. There are fewer chemicals, less raw sewage, and in many situations the fish populations are more understood and actually higher than in the ‘good old days’.
In no small part organizations like the Ontario B.A.S.S. Federation Nation are partially responsible. Not only do we strongly advocate catch and release and other sound conservation principles but every year OBFN club members across the province roll up their sleeves and help improve our lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands. Projects range from picking up garbage, naturalizing shorelines, constructing fish habitats and participate in research programs in cooperation with staff from our local Ministry of Natural Resources offices. Combined with educating other anglers and the general public about our precious resource, OBFN members strive to ensure there’s a healthy environment so that we can continue to pursue our passion for decades to come.
We also have a strong commitment to ensure our future anglers and caretakers of the resource are actively involved. Our Junior Bassmasters must complete two conservation projects a year in order to participate in the tournament qualifications process. They learn to be ambassadors to the sport of fishing and the membership in general.
The process of changing improving even a handful of Ontario’s 250,000+ lakes is slow. Sometimes it takes years to make small changes that might set the foundation for something bigger and better for future generations. Please help us to ensure the momentum of change continues.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2008
BASS’ CHRIS HORTON TO BE HONORED BY PAA. The Professional Anglers Association will present its Fishing Industry Conservation Person of the Year Award on Oct. 8 to BASS Conservation Director Chris Horton.
“Chris Horton represents one of the most important positions in the sport of fishing as it relates to all of us who enjoy our favorite pastime and its natural resources,” said PAA president Tim Horton, a Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Muscle Shoals, Ala. “The work he has done along with BASS in its conservation efforts is truly a gift to not only bass anglers, but to all outdoor enthusiasts. We are proud to honor Chris and his work in this years’ Fishing Industry Conservation Person of the Year Award.”
The award will be presented to Chris Horton on the eve of the PAA Corporate Cup presented by OPTIMA Batteries in Florence, Ala. The Oct. 9-11 tournament on Pickwick Lake pairs PAA members with corporate sponsor partners.
“I am truly honored to receive this award from the nation's top bass anglers,” Horton said. “They are responsible for where the sport is today, and I want to sincerely thank them for all that they do to promote conservation, healthy fisheries and the importance of angling as an American pastime.”
For OBFN members not familiar with Chris Horton …. His role with BASS is not just to represent the company and bass anglers everywhere on Conservation related matters, but as National Conservation Director with BASS he also oversees the entire Federation Nation Conservation Program. “Chris is a tireless worker on behalf of all the state and provincial conservation directors. He is always available to lend guidance, advice and support for whatever we are dealing with on the state or provincial level. For us here in Ontario and Canada he has been a true ally and is truly deserving of this reward”, said Wil Wegman, OBFN Conservation Director.
BASS Conservation Director
Chris Horton
Spenceley got involved with Junior Bassmasters after entering a casting contest at the Kozlov Centre a few years ago.He’s got a few tackle boxes full of bait, and has a selection of rods to use. He even enjoys ice fishing, where he catches whitefish.Gerry Heels, youth director with the Ontario Junior Bassmasters, said there are 22 boys in program.
“The Ontario Bass Federation youth program is set up to get boys and girls interested in bass fishing and fishing in general,” said Heels. “Each club has different things they get involved with including tournaments, conservation projects, Casting Kids as well as helping out with senior club events and fishing shows.” Joining a junior club also gives them the chance to fish in three tournaments throughout the year to try to qualify for the World Junior Bass Fishing Championships held in the United States each year, said Heels.He said each member has to do a conservation project in order to qualify for the fishing tournaments.
“In the past, junior clubs and members have done many different kinds of projects including purple loosestrife management and removal, spawning boxes for bass, riverbank cleanups, lake cleanups, park cleanups just to name a few.”They have also done habitat construction for fish in a couple of lakes in Ontario under the supervision of the Ministry of Natural Recourses and Department of Oceans and Fisheries.
“These habitat projects consist of building and placing structure on the bottom of a lake such as Christmas trees, wood pallets, branches placed in cement in buckets, as well as building and placing a store-bought structure known as Fish Habs that are made by Berkley fishing products.”They are made from discarded fishing line that is melted down and made into a plastic-like material.
Paul Spenceley knows there’s more to fishing than just throwing a line in the water. No matter how good the bait, the rod, the reel, the entire sport depends on one constant – the availability of fish.The avid angler did his part to make sure fish will be readily available by cleaning up a portion of Lover’s Creek this summer, collecting five garbage bags full of refuse.“Sometimes I fish down there because it’s by the house,” said Spenceley. “I did it for Junior Bassmasters. In order to enter their fishing competitions, you have to do a conservation project.”He was surprised to find shopping carts in the creek, a bong (used for smoking marijuana), and cigarette butts in the river.“There were melted bottles, a bike and a scooter. One of the shopping carts was weighted down with rocks and it took my dad and me an hour to pull it out.”
After contacting the City of Barrie to come and pick up the trash, Spenceley said he was sad to see some vandals got there first, and threw the shopping cart back into the water.When asked about fishing in Lover’s Creek, Spenceley’s enthusiasm shines through.“My friend and I were walking along the bank randomly and saw a pike. If I wanted to, I probably could’ve touched it. I ran fast to get my rod.”Along with catching that pike, he’s also caught brook trout there. He’s happy the area has been cleaned up.“Fish need a clean habitat so they can live. I’ve seen pickerel come up there in the spring, but you can’t fish them because they’re not in season.”Sometimes, he puts his catch back, but also keeps a few to eat.
Junior Bassmaster Recognition
Source -Sept 2008 Barrie Advance
Paul helping the Ministry of Natural Resources with fish tagging and other research projects.
Keeping the water and land clean is a very important part of the junior program, and with the kids doing cleanups, they can be sure to have clean water and lands in the future, said Heels.The Ontario Junior Bassmasters range in age from 11 to 18. For more information, contact Heels at 728-7749.
Ontario B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Award
The Ontario B.A.S.S. Federation Nation(OBFN) has sponsored the Best Student Poster Presentation at our Annual General Meeting. The Ontario B.A.S.S. Federation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and conserving angling opportunities in the Province of Ontario. The OBF is made up of over 700 members who are actively involved in ecological restoration projects, youth programs and promoting recreational angling. As a token of appreciation the OBF honours the most outstanding graduate student research poster with the OBF Student Poster Award.
The OBFN Student Poster Award is presented to best student poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Ontario Chapter of the AFS-OC since 2005. The OBF Award consists of a copy of Black Bass: Ecology, Conservation and Management (Phillip and Ridgway eds.) and a one-year membership to the American Fisheries Society and the Ontario Chapter.
The 2008 winner was Sarah McConnachie (left), from the Carleton University. Sarah received her award from from OBFN member Jay Barnucz (right). Her presentation was titled "A comparison of nearshore fish sampling gears in Oneida Lake, New York" and the abstract is available in the November 2008 Newsletter.
Aurora Bassmasters Become First Canadian Club to Utilize ACT:
Thanks to the Dienne Wenzel the manager of Conservation Special Projects with BASS/ESPN Outdoors, the Aurora Bassmasters are happy to announce that our first Ontario BASS Federation Nation ACT alert is now active! You can check it out here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_news_ACT_Alert&clearings#ON
So What is ACT?
ACT represents the Angler Conservation Team (ACT) supported by Ramada Worldwide and coordinated through BASS. ACT is a network of leisure anglers and other concerned conservationists from across the United States and Ontario who may not want to join a Bassmaster club or even BASS but who would still like to volunteer to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitats.
ACT volunteers are invited to help Ontario BASS Federation Nation clubs and their members perform a variety of conservation projects. ACT can offer our clubs an opportunity to obtain a few extra hands to help them perform grassroots projects such as building and placing fish habitats, planting native aquatic vegetation, roadside clean up projects, tree plantings, erosion control projects and improving angler access to waterways.
When visitors to the ACT webpage page are looking for projects they will see a map of the US and states where the ACT program is active. Originally there was a computer glitch that made it so Canadians could not access details on those conservation projects in Ontario, but now they can – through a direct link on the top left of this page: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_news_ACT_Alert_map&ACT
The first ACT announcement with details on the Aurora Bassmasters’ roadside clean up already went out to each of the 42 Ontario ACT members we have so far. An additional reminder e-mail blast announcement will be sent out by Ms Wenzel the week of the scheduled clean up.
Conservation Director’s Plea To Fellow OBFN Presidents and Club Conservation Directors:
I would really like to demonstrate to our friends south of the border how active OBFN clubs are here in Canada. If you look at the listing of projects from state to state you will notice that some states have none, some have one or two, but not many have a big long list describing their Conservation Projects. Ontario could be the exception! We could stand out with more projects than any state in the Union if each of our Canadian clubs participated … and it’s so easy to do. All you have to do is submit details of the project (When, Where, What it involves, When it is, Goal(s) of the project, What work volunteers will do, what they need to bring and a main contact name and email address.) If you have a picture of the project (from a previous year – or of a similar project) you can include that. You can send this all directly to me and I can take care of it for your club. Or you can submit directly to dienne.wenzel@bassmaster.com and Dienne can post your project on the site.
Not only will this service offer you a chance at attracting extra volunteers, it will also serve to offer your club excellent public exposure at no cost. This positive media publicity demonstrates your club’s commitment to improving the natural environment around us our not just to other BASS members but the public at large. So, even if you think you have enough club members to perform your project I would ask that you still consider listing it through ACT. The positive PR it will bring for your club and the OBFN will be well worth it.
Please help us spread the word through your own club sites and even by word of mouth. Let the public know that if they are interested in becoming an ACT volunteer they can read about it on the www.bassmaster.com site under the Conservation link and sign up from there. For helping out ACT volunteers receive a free T shirt, thanks to Ramada, the title sponsor of this program. Once they see what a great group your bass club is by working alongside your members, they may well be interested in joining your chapter, so the ACT program does have the potential to increase your membership. It is important to note however, that the goal of ACT initiative is not to sign up more members of BASS, the BASS Federation Nation or even your club – but to serves as a way for the public to contribute to the future of our natural resources... no strings attached.
Thanks everyone for your cooperation and I look forward to seeing lots of Ontario based ACT projects on the Bassmaster site. I would recommend that you begin to list your projects right away – even if they will not take place later in the year. Let me know if I can help out in any way.
Wil Wegman
OBFN Conservation and Media Director
wil.wegman@rogers.com
EPA Delays Decision on Ethanol Waiver Petition
NMMA Supports Science-First Approach and Continues Call for Studies on Marine Engines
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 1, 2009 – Today, in a clear acknowledgement of widespread concerns about E15 on the environment, engines and consumers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will delay a final decision on Growth Energy’s waiver petition to allow ethanol blends up to E15 until more testing data is available. NMMA has long called for more testing given the serious concerns about the potential impacts of mid-level ethanol blends on recreational marine engines and boats, including increased air emissions, performance and durability issues, as well as warranty concerns. No recreational marine engines, fuel systems or boats are currently designed, calibrated, certified or warranted to run on any fuel with more than 10 percent ethanol.
EPA’s announcement notes that studies to date indicate that higher blends such as E15 potentially may be tolerated by newer automobiles, but that further and longer-term studies are pending. EPA has not conducted any studies on marine engines and a wide array of other non-road engines, as is required by law.
EPA suggests it may approve E15 for 2001 and newer vehicles by mid-2010 unless data reveal problems. NMMA’s view is that no decision should be made on E15 until all independent scientific studies confirm that it is compatible with both on-road and non-road engines.
“We are pleased that EPA has acknowledged our concerns with E15 and elected to delay final judgment until more studies can be completed. We continue to call for more testing on marine engines and boat fuel systems,” said Mat Dunn, NMMA Legislative Director. “Any attempt to ‘bifurcate’ the fuel supply by allowing E15 for only certain automobiles would lead to a myriad of misfueling, liability and consumer safety issues and likely cause the price of fuel for boaters to increase while availability of compatible blends decreases. Although EPA has noted that it is working on pump labeling requirements should higher blends be permitted in the marketplace, it is not yet clear if these efforts are sufficient to ensure that the nation’s 70 million boaters are protected from these very serious concerns.”
For more information, contact Mat Dunn at 202-737-9760; mdunn@nmma.org or click here to read NMMA’s full comments to EPA on the waiver petition.
About NMMA: National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is the leading association representing the recreational boating industry in North America. NMMA member companies produce more than 80 percent of the boats, engines, trailers, accessories and gear used by boaters and anglers throughout the U.S. and Canada. The association is dedicated to industry growth through programs in public policy advocacy, market statistics and research, product quality assurance and promotion of the boating lifestyle. For more information, visit www.nmma.org.
E-15 Delay
