Golden Algae

[gcbaitman]

I find it just crazy that 6.3 MILLION fish have died in Texas since 2003 from the Golden Algae and this was first reported in 1930 in Holland and has been everywhere from China to Japan to Israel and the first documented fish kill in the US was in Texas in 1985 on the Pecos river. The report says 41 different events ( I am guessing blooms ) have killed 17.5 million fish at the DIRECT LOSS of $7 million dollars not to mention the indirect loss to fishing or tourism.
The reports shows from Jan 03 to April of 03 these following horrific facts,

Possum Kingdom Res.
fish killed... 1,475,212
Direct cost... $518,135 dollars

Lake Granbury
Feb.03 to April03
fish kill...... 3,550,159!!!!
direct cost.... $552,196


Taken from Texas Algae workshop minutes,
Golden alga kills fish by releasing toxins into the water that cause fish gills to bleed internally and lose their ability to work properly. Since 2001, there have been fish killed by golden alga at 23 reservoirs in Texas. Just one such kill, which was at Possum Kingdom Reservoir in 2001, is estimated to have resulted in $16 to $18 million in economic losses to surrounding communities.

THE NEXT PART REALY SCARES ME ONLY BECAUSE OF THE FIRE RETARDANT
THAT WAS WASHED DOWNSTREAM ( We all know what is in the retardant )

Streams and reservoirs west of Interstate Highway 35 have proven to be especially vulnerable to outbreaks of golden alga in Texas. Various factors appear to favor algal blooms, including high salinity, low stream flows, the presence of nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff into streams, and seasonal changes in water temperature.

The other reports show that GA produces oxygen during the daytime but takes it back during nighttime resulting in fish dying during the early morning hours and that GA can survive during the winter temps and all the way up to
115 degrees !!

The GA can survive by " hiding in the mud " so draining a lake is not a option neither is " flushing " because when a bloom is documented it IS THERE TO STAY. There was 1 documented bloom that DID NOT RESULT IN A FISH KILL.

Face it we have to SUPPORT OUR G&F DEPT. AND WORK TOGETHER. The things that we as anglers can do is push for a public website committed to the reporting of a GA bloom and by counting how many fish that we can see
that have been killed. We as anglers should not get mad at G&F because this has been around for a very long time but I truly shudder at the thought of the above mentioned line from the TXG&F dept. about " phosphorus ". I think we have just seen the very tip of the spear and we are about to get the shaft next.

Sorry about the long post.

[azmike]

Friday PM I saw 1 dead LMB about a six pounder floating straight across from the first boat ramp and another fish was floating that was very decomposed (looked like a carp or cat) about 7 lb in same area. And over by the first bridge I seen another big dead carp by the shoreline. Also the second ramp had suddy looking water, opposite side of the campground.

[BassTrix]

gcb, did you find that any of the lakes having significant kills have recovered? If so, was there any "treatment" that accelerated the recovery?

Thanks.

[gcbaitman]

There is no " treatment " this is terminal and the only way to recover is to stock it back up CAUTION WE HAVE NOT SEEN A FISHKILL YET we have seen some dead fish but we have not seen a fishkill as compared to other lakes. The pictures they have they are using backhoes to pick the fish up and stacking them in dumptrucks !!!
The only way they fully recover from this is to make sure they have a bunch of fingerlings on standby BUT they lost over 1 million fish due to GA getting into one of the stocker ponds.

[d a]

One thing I learned while surfing the Texas Parks and Wildlife site on Golden Alga is the majority, but not all, of their fish kills occured in the winter.

Here's two informative links on golden alga from the Texas Parks and Wildlife site:

Golden Alga in Texas: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hab/ga/

Summary report from a Golden Alga worksop held in 2003: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hab/ga/workshop/

[CoonAz]

Here are few interesting articles associated with the dealing of "Golden Algae" problems. These articles are mostly on the economical impact, some are on possible treatments and the environmental studies associated with golden algae from various lakes in affected states such as ARIZONA, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. I haven't read them all yet, but you can draw your own conclusions as to what can and should be done.

http://www.sld.cu/pipermail/farmepi-l/2005-June/001156.html

http://www.altustimes.com/articles/2004/08/30/news/top01.txt

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/alga.htm

http://www.cliftonrecord.com/output/06032005_pdf20.pdf

This is by far, not all of the reading obtainable about this algae. Google has many, many articles, and studies listed which relate to what this algae does and some on treatments and feasability studies for using these treatments. Here is the Google page, with the listings and the title of how I accessed them. Hopefully, these links will work properly. Also, while I was doing this, da was doing the same thing, apparently. Most of these are more recent articles (2005) for reference.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Treatments+for+Golden+Algae+in+Texas&btnG=Google+Search

CoonAz

[gcbaitman]

Yeah I stayed up lastnight going over the Texas websites pertaining to GA.
Da did you stumble over the " game warden field notes?" if you did BUT did not read them I suggest going back and giving them a good reading they are just cases that the wardens respond to anything from cheating in bass tourneys to poaching to shootouts in bank hold-ups that the wardens got into. VERY FUNNY STUFF

[Nummie]

You're right, Houston! Here is one of the funnier ones..........

You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide — A Gonzales County Game Warden arrested someone on felony warrants. The subject had been in hiding from the warden since a poaching incident last hunting season. Warrants from Lavaca County were also served at the time of the arrest. Working with an informant, the warden was able to learn that the subject was coming to visit his mother for Mother’s Day. The warden, along with other county officers surrounded the residence where the subject was staying. He tried to escape arrest by climbing out a back window but saw officers and went back into the house. He eventually came out and was taken to jail. The Attorney General’s office also wanted the man for more than $8,000 in back child support. The warden said he told the subject that he needed to quit messing with outlaw deer hunting. He agreed, then laughed and said, “You know I can sell drugs, steal, rob, and shoot people, but I keep getting caught by the game wardens.” :Iconrotfl :whiteflag

http://www.azbasszone.com/datempfiles/nummieani.gif

[gcbaitman]

Yep I liked the Christian Bass fishing tourney one to.

[d a]

Sounds like a hoot! Any one got a link for me?

[gcbaitman]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/news/news/040614d.phtml

There you go.