GLIN==> Annual Ohio Charter Captains Conference Addresses Concerns about Asian Carps

Annual Ohio Charter Captains Conference Addresses Concerns about Asian Carps

March 15, 2010

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

HURON, OH - Asian carps, fisheries management, and business diversification
were the topics of the day for more than 200 charter fishing captains at
Ohio Charter Captains Conference, held March 6 at the Bowling Green State
University-Firelands Campus and sponsored by Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio State
University Extension, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), and
the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association. Often considered the unofficial
start of the charter fishing season, the conference, now in its 29th year,
gives captains the latest information to help them maximize profits in a
difficult economy. 

 

With the invasive bighead and silver carps in the news, this year's
conference included a presentation from Duane Chapman, Fisheries Biologist
at the U.S. Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center in
Missouri, who updated captains on the ways the aggressive fish might affect
the Great Lakes. Jim Kaster from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's
office expressed his office's concern about the carp issue and encouraged
those captains in attendance to call his office at 800.282.0515 in support
of action to keep the fish out of Lake Erie.

 

Additional fisheries issues were addressed by representatives from ODNR
Division of Wildlife, with Roger Knight, Lake Erie Program Administrator,
speaking on walleye management, and Jeff Tyson, Supervisor of the Sandusky
Fisheries Research Unit, addressing the 2010 fisheries population outlook.
Ohio Sea Grant Extension Educator Dave Kelch encouraged the captains to add
SCUBA and snorkeling charters to their offerings as a way to broaden their
business prospects. Sea Grant Extension Educator Tory Gabriel, who organized
the conference, hopes attendees came out feeling more informed and prepared
for the upcoming charter fishing season.

 

"The Lake Erie charter industry provides unique sport fishing opportunities
to a wide range of people who collectively spend $24 million on charter
fees, food, lodging, and shopping every year," he says. "Anything we can do
to help these captains succeed in business and understand the Lake Erie
resource is going to have a positive effect on the lake as well as the
economy."

 

Ohio Sea Grant Extension is part of Ohio State University Extension and the
Ohio Sea Grant College Program, one of 32 NOAA Sea Grant programs dedicated
to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources.
For information on Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.

 

###

 

Contact:

Tory Gabriel, Ohio Sea Grant Extension, 440.808.5627, gabriel.78 at osu.edu

 

 

Stacy Brannan

Associate Editor

Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory

1314 Kinnear Road

Columbus, OH 43212

614.247.7109

brannan.16 at osu.edu

 

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