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to MDC Home Page1. Missouri "Ikes" celebrate 75 years of conservation
2. Yellow grubs don't ruin fish for the skillet
3. Study tracks flathead catfish on Missouri River
4. Commission to meet in Hannibal Oct. 3
If children do not learn to speak at the proper time, they never will. If they never get to touch animals and plants, they will lose their ability to love them. -- Stephen Bodio, "Passion, Gifts, Rages," from A Hunter's Heart.
The "Ikes" give Missourians a way to ensure the future of outdoor recreation.
MOBERLY, Mo. -- In a year when one of the nation's largest, most respected citizen conservation organizations celebrates its diamond anniversary, the Missouri chapter is still something of a diamond in the rough. Already valuable and solid, it still has facets yet to be shaped by current and future members.
The Izaak Walton League was organized in 1922 by hunters and anglers who wanted to ensure the future of their sports. In the intervening decades, the organization has broadened its base. Today's "Ikes," as they are sometimes known, embrace birdwatchers, photographers and outdoor enthusiasts of many other stripes.
The group took its name from the author of "The Compleat Angler," one of the earliest treatises that combined practical fishing and thoughts on the importance of natural resources to the human spirit. The IWLA still attracts a large number of fishermen and women. Joe Barnes, president of the 600-member Greater Ozarks Chapter of the IWLA, is one of those modern-day Waltons who loves to fish. Even when he's in his family business office in Moberly, fishing always crops up in the conversation.
"Ikes are people who enjoy fishing, enjoy hunting or enjoy just being in the out-of-doors and want to ensure the opportunity to enjoy the out-of-doors in the future," says Barnes. "A love of the outdoors and a strong commitment to keeping it for future generations are the bonds that all Ikes share."
In Missouri, that bond has led IWLA members to tackle several conservation challenges. Although the league has been active in the Show-me State for only 10 years, it has made its presence felt on several issues. Taking an early interest in the national organization's emphasis on outdoor ethics, the Greater Ozarks Chapter hosted national conferences on this subject in 1987 and 1996. The Missouri chapter's outdoor ethics program coordinator is nationally known outdoor photographer Bob Lindholm.
Wetland conservation is another major emphasis for the Greater Ozarks Chapter. "We started in the 1980s promoting the idea that the state of Missouri not only needed to, but was able to move beyond a mere no-net-loss of wetlands policy," says Barnes, "that we could it would be possible here to actually increase and enhance our wetlands."
Jane Epperson, planning coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said Barnes and the Walton League were "a clear-thinking, positive force on the Missouri Wetland Advisory Council. Their ability to focus on the facts, while being open-minded and respectful of other members' views and opinions, helped us get the result we did."
The Greater Ozarks Chapter also sponsors fishing clinics to introduce neophytes to the joys of fishing and teach them how to do it in ways that respect and preserve the natural resources they use. Although the Greater Ozarks Chapter is fairly young by IWLA standards, its magazine, "Outdoor Missouri," has won the League's national James Lawton Childs Award for the outstanding conservation project in the nation.
Greater Ozarks Chapter IWLA members pay $39 annual dues, which includes membership in the national organization and a subscription to IWLA state and national magazines. More information is available from: Greater Ozarks Chapter IWLA, P.O. 494, Moberly, MO 65270-0494. Phone: (816)263-6048.
-jim low-
Don't throw away those filets. Fisheries biologists say a few yellow specks won't hurt a thing.
SEDALIA, Mo. -- For some Missouri anglers the delight of catching a keeper-sized fish turns to dejection when the filleting process uncovers yellow grubs. While the grubs may not look appetizing, they will not ruin your catch. Fish that are properly cleaned and cooked present no danger of transmitting parasites or disease to humans.
Missouri Department of Conservation Fisheries Management Specialist Dale Cornelius says fish have always been hosts for yellow grubs. He suspects the parasites are being found more because increasingly anglers are filleting their catches.
"The yellow grub is a common parasite that can affect any species of fish. In the past people probably didn't notice them because they would scale and clean the fish then cook them without skinning or filleting them. Now that many people filet or skin their fish, they have a greater chance of seeing the parasites that have burrowed into the flesh of the fish," says Cornelius.
The yellow grub parasite begins its complex life cycle in fish-eating birds. Adult grubs lay eggs in the throats and mouths of the birds. Those eggs are expelled when the birds feed. Larvae emerge from eggs and burrow into the bodies of snails, continuing to grow and change form. Once a grub leaves the snail, it attaches to fish and burrows into the fish's flesh. The cycle then repeats itself when a fish-eating bird eats the infected fish.
Anglers who catch fish that have yellow grubs may either remove them from the fish or thoroughly cook the fish.
Cornelius says because chemical treatments are not economically feasible and the grubs are harmless, there is no need to attempt to rid your pond of them. But for those insistent on attempting to control the parasites, stocking redear sunfish may be the solution. The sunfish eat snails and could possibly decrease a pond's grub population. Redear sunfish, which can grow up to 12 inches long also are excellent eating.
For questions concerning fish parasites or pond management write to: Randy Noyes, Fisheries Division, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.
-arleasha mays-
The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to know where these tackle-testing heavyweights live and what makes them tick. Anglers can help.
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- As if catching one of the Mississippi River's big flathead catfish isn't reward enough, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has sweetened the pot by offering cash rewards to anglers who provide information on the tagged flatheads they catch. The reward system is being used to help MDC biologists gather data on the distribution and movement of flathead catfish in the big river system. The biologists also hope to gain insight into the impacts of sport and commercial fishing harvest on the flathead population.
The fish study began this summer with the tagging of flatheads captured from the Mississippi River's Pool 22. That is a section of the river between Quincy, Illinois and Saverton, MO. The fish are expected to roam throughout the pool and may move to adjacent parts of the Mississippi and tributary streams in Missouri and Illinois.
To participate in the reward program an angler must simply clip the thin, 3-inch long numbered tag from his or her catch, attach the tag to a reward tag report card and return both to the MDC's Hannibal office. It is important that anglers fill in the information section of the report card. They should record the date, location where the fish was caught, if the fish was released or kept and the angler's name and address.
For returning tags to MDC anglers will receive rewards ranging from $5 to $100. The study will span several seasons. And there is no deadline for returning tags.
For more information on the tagging program or a supply of reward tag report cards, contact the MDC office in Hannibal at (573) 248-2530.
-arleasha mays-
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- The Missouri Conservation Commission will hold its next regular meeting Oct. 3 in Hannibal. The commission will not meet in September.
The Oct. 3 meeting will begin with a closed, executive session scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Hannibal Holiday Inn, 4141 Market St. The open portion of the meeting will begin at 10:15 a.m.
Commission meetings are open to the public. Items to be placed on the agenda for a presentation or other business, should be sent to: Director, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180; fax (573) 751-4467. Requests must be received by noon Sept. 22. Persons requiring special services or accommodations to attend the meeting can make arrangements at the same address, or by phone at (573) 751-4115.Commissioners are: Ronald J. Stites, Plattsburg, chairman; Randy Herzog, St. Joseph, vice-chairman; Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, secretary; and Howard L. Wood, Bonne Terre, member.
-jim low-
News Services Coordinator
(314) 751-4115, ext. 243
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