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 Only Texas with 13,459,000 bass fishing trips and Florida with 9,760,000 trips topped the Keystone State.
Bass grow big in Pennsylvania and likewise the state's anglers are big on bass. According to a recently released report by the
United States Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania has the third busiest bass season in the nation.
The report - "Black Bass Fishing in the U.S." - projects that some 7,186,000 bass fishing trips are taken each year in the
Commonwealth. Only Texas with 13,459,000 bass fishing trips and Florida with 9,760,000 trips topped the Keystone State.
The report does represent angling activity by state residents and non-residents combined, but the findings excluded any fishing
in the Great Lakes, including Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. Considering that Lake Erie is home to a world class smallmouth bass
population and attracts tens of thousands of anglers each year, Pennsylvania's numbers could be even higher than the figures
projected. |
The "Black Bass Fishing in the U.S." report was based on numbers gathered in the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The survey looked only at anglers of license-buying age (16 years and older). The report concluded that nationally, bass are pursued by 12.8 million anglers. U.S. anglers fished for bass more than 158 million days - an average of 12.3 days per angler. Pennsylvania's anglers were actually behind that curve, averaging 11.3 days of bass fishing apiece.
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Michigan's Haverman and Cool, in their brochure, claim no coho salmon tested since
1985 and no chinook salmon tested since 1988 have exceeded safe contaminant levels.
G
ov. Engler and the State of Michigan have challenged USEPA and
Administrator Carol Browner to submit their differences to a mediation
board.
The confusion, stems from advisories implemented by
other Great Lakes States that have a PCB action level of .05 ppm, EPA's
PCB action level from the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative of .02 ppm,
and Food and Drug Administration's PCB action level of 2.0 ppm.
The difference is a magnification of 40 and may impact fishing license sales
and tourism. FDA's levels are for commercially sold fish, both intra- and
interstate, while EPA's are for sport caught fish.
Michigan is using the FDA action levels of 2.0 ppm and has offered to
submit its position to a combined mediation committee of the Michigan
Science Advisory Board and EPA's Science Advisory Board. The proposal
also includes the offer that should that process fail, Michigan will agree
to binding arbitration by the National Academy of Sciences.
The chaffing point is EPA's Science Advisory Board is often at odds with
the agency's policy makers, and has rebuked the agency often and loudly of
late. Not surprisingly, EPA has not responded to Gov. Engler's offer.
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 As one member of the science community reminded us, one of the problems facing the sport fishing community and recreational public, fish consumption advisories are supposed to reflect averages--as in average concentrations. EPA is applying worst-case data in a worst case manner. "EPA is applying worst case concentrations to a number that is explicitly tied to an average number and that's not how the advisory was set up," we were told. So USEPA has issued a supplementary fish consumption guide of its own and is asking Michigan fish license dealers to distribute it to license purchasers. Michigan DNR Director K. L. Cool and Health Dept. Director Jim Haverman have also issued a supplementary brochure of their own and are asking license agents to distribute it also. Haverman and Cool, in their brochure, claim no coho salmon tested since 1985 and no chinook salmon tested since 1988 have exceeded safe contaminant levels. The angling community has responded by increasing their fishing effort and participating in the return of a great salmon and trout fishery. That effort is reflected in increased license and stamp sales, and the purchase of big fish equipment.  PA Bass Are Big Business
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