Sun, Mar. 04, 2007
DNR studies Santee Cooper striper woes
By PAT ROBERTSON
patrob@upthecreek.net
BIOLOGISTS AND fishermen agree the only way to save the striped bass fishery in the Santee Cooper Lakes system is to drastically cut the number of fish being caught until the population can rebound.
While the striper fishery that made the Santee Cooper lakes famous is not in total collapse, serious problems exist because the lake environment is not as favorable to the fish as it once was.
“We’ve been behind the 8-ball the past eight years because environmental conditions have not been conducive to striped bass reproduction, resulting in a poor age structure. So many of the fish get harvested at a younger age,” said Department of Natural Resources Regional Fisheries Biologist Scott Lamprecht.
“Even though we’ve not had a major drought, with the exception of 2003, water flows have been way below average,” Lamprecht said. “Striper recruitment is very dependent on good water flows, not only for the development of eggs, but for the nutrients that get washed off the watersheds and flushed out of the swamps which provides a lot of food for young stripers.”
Natural reproduction is lower than in past years, about 70 percent of the stripers in the system die each year — 40 percent caught by anglers and 30 percent from natural causes — and very few fish live more than five years, so most female striped bass do not live long enough to spawn once.
An estimated half of the bigger fish capable of reproduction congregate in the 9 ˝-mile stretch of the Lower Saluda River below Lake Murray dam in the summer because the water is cooler in that area.
Striped bass, especially the larger fish, cannot tolerate water temperatures warmer than 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for extended periods. During the summer, water temperatures in Lakes Marion and Moultrie often reach 28-30 degrees Celsius.
As a result, the stripers are weakened, and biologists say 75 percent of those caught in the lakes during the summer will die — even those that appear to swim off healthy when released.
In that stretch of the Lower Saluda River below Lake Murray Dam, the stripers are subjected to heavy fishing pressure.
Biologists are studying possible changes to the way stripers are stocked because the 250,000 striped bass fingerlings annually stocked into the Santee Cooper system do not survive nearly as well as those stocked in Lake Murray and the Savannah River Lakes.
At a series of meetings the past two months around the region, the DNR sought input from fishermen on how to address the over harvesting as well as the summertime catch-and-release mortality and how to protect the brood fish in the Saluda River.
Nearly 50 percent felt the top option for the lakes would be to limit the striper catch to two per day, with a minimum length of 26 inches from Oct. 1 through May 31. Only careful catch-and-release fishing would be allowed. Striper fishing season would be closed June 1-Sept. 30, with no targeted catch and release fishing allowed.
The Santee Cooper Guides Association offered a different proposal: reduce the daily limit in the lakes from five per day with a 21-inch minimum size to the first three caught with no size limit.
“This would stop the catch and release that often kills so many (fish) in the summer and would also reduce the creel limit,” said Doug Allen of Bonneau, association president. Allen said the guides also support a summertime ban on night fishing for stripers.
Lamprecht said about 37 percent favored the Lower Saluda River option that allowed one striper per day, with a minimum length of 28 inches, and careful catch-and-release allowed.
Any change in regulations must go through the DNR Board, and then be presented to the legislature for action. Legislative action is not likely this year.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...s/16829077.htm
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Originally Posted by Glenn
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