spectr17
03-18-2002, 02:49 PM
Biologists target invasive species.
Experts to battle nonnative fish, wildlife that imperils native species.
By Doug O'Harra, Anchorage Daily News
March 18, 2002
Noting the threat posed to native Alaska animals by such invasive species as Atlantic salmon and northern pike, the state Department of Fish and Game has worked up a strategy to block new invaders and go after those that have already begun to spread.
"Invasive species can harm native species of fish, wildlife, and plants, resulting in ecosystem disruptions that could cause severe economic impacts to the people of Alaska," says the draft of the department's invasive species policy. As a result, "invasive species will not be tolerated."
The most dramatic local example may be northern pike. Originally smuggled into Southcentral Alaska lakes and streams from Interior watersheds, the voracious feeder has spread throughout the Susitna River drainage and has shown up in Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula lakes. Pike have wiped out rainbow trout from several popular city lakes and may threaten the coho salmon of Campbell Creek.
The danger extends throughout the state. Atlantic salmon that escaped from fish farms in the Pacific Northwest have nosed into a few Southeast Alaska streams, where they may compete with native salmon stocks. Norway rats from a grounded ship could wipe out seabirds on an Aleutian Island.
Other nonindigenous creatures making recent unwanted appearances in Alaska's natural systems include European rabbits, dog lice that have infected wolves, goldfish, feral hogs, pigeons and a crayfish -- found in a Kodiak river.
This spring and summer biologists will write a plan to respond to aquatic nuisance species like Atlantic salmon or crabs and mussels brought to Alaska inside the ballast water of tankers, said deputy commissioner Robert Bosworth. It would be ready for public review by fall.
.
"Such infestations could be disastrous for native stocks of fish and shellfish," he wrote in an e-mail interview Friday.
"Mitten crabs, for example, are voracious feeders, reproduce rapidly, and have the capability of causing significant change to the structure and function of intertidal habitats."
After that, Bosworth said, the state will write a broader plan that identifies dangerous invasive species, their potential pathways, and how to detect, control and kill them off. The state will work closely with federal agencies and interest groups.
"This is kind of a written guideline of how we're going to do business," said Larry Peltz, who wrote the new policy and who manages the sportfishing hatchery program.
"It's probably going to take two or three years to get all the stuff in place. . . . Public education is going to be a huge part of it," he said.
The policy could provide the basis for trying to deal with pike in certain local lakes or watersheds. Among likely candidates for aggressive response would be 30-acre Cheney Lake on Anchorage's east side, where illegally introduced pike have basically wiped out a kid-oriented fishery of stocked trout and salmon.
One possible option, outlined under a strategic response plan for invasive pike populations, would be to kill all the fish in some lakes with the pesticide rotenone, then restock the lakes with rainbows or other native fish, said Barry Stratton, the state's Anchorage-area sportfishing biologist.
"Cheney would be pretty high on the list because it has the potential to be such a high-use lake," he said. "But Johnny Pikeseed is hitting the Kenai Peninsula as well. It may be that a small lake connected to the Kenai River may take priority."
Rotenone has been used for decades in the United States to treat lakes because it targets fish and breaks down fast.
The pike plan outlines other responses that would be tailored to the circumstances and balanced by cost, such as stopping stocking, physically removing pike, and encouraging anglers to catch them.
"If we were proposing rotenone for any lake in the city of Anchorage, we would have a very large public process and meetings to explain to folks what rotenone is and why we want to use it," Stratton said.
Doug O'Harra can be reached at do'harra@adn.com and 907 257-4334.
Experts to battle nonnative fish, wildlife that imperils native species.
By Doug O'Harra, Anchorage Daily News
March 18, 2002
Noting the threat posed to native Alaska animals by such invasive species as Atlantic salmon and northern pike, the state Department of Fish and Game has worked up a strategy to block new invaders and go after those that have already begun to spread.
"Invasive species can harm native species of fish, wildlife, and plants, resulting in ecosystem disruptions that could cause severe economic impacts to the people of Alaska," says the draft of the department's invasive species policy. As a result, "invasive species will not be tolerated."
The most dramatic local example may be northern pike. Originally smuggled into Southcentral Alaska lakes and streams from Interior watersheds, the voracious feeder has spread throughout the Susitna River drainage and has shown up in Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula lakes. Pike have wiped out rainbow trout from several popular city lakes and may threaten the coho salmon of Campbell Creek.
The danger extends throughout the state. Atlantic salmon that escaped from fish farms in the Pacific Northwest have nosed into a few Southeast Alaska streams, where they may compete with native salmon stocks. Norway rats from a grounded ship could wipe out seabirds on an Aleutian Island.
Other nonindigenous creatures making recent unwanted appearances in Alaska's natural systems include European rabbits, dog lice that have infected wolves, goldfish, feral hogs, pigeons and a crayfish -- found in a Kodiak river.
This spring and summer biologists will write a plan to respond to aquatic nuisance species like Atlantic salmon or crabs and mussels brought to Alaska inside the ballast water of tankers, said deputy commissioner Robert Bosworth. It would be ready for public review by fall.
.
"Such infestations could be disastrous for native stocks of fish and shellfish," he wrote in an e-mail interview Friday.
"Mitten crabs, for example, are voracious feeders, reproduce rapidly, and have the capability of causing significant change to the structure and function of intertidal habitats."
After that, Bosworth said, the state will write a broader plan that identifies dangerous invasive species, their potential pathways, and how to detect, control and kill them off. The state will work closely with federal agencies and interest groups.
"This is kind of a written guideline of how we're going to do business," said Larry Peltz, who wrote the new policy and who manages the sportfishing hatchery program.
"It's probably going to take two or three years to get all the stuff in place. . . . Public education is going to be a huge part of it," he said.
The policy could provide the basis for trying to deal with pike in certain local lakes or watersheds. Among likely candidates for aggressive response would be 30-acre Cheney Lake on Anchorage's east side, where illegally introduced pike have basically wiped out a kid-oriented fishery of stocked trout and salmon.
One possible option, outlined under a strategic response plan for invasive pike populations, would be to kill all the fish in some lakes with the pesticide rotenone, then restock the lakes with rainbows or other native fish, said Barry Stratton, the state's Anchorage-area sportfishing biologist.
"Cheney would be pretty high on the list because it has the potential to be such a high-use lake," he said. "But Johnny Pikeseed is hitting the Kenai Peninsula as well. It may be that a small lake connected to the Kenai River may take priority."
Rotenone has been used for decades in the United States to treat lakes because it targets fish and breaks down fast.
The pike plan outlines other responses that would be tailored to the circumstances and balanced by cost, such as stopping stocking, physically removing pike, and encouraging anglers to catch them.
"If we were proposing rotenone for any lake in the city of Anchorage, we would have a very large public process and meetings to explain to folks what rotenone is and why we want to use it," Stratton said.
Doug O'Harra can be reached at do'harra@adn.com and 907 257-4334.