Fishing for Dinosaurs!

Springtime may bring flowers, but outside my living room window on the James River Arm of Table Rock Lake I see very slow moving boats. In these boats are fisherman with very large fishing poles with no bait on them. They continuously pull back on the pole dragging a large treble hook along the bottom hoping to snag a fish that is 50 million years older than the dinosaurs!

March 15th is the start of Missouri's Paddlefish (Spoonbill) season.

Paddlefish, also known as spoonbill, have a long, paddle-shaped rostrum that accounts for about one-third of their body length. Paddlefish are cartilaginous, which means that they have no bones. They have small eyes and no scales. They are filter feeders, and they spend most of their lives in open water eating microscopic animals called zooplankton. During warm weather they can often be seen jumping from the water.

While these are native North American fish, human activities such as dams have altered traditional paddlefish habitats and blocked spawning migrations. Today the Missouri Department of Conservation's Blind Pony Hatchery supplies an average of thirty thousand fingerlings for stocking in reservoirs each year. It then takes the paddlefish seven to eight years to grow to the legal 34 inch size for harvesting.

Pictured above is the 140-pound Missouri record paddlefish caught in 2015 on the James River Arm of Table Rock Lake very close to our home. This part of the lake is where we take the boat and anchor and swim. After this picture appeared in the local newspaper, it took awhile to get everyone back in the water. It seems they kept hearing: Da Dah Da Dah Da Dah...... OK for the younger crowd, this refers to the 1975 movie thriller JAWS. (An adult friend of ours was actually scared to sit on her toilet seat after she saw the movie.)

Paddlefish eggs at the MDC Blind Pony Hatchery.

Paddlefish eggs are also prized as caviar! In 2013, authorities arrested, charged or cited more than 100 Missouri residents and people living in eight other states for the illegal commercial trafficking of paddlefish and their eggs for use as caviar. The eggs, also known as roe, were destined for the U.S. and international caviar market. A female paddlefish can be carrying 20 pounds of eggs which can produce $4,000 worth of caviar even at black market prices. At retail the caviar would be worth more than $11,000.

So if you want to experience a different type of fishing now through April 30th, gear up, hook up the boat and head to Cape Fair, Missouri. I will wave to you from my window!

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Quote of the Week

"It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning."

~ Claude Bernard

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Study Reveals Positive Connection Between Nature Experiences and Happiness

Science Daily

March 13, 2020

The economic and ecological impact of nature on humans have long been established with prevalent environmental issues such as climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources being the first to cross one's mind. On the other hand, much less attention has been paid to the cultural and social values nature brings to humans.

Even though natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Swiss Alps have been named some of the top holiday destinations, the intangible benefits people gain from experiencing nature are still difficult to quantify, and such studies typically require resource-intensive surveys and interviews.

To read more, click: HERE

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A Movement Grows to Help Farmers Reduce Pollution and Turn a Profit

Yale Environment 360

March 12, 2020

In Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Beaver Run carves a triangular piece of bottomland as it turns east to join French Creek. A gnarled old American sycamore grows in the narrow fringe of native forest bordering the stream. On a cold, gray winter's day, agroforester Austin Unruh pulls on a woolen beanie and points out the variety of saplings poking through the straw-colored carpet of dormant grasses beyond the thin band of forest.

"Over there are American persimmons and pawpaws," he says, identifying two of the native fruit-bearing trees he planted on the 3-acre corner of land. Scattered among them are ornamental natives such as red-twig dogwood and willows, which fetch a good price in the floral trade, he explained. With a state-funded grant from the nonprofit Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pennsylvania, Unruh leased the land from Lundale Farm to demonstrate how agroforestry can be employed to create a new kind of pollution-fighting landscape called a "working buffer."

To read more, click: HERE

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Bubble Tech Blows Microplastic Problem Out Of The Water

Water Online

February 27, 2020

An innovative Australian technology that uses bubbles to remove contaminants from water offers a solution to an emerging global pollution crisis - microplastics. The technology belongs to EVOCRA, an Australian water treatment company that was formed in Tasmania in 2011. The patented process, known as Ozofractionative Catalysed Reagent Addition or OCRA, literally floats the microplastic out of the water where it is collected and sent for recycling.

EVOCRA's Managing Director Mark Sykes says OCRA is a solution for many water-based environmental challenges. "Microplastics are plastic items smaller than 5mm that are found in everyday products such as sunscreen, shampoo and detergent. Too small to be filtered out in the treatment plants, they wash into waterways where they harm our aquatic wildlife," he said. "OCRA offers a positive solution to this complex environmental issue. The technology can be applied as a pre-treatment, that is, before the plastic enters the sewerage system or at the treatment plant to remove the particles before discharge."

To read more, Click: HERE

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Contact Info
OZARKS WATER WATCH MISSOURI OFFICE ARKANSAS OFFICE

David Casaletto, President

Cathy Stepp, Executive Director PO Box 636, 11 Oak Drive 1200 W. Walnut, Ste. 3405

(417) 739-4100 Kimberling City, MO 65686 Rogers, AR 72756

[email protected]