Press-Republican

Bass tourneys denuding lake of fish

By MEL FRECHETTE

I just can't take standing by and not saying something about the utter devastation of Lake Champlain's bass population.

I am a native of Plattsburgh and have been scuba diving in this lake since 1963 and a scuba instructor since 1974. Never in these past 40 years have I seen the amount of devastation to the bass population as I've seen in the last three years.

Not only are hundreds of bass killed during each tournament, but hundreds are presently dying slow, agonizing deaths on the bottom of the lake after each tournament. These slow-dying bass have hooks and leaders still in their mouths, with some of the leaders caught on the bottom holding these fish from free-swimming and finding food. It's pitiful to see them becoming malnourished and dying so slowly.

As divers, we also see many bass with ripped gills and mouths trying to breathe also dying slowly while lying on the bottom. Ever seen the way the tournament "champs" are holding these fish for the photo op?

In addition to this, we divers are also noticing the absence of many bass in places where they once thrived. Why are they not there? Because they've been pulled out of their native nesting sites and cruelly transported to their eventual deaths for weigh-in. What I've been personally noticing is that less and less bass are in the lake.

We cannot simply pull out 8,000 bass in two weekends, as quoted in your recent article, without severely devastating the population. We are literally killing the golden goose with so many of these tournaments. Can't anyone else see this?

Every boater at the Plattsburgh Boat Basin knows that after any still-living bass are released post weigh-in, they congregate under the boats at our marina. It's then fair game for any local fisherman to sit on the dock and literally fish these bass until their buckets are full up. Again totally removing these breeders from the lake.

In summary, here are my contentions:

  The bass tournaments are rapidly depleting the bass stock in Lake Champlain. I predict that within two years there will be no more bass in Lake Champlain. By then the tournament organizers will have found other lakes to ravage.

  The "trophy" bass being wiped out are the breeders critical to the bass population's future.

  The immediate bass kills post-tournament are just the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds are dying slowly on the lake bottom with hooks and leaders still in their mouths. Many more are dying slowly with destroyed gills and mouths.

I beseech the powers that be to begin limiting the number and durations of these bass tournaments before there are no bass left in the lake. Such a shame it would be to totally wipe out one of the last native species of this lake in the name of greed.

Commander Mel Frechette, USNR(Ret), of Plattsburgh, is PADI Master Scuba Diving instructor, TDI Evolution Closed Circuit Rebreather instructor and TDI Inspiration Closed Circuit Rebreather instructor.