To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Theodore Willis. I have a doctorate in ecology, which I put to use on the St. Croix alewife - smallmouth bass issue in 2005 and 2006. My impression from that experience was that the various sides of this issue were no closer to resolution at the end of the St. Croix project than at the beginning. I have reviewed the current plan and find it to be a welcome improvement over the previous deadlock. However, I feel the plan is too cautious in its provisions to safe guard the bass population and not creative enough at the same time.
I agree that the alewife population in the St. Croix should not be allowed to increase unchecked, as the previous recovery demonstrated that the population has the capacity for near exponential growth. However, the escapement constraints based on bass population performance are vague and too restrictive. Specifically, holding escapement levels in consecutive years is an acceptable course of action, but rolling back escapement when bass population performance is subpar is not acceptable. A variety of factors can affect the success of smallmouth bass year classes, especially at the northern extent of their range, as the Washington Co. population is. The constraints and actions currently in the plan maintain the notion that bass year class success is wholly determined by interactions with alewife. There are many lakes in the area that point to the contrary.
As an alternative, I would suggest timing the releases of alewives past the Mill Town, Baileyville and Grand Falls dams. Work in New Brunswick demonstrated that smallmouth populations performed better in the presence of alewives if the alewives arrived in the lake over an extended time period. This timing aspect could be adapted such that pulse releases of alewives are spread by days. This type of intervention in red light bass years would guarantee that a wide variety of juvenile alewife sizes were accessible to YOY bass in late summer when YOY bass need high energy food to prepare them for winter.
There are no provisions in the plan that would change current bass management in the event of yellow or red light years. Actions like closing the St. Croix lakes to fishing while bass are on their nests would also improve year class survival. Research from the midwest demonstrates that bass eggs and fry are most vulnerable when males are removed from the nest, even temporarily, usually as a consequence of angling.
Finally, I would stress that in the lakes in question, the analysis I conducted using IFW's data demonstrated that back-calculated length and differences between size classes were larger when alewife were present in Big Lake and Grand Falls Flowage. I interpreted this difference between years when alewife were present vs. absent as a sign of positive growth. At the very least, there were no signs of negative growth in the presence of alewives. These data are probably the best indicators we have that the reintroduction of alewives to the St. Croix lakes will not prove catastrophic, and may even be beneficial to the bass and the industry that depends on them.
Sincerely,
Theodore Willis, PhD
University of Southern Maine
Environmental Science
Gorham, ME 04038
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Theodore Willis. I have a doctorate in ecology, which I put to use on the St. Croix alewife - smallmouth bass issue in 2005 and 2006. My impression from that experience was that the various sides of this issue were no closer to resolution at the end of the St. Croix project than at the beginning. I have reviewed the current plan and find it to be a welcome improvement over the previous deadlock. However, I feel the plan is too cautious in its provisions to safe guard the bass population and not creative enough at the same time.
I agree that the alewife population in the St. Croix should not be allowed to increase unchecked, as the previous recovery demonstrated that the population has the capacity for near exponential growth. However, the escapement constraints based on bass population performance are vague and too restrictive. Specifically, holding escapement levels in consecutive years is an acceptable course of action, but rolling back escapement when bass population performance is subpar is not acceptable. A variety of factors can affect the success of smallmouth bass year classes, especially at the northern extent of their range, as the Washington Co. population is. The constraints and actions currently in the plan maintain the notion that bass year class success is wholly determined by interactions with alewife. There are many lakes in the area that point to the contrary.
As an alternative, I would suggest timing the releases of alewives past the Mill Town, Baileyville and Grand Falls dams. Work in New Brunswick demonstrated that smallmouth populations performed better in the presence of alewives if the alewives arrived in the lake over an extended time period. This timing aspect could be adapted such that pulse releases of alewives are spread by days. This type of intervention in red light bass years would guarantee that a wide variety of juvenile alewife sizes were accessible to YOY bass in late summer when YOY bass need high energy food to prepare them for winter.
There are no provisions in the plan that would change current bass management in the event of yellow or red light years. Actions like closing the St. Croix lakes to fishing while bass are on their nests would also improve year class survival. Research from the midwest demonstrates that bass eggs and fry are most vulnerable when males are removed from the nest, even temporarily, usually as a consequence of angling.
Finally, I would stress that in the lakes in question, the analysis I conducted using IFW's data demonstrated that back-calculated length and differences between size classes were larger when alewife were present in Big Lake and Grand Falls Flowage. I interpreted this difference between years when alewife were present vs. absent as a sign of positive growth. At the very least, there were no signs of negative growth in the presence of alewives. These data are probably the best indicators we have that the reintroduction of alewives to the St. Croix lakes will not prove catastrophic, and may even be beneficial to the bass and the industry that depends on them.
Sincerely,
Theodore Willis, PhD
University of Southern Maine
Environmental Science
Gorham, ME 04038