Avoid live carp as bait to protect lakes

Invaders that could harm sport fishing and injure boaters are lurking below dams at Missouri reservoirs. Extra care by anglers is needed to keep them at bay.

JEFFERSON CITY MO - Silver carp and bighead carp are non-native Asian fish that can cause big problems. This year, biologists have noticed them congregating below dams and outlets for levee and wetland systems.

While fish from both species can top 50 pounds, regarding lakes, it’s the young carp that fishery biologists are worried about this autumn. They swim up shallow creeks and rivers to spillways and stilling basins below dams, which puts them within easy reach of casting nets, seines and minnow traps used by anglers to capture catfish bait.

“We don’t want them transported out of the river systems into the lakes,” said Jake Allman, a fisheries biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).  “It’s illegal in Missouri to use Asian carp as live bait.”

Large silver carp can leap 10 feet into the air when startled by boat motors, which can cause serious injuries to passengers in moving boats and tear up gear. Both silver and bighead carp are plankton feeders and they deplete food used by native sport fishes such as bass and crappie when they are young. One native sport fish, the paddlefish, feeds on plankton through its entire life cycle.

“If we get them in reservoirs,” Allman said, “we could see our largemouth bass numbers decline. These things are prolific spawners. They can fill up a system.”

Silver carp and bighead carp were imported into the United States by commercial fish farmers. Due to releases or escapes caused by flooding, they’ve spread in recent decades and thrive in many rivers.

The most likely way that Asian carp will reach a lake is if anglers carry them in water-filled bait buckets onto the lake. A live fish being placed on a hook can flop into the water, live bait can escape from hooks and anglers are prone to dumping unused bait into a lake when the trip is over.  

Anglers traditionally use cast nets in lakes and shallow waters to catch small fish, such as gizzard shad, for catfish bait. But, there’s a close resemblance between shad and small Asian carp that are two to six inches long.

“At some dams in northwest Missouri, thousands of shad and Asian carp are swirling together this fall in spillways. They are drawn by water rich in the plankton upon which they feed,” Allman said. “Plentiful rains this year have led to strong water releases, which helped attract large numbers of plankton feeders upstream.”

Anglers can use Asian carp as bait if the fish are dead. It is recommended that netted bait fish be placed on ice in coolers. The temperature shock kills the carp but keeps them fresh for use as bait.

Anglers should use caution when using live bait in any lake or river, including small community lakes. Unused bait from any source should be dumped on the ground rather than into the water.

(By Bill Graham, MDC)

2010 duck season promises plentiful ducks, generous limits, spotty habitat

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An investment of time and shoe-leather

could pay special dividends this year.

JEFFERSON CITY–The 2010 waterfowl season promises a mixed bag for hunters, with more ducks but less habitat than usual. The winners will be those hunters who look for opportunities outside the usual hunting hot spots.

WATERFOWL POPULATIONS

Resource Scientist Andy Raedeke said annual surveys of waterfowl nesting grounds in the northern United States and Canada show continued strong numbers of most duck and goose species. Raedeke, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s waterfowl expert, said the total number of breeding ducks seen in mid-continent surveys was approximately 41 million. That is down three percent from 2009, but still 21 percent above the long-term average.

The number of mallards – the mainstay of mid-continent duck hunting – mirrored the overall trend, similar to last year but still 12 percent above the long-term average.

Eight out of 11 species tracked in the annual surveys were above long-term averages. Those showing the strongest long-term gains were green-winged teal (+78%), northern shoveler (+76%), gadwall (+67%) and redhead (+63%).

Species whose numbers remain below long-term averages include northern pintail (-13%) and scaup (-16%).

Blue-winged showed the only statistically significant population change from 2009, with a 14-percent decrease, from 7.4 million to 6.3 million. However, blue-winged teal remain 36 percent above the long-term average. The current teal breeding-population estimate is well above the 4.7-million level that would trigger a more restrictive hunting season.

The number of Canada geese in states north of Missouri has ballooned to more than 750,000. Many of these birds migrate into or through Missouri during the fall and winter, providing opportunities for Show-Me State hunters.

Mid-continent white-fronted geese numbers are estimated as average, while light-goose numbers remain above average.

WEATHER & HABITAT

While these numbers are promising, the number of ducks is only one of three factors needed to produce good hunting. The other two are habitat and weather. Raedeke said habitat conditions differ dramatically across the state.

“This year is really going to be a mixed bag,” said Raedeke. “Rainfall was extremely variable across the state. Places that got heavy rainfall early and then dried out some had very favorable conditions for moist-soil plants, which produce seeds that ducks like to eat. Other places experienced multiple floods during the summer, making it difficult or impossible to plant corn and other food crops. Repeated flooding also limited the growth of moist-soil plants on many areas. Meanwhile, southeast Missouri has had a fairly severe drought this summer, so conditions there probably are not going to be as good as they have been in the past.”

Raedeke said Bob Brown Conservation Area in Holt County is the only large, state-owned managed wetland area reporting good success with crops. He said abnormally wet weather limited habitat development on managed wetlands, especially in northeastern Missouri. However, those abnormal rains also created waterfowl habitat in nontraditional places.

“As of late August, some places that normally are dry had enough water to create excellent duck-hunting opportunities,” said Raedeke. “If we keep getting rain, this could be a year when you find ducks in places that don’t normally have water or ducks.”

Because any area with significant flood-prone acreage could be a duck-hunting hot spot this year, pre-season scouting is more important than ever, according to Raedeke.

Missouri’s waterfowl habitat picture still depends heavily on rainfall over the next two months. Southeastern Missouri needs more rain, while hunters in the rest of the state are hoping for normal rainfall, so moist-soil plants can grow and put on seeds. Once the season starts, rainfall will be needed to flood low-lying areas, so ducks have easy access to flooded crops and native plants.

REGULATION CHANGES

This year’s waterfowl seasons are:

Duck season:

·        North Zone: Oct. 30 through Dec. 28

·        Middle Zone: Nov. 6 through Jan. 4

·        South Zone: Nov. 25 through Jan. 23

Goose seasons:

·        Snow, blue, and Ross’s geese: Oct. 30 through Jan. 31 statewide

·        White-fronted geese: Nov. 25 through Jan. 31 statewide

·        Canada geese and brant: Oct. 2 through 10 and Nov. 25 through Jan. 31 statewide.

Bag limits and other details of this year’s waterfowl hunting season are available at http://bit.ly/bDCOFR for teal and at http://bit.ly/bL1NGl, or in the 2010-2011 Early Migratory Bird Hunting or Waterfowl Hunting digests, which are available wherever hunting permits are sold.

The Missouri Conservation Commission approved moving up the dates for the youth waterfowl season in the Middle Zone by one week. Holding that hunt the same weekend as the North Zone youth season avoids overlap with the statewide youth firearms deer season and youth quail season.

Raedeke said state and federal waterfowl biologists have been working on a new adaptive harvest strategy for pintails for two years. The result is a bag-limit increase from one to two this year. Biologists believe the more liberal limit will not endanger the sustainability of pintail populations but say they are prepared to change the regulation if pintail numbers drop below sustainable levels.

This year’s regulations also include changes to seasons and bag limits for Canada geese. Last year’s early Canada goose season opened in late September. This year, the early season will open one week later. Moving the early season into October, when weather is cooler and more crops have been harvested, is expected to improve the quality of hunting. The early season is three days shorter than last year.

Last year, the regular Canada goose season opened on Thanksgiving Day and ran through Jan. 31. The regular season opens on Thanksgiving Day again this year and runs through Jan. 31, but it is one day longer, due to the date of Thanksgiving.

Last year, the daily and possession limits for Canada geese were three and six birds, respectively, during the early season, while the limits were two daily and four in possession during the regular season. This year, the daily and possession limits are three and six for both the early and regular Canada goose seasons. Raedeke said this change is intended to allow Missouri hunters to take advantage of abundant migrant Canada geese from the upper Midwest.

Missouri’s resident population of giant Canada geese grew steadily during the second half of the 20^th century, thanks to the Conservation Department’s restoration work. Their numbers eventually grew large enough that they became nuisances in some areas. Hunting is one of several measures the Conservation Department uses to minimize such problems. The Show-Me State’s current population of resident Canada geese is estimated to be down slightly compared to 2008 and 2009.

“We have about the right number of geese now, and we would like to keep them around this level,” said Raedeke.

For more information about waterfowl hunting in Missouri, visithttp://bit.ly/bL1NGl.

-Jim Low-

BLACK BEAR STUDY UNDERWAY IN MISSOURI

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SPRINGFIELD MO – For several decades, Missouri’s bears have been something of a mystery. Numerous sightings in recent years have provided clear evidence that black bears live in this state. However, when it came to specific details about those bears (how many live here, are they year-round residents, is successful reproduction occurring, etc.), things weren’t so clear. Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wildlife experts hope a multi-year study that started this fall will provide answers to many of their questions.

The study, which is being funded through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Restoration program with help from Safari Club International, will provide information about the movement patterns, population densities, habitat preferences and overall numbers of Missouri bears.

“These data are needed to scientifically manage bear populations, through the use of regulated hunting, so that bears continue to thrive and expand into suitable habitats but, at the same time, conflicts are minimized for people living in bear country,” said Jeff Beringer, MDC resource scientist and project leader.

The target of the study is Ursus americanus, more commonly known as the black bear. This large mammal was found across Missouri when the first settlers arrived. Unregulated hunting and habitat alteration took its toll on Missouri’s bear population and, by the 1950s, bears were considered to be extirpated from the state.

Arkansas underwent a successful bear restoration program in the 1960s and it’s thought many of the bears we have in Missouri are the outgrowth of that program. Recent data collected indicate some bears in southwest Missouri are genetically unique and are likely the result of a Missouri bear population that was never completely extirpated.

In past years, MDC biologists conducted some bear monitoring, but the bulk of data obtained from these efforts merely showed spots where bears could be found and revealed little information about their habits and annual life cycles in Missouri.

The first phase of the current study – which is a joint effort between the MDC , the University of Missouri-Columbia and Mississippi State University – consists of trapping and radio-collaring 13 bears in southwest and south-central Missouri this fall. These bears will be monitored over winter to learn more about denning habits and the time frame of winter denning in Missouri.

In spring of 2011, hair snares at select sites throughout southwest and south-central Missouri will collect data that will help biologists get better estimates of overall population and male/female ratios. In fall 2011, 13 bears will be trapped and radio-collared in southeast Missouri and those bears’ denning habits will be monitored over the winter. The field portion of this project finishes in the spring of 2012 with the setting of hair snares in southeast Missouri.

MEETING OF THE MISSOURI CONSERVATION COMMISSION

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Conservation Department Northeast Regional Office

3500 South Baltimore, Kirksville, Missouri

Thursday, October 14, 2010 – 3:00 p.m. – Executive Session (Closed)

Friday, October 15, 2010 – 8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting

TENTATIVE AGENDA

(Background documents related to each agenda item are available for public viewing at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City, for eight calendar days prior to the meeting. Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. Speakers will be limited to five minutes each and number of speakers may be limited.  Recording the open meeting is permissible, pursuant to any guidelines established by the Commission to minimize disruption to the meeting. Individuals wishing to record the open meeting by audiotape, videotape or other electronic means should notify the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting so accommodations for such recording can be made.)

Thursday, October 14, 3:00 p.m.

Executive Session (Vote to go into closed session – reconvene open meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, October 15):

(1)        Call to order and approval of minutes of previous Executive Session.(610.021 RSMo.)

(2)        Consideration of negotiated contracts. (Documents related to a negotiated contract, 610.021(12) RSMo.)

(3)        Update on potential real estate transactions/negotiations. (Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate, 610.021(2) RSMo.)

(4)        Consideration of supporting documentation for recommendation to suspend or revoke all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are juveniles or who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws. Action to be taken in open meeting. (Disclosure protected by law, 610.021(14), 454.440.9, 211.321, RSMo.)

(5)        Consideration of confidential or privileged communications between the Commission and its Internal Auditor regarding work product.(Communications between public governmental body and its auditor, 610.021(17) RSMo.)

(6)        Consideration of recommendation relating to the hiring/firing/disciplining/promoting of personnel. (Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting, 610.021(3) RSMo.)

(7)        Consideration of legal actions and attorney-client privileged communications involving the Conservation Commission. (Legal actions, causes of action or litigation, 610.021(1) RSMo.)

Friday, October 15, 8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting:

Approval of minutes of previous meeting.

Presentation:

8:35 a.m.         Partnerships in Action: A Decade of State Wildlife Grants and Conserving All Wildlife in Missouri – Wildlife Diversity Chief Gene Gardner.

Consideration of the Report of the Regulations Committee (no action items).

 Presentations:

9:00 a.m.         Plan for Elk Restoration – Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen.

9:15 a.m.         Comments on potential elk restoration by individuals who submitted written requests prior to the meeting (not to exceed five minutes each).

Recommendation on elk restoration.

Consideration of 1) Major Construction/Development Projects Status Report; and 2)bids received for the construction of the Blind Pony Lake Conservation Area Equipment Storage & Work Area Project located in Saline County, and authorization to enter into a contract with the low bidder.

Consideration of August and September Monthly Financial Summaries. 

Recommendation for approval of personnel reclassifications; consideration of Quarterly Report of Personnel Changes approved by Director; and Conservation Employees’ Benefit Plan Trust Fund recommendation.

Recommendations for approval to purchase 1) approximately 160 acres in Mercer County as an addition to Chloe Lowry Marsh Natural Area in Mercer County; and 2) approximately 161.51 acres in Pettis County as an addition to W. R. Kearn Memorial Conservation Area in Pettis County.

Recommendations for approval to suspend or revoke 1) one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals for cause; all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws; one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals in accordance with the terms of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact; and hunting privileges of one individual who inflicted injury to another person while hunting.

Announcement of actions taken in executive session, if any.

Other matters of interest.

Confirmation that the next regular meeting will be held on December 16-17, 2010, at Jefferson City.

Waterfowl reservations under two systems this year

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Hunters at Eagle Bluffs, Grand Pass and Otter Slough

Conservation Areas will test the new Quick Draw system starting Oct. 29.

JEFFERSON CITY—Duck hunters who plan to hunt at Grand Pass, Eagle Bluffs and Otter Slough conservation areas (CAs) are reminded that the drawing procedure for these areas has changed and will be handled with the experimental Quick Draw system this year.

Quick Draw is an online-only drawing system. Grand Pass CA will be the first area to test the new system, because it is in the North Zone, where duck season opens first. Applications to hunt during the first three days of the 2010 duck season will open at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 22 and close at 3 p.m. Oct. 25. Results will be available after 12:01 a.m. Oct. 26. Successful applicants can receive reservation notices by e-mail or text message if they provide contact information. They also can check the results online.

Eagle Bluffs and Otter Slough CAs are in the Middle Zone, so applications for drawings the first three days of the season at those areas will run from 12:01 a.m. Oct. 29 and close at 3 p.m. Nov. 1. Results will be available after 12:01 a.m. Nov. 2.

After the initial drawing in each zone, Monday drawings will award reservations for the following Friday through Monday. Applications will be open from Monday through Thursday to assign reservations for the following Tuesday through Thursday.

All three areas will assign handicap-accessible blinds through Quick Draw. The trial will not affect youth hunts, which will be handled as in the past.

This year’s limited trial of Quick Draw will enable the Conservation Department to evaluate whether the system achieves its goal of making hunting more convenient and accessible to more hunters. Depending on how well it works, the system could be modified and expanded to other state-managed wetland areas. More information about Quick Draw is available at http://bit.ly/a5wp1q.

If you applied to hunt on any of the Conservation Department’s other managed wetlands through the traditional reservation system, you can visithttp://bit.ly/bCjKgH to learn if you drew a reservation. You need your Conservation ID number, which is printed on hunting and fishing permits, to check your application.

-Jim Low-

Missouri Game Farms

Urban deer hunters reminded to Share the Harvest

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More than two dozen meat processors in the urban hunting zone are ready to accept donated deer to feed hungry Missourians.

JEFFERSON CITY—Missouri’s four-day firearms deer hunt in urban areas offers hunters a fistful of opportunities – get an early start on deer hunting, help reduce deer-vehicle accidents, cut down on deer-related property damage and feed hungry Missourians.

The urban portion of firearms deer season is Oct. 8 through 11 in all or parts of 12 counties around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and the Columbia-Jefferson City area. The hunt is for antlerless deer only, with the goal of removing female deer from urban and suburban deer herds. This is the most effective way of controlling deer numbers.

The overabundance of deer around Missouri’s biggest population centers makes it easy for hunters in these areas to fill their freezers. However, there is a limit to how much venison one family can eat in a year. Hunters who can shoot more deer than they need can donate excess deer to needy Missourians at no cost through the Share the Harvest (STH) program.

 STH programs across the state are organized by local citizens who bring together hunters, charities and meat processors to put lean, high-protein meat on the table for those in need. Twenty-six participating processors are located in urban-zone counties, making deer donations convenient during the urban hunt.

To learn how and where to donate deer through STH, call 573-634-2322, e-mail mofed@socket.net, or visit mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/share/, Participating meat processors also are listed on pages 44 and 45 of the 2010 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, which is available wherever hunting permits are sold.

Hunters donated more than 250,000 pounds of venison to charities through STH last year. New funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), combined with donations from state and local sponsors, will enable hunters to feed more people than ever. STH organizers at the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri say they hope to increase STH donations to more than 500,000 pounds this year.

Hunters have donated more than 2.1 million pounds of venison through STH since the program’s inception in 1992.

-Jim Low-

For more Missouri deer hunting info visit Family-Outdoors

Elk Restoration

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JEFFERSON CITY–The Missouri Department of Conservation today published a draft elk-restoration plan that addresses concerns about property damage, veterinary diseases and traffic safety.

The Conservation Department posted the 39-page draft plan and a video summarizing the document on its website www.missouriconservation.org. The plan calls for releasing up to 150 elk into a 346-square-mile area of Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties early in 2011. All released elk will undergo stringent health testing and quarantines and will be fitted with radio collars to permit tracking their movements.

Part of the cost of restoring elk to Missouri will be borne by partners, including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Arkansas and other eastern states that have restored elk report significant economic benefits from elk hunting and related tourism.

While pursuing the Conservation Commission’s directive to develop an elk-restoration proposal, the Conservation Department sought comments from a wide range of stakeholders. These included the Missouri Farm Bureau, the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, the Ozarks Property Rights Congress, the Missouri Forest Products Association, soil and water conservation districts and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The agency also held three public open-house forums in towns bordering the proposed restoration area to gather local comments on elk restoration and sought comments through Missouri Conservationist magazine, commercial news media, the Conservation Department website and Facebook page and personal contacts with landowners. The Conservation Department also provided comment cards to visitors at the Missouri State Fair.

More than 300 people attended the public forums, and 137 filled out comment cards. Eighty-three percent of those comments favored elk restoration. Of the 2,309 comments received between July 16 and Sept. 30 by mail, phone, e-mail, Internet and personal contacts, 80 percent favored elk restoration. Seventy-five percent of comments received from people in the proposed elk-restoration zone were in favor of the idea.

Elk are native to the Show-Me State but were extirpated in the 19^th century by a combination of unregulated hunting and habitat destruction. At its meeting July 16, the Conservation Commission directed to Conservation Department staff to develop a proposal for reintroducing elk to Missouri. It requested the plan for consideration at its meeting Oct. 15.

The Conservation Department developed such a plan in 2001. However, the Conservation Commission tabled the matter because of concerns about adequate habitat and chronic wasting disease (CWD). Habitat management by the Conservation Department and other large Ozarks landholders have resulted in improved elk habitat in the past 15 years. During the same time, advances in knowledge about CWD and development of a live-animal test for CWD in elk have alleviated veterinary health concerns.

Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen said the Conservation Department was very mindful of potential elk problems when developing the draft plan.

“We know that elk restoration is a popular idea statewide and in the proposed restoration zone,” said Hansen. “Lots of Missourians are eager for the wildlife watching and hunting opportunities that other eastern states are enjoying as a result of restoring elk. However, we understand that farmers, livestock producers and others have concerns about elk restoration. We think this plan does an excellent job of addressing those concerns.”

The Conservation Department worked with the Missouri Department of Agriculture to develop veterinary health protocols for free-ranging elk that are more stringent than any that apply to livestock or farmed elk brought into Missouri. This protocol begins with accepting elk only from herds with histories of health surveillance and no evidence of health issues.

 Elk brought from other states will undergo rigorous testing for CWD, brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, anaplasmosis, bovine viral diarrhea, blue tongue, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, Johne’s disease and vesicular stomatitis. They will be quarantined in their state of origin and again in Missouri before being released into the proposed restoration zone.

All released elk will carry radio-tracking collars that transmit a “mortality” signal if they stop moving for an extended time. This will permit the Conservation Department to recover all elk that die and examine them to determine the cause of death.

To minimize the potential for elk conflicts, the Conservation Department selected a restoration zone with large public landholdings and public access. Forty-nine percent of land in the zone is owned by the Conservation Department, the USDA Forest Service or the National Park Service. Another 30 percent is owned by the L-A-D Foundation (Pioneer Forest) and The Nature Conservancy. All these landowners support elk restoration and permit hunting on their land.

Other factors that contributed to selecting the 346-square-mile elk restoration zone are:

·        Low road density – The proposed restoration zone has 1.2 miles per road per square mile, compared to 2.1 miles per square mile in Arkansas’ elk-restoration zone. Arkansas records one or two elk-vehicle accidents per year.

·        Suitable habitat – Savanna and glade habitat already exists in the restoration zone, and work to restore open, grassy areas continues.

·        Strong landowner support – The Conservation Department will work with willing landowners to improve the attractiveness of their property to elk.

·        Defined geography – The elk-restoration zone is bounded by roads, posted property lines and other identifiable landscape features, making it easy to know when elk are outside the restoration zone and remove them from areas where they are not wanted.

·        Minimal agricultural activity – Ninety-three percent of the proposed elk-restoration zone is forested. Cropland makes up .1 percent (222 acres) of the zone. Cattle grazing is very limited.

“Missouri has lots of places where elk would do very well, but the potential for conflicts is just too great outside the area we have chosen,” said Hansen. “We will remove elk where they are not wanted, and we will use hunting to keep the population at a size that is sustainable in the restoration area.”

-Jim Low-