Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Food, growth and length-weight relationships of young-of-the-year largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) were studied. Stomachs of 220 bass and 186 crappie were examined. Crappie fed mainly on zooplankton but consumed more aquatic insects as their size increased. Bass fed on zooplankton and aquatic insects, but grew faster when small crappie were available. Crappie grew faster when their numbers were reduced by bass predation. Length-weight relationships were calculated for 601 bass and 496 crappie.

Stomachs of black and white crappies (Pomoxis nigromaculatus and P. annularis) collected during the early impoundment (1964-1967) and the late impoundment (1969-70) periods from Beaver Reservoir were analyzed. Black crappie were dominant in the early impoundment period, whereas white crappie was the dominant crappie species in the late impoundment period. During the early impoundment period, large numbers of earthworms (January to April) and shad (during the remainder of the year) were consumed by both species, although white crappie appeared to concentrate on shad even when earthworms were available. During the late impoundment period O-age fishes, zooplankton, and aquatic insects comprised the diet of both species. However, white crappie adults concentrated on fishes all year round, whereas black crappie adults concentrated on benthic insects in the spring and fishes in other seasons.

Juvenile striped mullet, ranging in size from 25 mm to 150 mm standard length and acclimated to 10% and 50% seawater, were subjected to direct transfer from acclimation salinity to salinity levels varying from distilled water to 200% seawater. Tests were also made using two commercially prepared, osmotically balanced, synthetic seawater mixes; one containing twice the normal calcium level and the other calcium-free. The presence of calcium significantly increased both survival time and survival rate. Acclimation tests also indicated a beneficial effect from increased calcium levels.

Lymphocystis disease is a viral disease of freshwater and marine fish. It was found in three species ofSciaenids along the Georgia coast. It was found in six of the eight estuaries sampled and appeared in three forms: cutaneous, visceral and ocular. The cutaneous and visceral lesions were typical. An ocular site of infection, however, had not been previously described. The lymphocystis cells were found in the choroid coat of the eye near blood vessels and transport of the virus to the infection site via the blood was suspected. The disease appeared in the fall and winter months in Cynoscion regalis and Stellifer lanceolatus. No conclusions could be drawn from the data on the seasonal appearance of the disease in Dynoscion nothus. Water temperature changes appear to be associated with the appearance and disappearance of the disease but additional factors need to be studied before a causal relationship can be established.

Two cyprinid fishes, rlinostomus funduloides and Notropis cornutus were tested with naturally occurring substances including some well-known biogenic amines. Behavioral responses to histamine were similar to those observed in previous tests with natural alarm substance extracts. A response threshold was obtained at 0.01 ppm. Spectrophotofluorometric emission spectra also indicated that the natural alarm substance known to exist in many species of fish may be a ringed or double ringed compound.

In 1969-70 there were 50 active commercial, heated fishing docks on Grand Lake, a 18,818 hectare reservoir in northeastern Oklahoma. During the winterspring of 1969-70, fishermen interviews were made to determine fishermen catch statistics. Docks were sampled Friday through Monday during the period 28 January through 30 April 1970. A total of 1365 interviewed fishermen caught 3963 fish in 4462 hours of fishing (0.89 fish/ man-hour). One carp (Cyprinus carpio) was captured, with the balance of 3962 fish in the sample represented by white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) of 239 mm mean total length and 194 g mean weight. Age composition of 234 fishermen caught fish was 94% age group III and IV, with age IV comprising 67.1% of the catch. The total population of fishermen using 41 of the 50 commercial docks was obtained from records kept by the dock operators.

The catch of commercial and game fish with 4-foot trap nets having minimum mesh sizes of 0.5,2, and 3-inch, square measure, were compared. A small trap net having 0.5-inch webbing in the crib has been used for many years to sample fish from Oklahoma reservoirs. Various investigators have indicated that this gear has potential as a commercial fishing device. However. large catches of game fish, especially white crappie, was a serious detriment to this potential. Two designs of large mesh trap nets were therefore dcveloped to determine if by enlarging the mesh size of the standard design, the catch rate of game fish would decline while the catch rate of commercial fish would remain constant. An investigation was conducted on Keystone Reservoir during 1971 and 1972. The results indicated that the large mesh trap nets did take significantly fewer game fish. The catch of commercial fish was also reduced, but to a lesser extent, as the mesh size increased.

In 1970 the Florida Legislature provided for a table of values for fish killed by water pollution. These data were applied to standing crop estimates to determine the monetary value of the 1970 fishery in 22,700 acre Lake Tohopekaliga. The lim netic portion of the fishery was valued at $4,335,120 or $321.12 per acre. The littoral portion was valued at $12,266,636 or $1 ,333.33 per acre. Although the littoral zone has a considerably higher value and is vital for the renewal of the fishery resource, it is continually subjected to accelerated encroachment and piecemeal destruction by a variety of means. Monetary estimates such as these enable biologists to express biological facts in terms of more conventional market pricing techniques when considering water-use policies.

The mercury concentrations in various tissues of an adult bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, were determined by nameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Mercury was concentrated in the kidneys and liver at levels in excess of 18 parts per million (dry weight basis). One sample from the right lobe of the liver contained 34.5 ppm mercury. With the exception of skin and subcutaneous tissue, a sample from the medulla oblongata and a bone sample (skull fragment), all samples run exceeded 1.0 ppm mercury. Studies as to the prevalence of high mercury levels in Tursiops truncatus and other marine mammals as well as the effects such levels have on behavior, fecundity and survival are recommended.

Alimentary tract evacuation was stqdied by the serial slaughter method after a single unrestricted feeding on commercial pelletized food. Digestion rate was measured at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 C. At the lower temperatures there was a "latent" period immediately following ingestion during which the content of the stomach or alimentary tract did not decline. After adjustment for the "latent" period and logarithmic conversion of the amount of food present, evacuation rates were described by double logarithmic regressions which showed time for complete evacuation as a function of temperature and amount of food. Evacuation rates were also measured at25 C for natural food consumed by each species and were similar to the rates using artificial food.

A model power plant, constructed to simulate the time-temperature exposure histories experienced by organisms entrained in the intake of an actual plant, was used to study the thermal effects of an operating power plant on the hatching success of American shad, Alosa sapidissima, eggs. Eggs from a single female were divided into 5 sub-samples; two controls, and three experimental batches. One control was stocked immediately in a constant temperature bath. The second control was passed through the unheated plant to assess the mechanical effects of passage through the model plant on hatching success. The experimental batches of eggs were passed through the operating plant set to produce a Δ T of about 6°C, and were cooled at different rates to the intake temperature of 18.5° C. Exposure times to a Δ T of at least 6° C ranged from 5 to approximately 15 minutes, and the cooling period from I hour to nearly 3 hours.

Techniques used to quantify circulating levels or stcroid hormones in teleostean fishes may help solve problems in fisheries research. Competitive protein binding assay used to determine levels of androgens. corticoids. and radioimmunoassay for estrogens allow analysis of relatively large numbers of samples within a short period of time. Results obtained by these methods indicate that rainbow trout (Salmo gairdlleri) have endocrine responses to various stressors. Repeated bleeding causes a marked lowering of plasma androgens in the male while cortlcoids arc increased in both sexes. Gonadectomy reduces androgens in the male more rapidly than in the female; estrogen levels are not appreciably altered. Carbon dioxide anesthesia greatly elevates plasma corticoids while tricaine methanesulfonate has no apparent effect on corticoids or androgens.

Is it possible that you and I stand here today as an accomplice in one of the greatest crimes ever perpetrated against our natural resources? Are conservation agencies in America today failing to come to the rescue of an endangered specie called the American hunter? If wildlife conservation organizations in the United States were to learn today that an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease was spreading through out wildlife population, we would immediately sound the alarm. We would work day and night to control the epidemic, and if the situation were to become serious enough, we would call in all who would help to join in our fight to protect our wildlife. We would warn that a cancerous plague was destroying our wildlife and that one of our major recreational activities was in danger. In short, we would press the panic button because we would be facing all the symptoms of a disease which could totally destroy hunting in America.

Those of us who live and work in the southeastern part of the United States, who love nature and the great out-of-doors, are the most fortunate people in the world. Within the area that makes up this association may be found the most infinite variety of out-door recreation. There are rugged mountains with cold swift, tumbling rivers and streams gentle rolling land with quiet valleys and slow meandering streams, and flat, level lands with swamps and marshes. Natural and man-made lakes in addition to the free-flowing rivers make this area unique for water-oriented activitv. We can hunt for deer, bear, b~ar, turkey, grouse and numerous small game species. We can fish for trout, muskellunge, walleyed pike and a great variety of warm water species native to each region. We can swim, ski and enjoy boating on some of the cleanest, most beautiful lakes to be found.

Man has kept wild animals in captivity for thousands of years. He did it by necessity in the beginning to help in the hunt or, when the growl of an empty stomach outweighed the animal's advantage of hunting prowess, to place in the pot. "Civilized man," usually with a full stomach and leisure time, gradually developed a view of the animal kingdom from a perspective other than skewered over an open fire. He became fascinated by the unusual, awed by the brute strength, and amazed at the diversity of the world's fauna. These shifts in man's attitude toward wildlife, as well as the old world collections of scientific menageries, spawned an increasing interest in zoological parks. This familiarity with unusual animals from all over the world has helped generate todays booming pet trade - a worldwide commerce in exotic animals. Men still exhibit animals for show and profit, but affluent man also likes to own exotic fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

"What he don't know won't hurt him." How often we hear that quote, yet how ridiculously false it is. It is the lack of knowledge or the misuse of the knowledge one possesses which produces undesirable results. Those charged with the responsibility of planning law enforcement training programs should ask themselves two questions: 1. What is training? 2. What is the objective of law enforcement officer training? To train is to form by instruction, discipline or drill or to teach so as to make fitted, qualified or proficient. The objective of the law enforcement training program is to make the officer prepared to skillfully perform the duties of his office and instill in him such confidence in his equals, superiors, subordinates and himself that he approaches his assignment with determination and enthusiasm.

I would like to point out the advantages of the military type of organization whcre utilizcd in Wildlifc Law Enforcement Agencies, and even as Ido so, would like to stress the importance of such agencies in allowing their agents, conservation officers, rangers or whatever title is given the "old gamc warden" in your respective states; a certain latitude, independence of action, and freedom from top levcl, official direction and command as far as practicable. We must realize, and keep in the forefront of our minds, that the working wildlife agent, the enforcement officer in the field, is our primary contact with the sportsman, hunter, fisherman, man who pays the bills, there in the field. The Wildlife Agent is in effect our Public Relations man for the department. He answers more inquiries about our activities, seasons, reasons for doing, than any other person or persons in the department.

Webster defines "reorganization" as: 1. an act of reorganizing or state of being reorganized. 2. the reconstruction of a business firm. The definition of the word barely takes up three lines of space in the half column of a dictionary page. but there is one helluva lot of difference between definition and deed. It had been almost thirty years since the last reorganization of the natural resources agencies in Maryland. At that time there was one agency, the Maryland Conservation Department. In 1939, the reorganization divided the conservation department into five separate departments, and formed a Board of Natual Resources with each new department being a member of the board. Each of the departments was responsible for assigned segments of natural resources management. The five departments were: Forests and Parks; Tidewater Fisheries; the Game and Inland Fish Commission; Geology and Mines. and Research and Education.

The late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover said, "Conservation law enforcement is probably the most hazardous type of law enforcement in the United States today." Probably no other law enforcement agency sends its men into the field with so little formal training as do state conservation agencies. For instance, most of the 14 Southeastern states do not require education above the high school level for conservation officers and these states do not have any basic requirements of training in conservation oriented fields or law enforcement. Top state conservation officials are aware of the problem. Ever since conservation law enforcement became an important factor in our society, authorities have pointed up the need for better training of its enforcement officials. Even with this limitation, conservation law enforcement generally attracts a higher caliber person than do most other enforcement agencies.

Gentlemen, I am pleased to have been invited by Chief Tucker Brown to address this group of professionals who comprise an important part of the state game and fish agencies of the several southeastern states. Since I choose to present this paper subjectively, rather than in the traditional form of the scientific paper, perhaps I should offer some credentials At present, I am a university professor of biology. Most of my time is spcnt supervising graduate studics relating to fisheries and game biology. I have also earned my living as a research game biologist and as a research fishery biologist in different southern states, and have had game and fish law enforcement duties. An important part of my formal education in wildlife conservation was received at a mid'western university. My chief interest has been and continues to be the preservation of public hunting and fishing, in part for the selfish reason that hunting and fishing has been a way of life for me for over 45 years.

By breaking up and assembling enforcement information into useful relationships. we can examine its contents and make logical conclusions. To do this, we need assistance because the human brain is very limited in its capacity to breakup. sort and assemble large amounts of information. The human mind is also influenced by personal opinions and is inclined to become confused by unrelated side issues. Therefore. we need a device to assist us which does not have these human faults. That device is the computer. The computer meets this criteria because it can quickly break-up and store vast amounts of information. It is not capable of thinking, therefore, it is not capable of becoming confused. It is an electronic and mechanical device which will only do what it is told to do. Because of this, it is the ideal tool to use in analyzing information; and when properly used, more beneficial to the enforcement chief than a Jeep full of Game Wardens.

Like many other activities carried out by State fish and game departments, hunter safety programs began to expand and became a significant activity only after World War II. The late 1940's and early '50's saw substantial increases in numbers of hunters, hunter participation, and overall expansion of State fish and game department programs and budgets. Several States got into hunter safety training in those early years, others are just now beginning. Lack of adequate funding has always been, and likely always will be, a major problem in fish and game management. This problem has been met in part, at least, by passage of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act in 1937 and the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1950. These laws ear-marked existing excise tax revenues for allocation to the States, to fund fish and wildlife management programs on a cost sharing basis.

The Conservation Enforcement Officer is today faced with a challenge that all law enforcement officers face. This is the growing trend of disrespect and disregard for our laws, law officers and the rights of others. This is a trend that we have seen developing in this country, particularly over the past decade. We have seen several of our major cities torn by violence. Our college campuses have become a place for many of our young people to demonstrate and make demands, and when these demands are not met, these same young people go on burning, pillaging and looting sprees. We have seen sniping, ambush and outright murder of enforcement officers and other officials. In Alabama approximately nine percent of our Conservation Officers have been shot. Several more officers have been shot at, but luckily were not hit. Our courts seemingly are giving all rights to the criminal and taking away the rights of his victim and the law officer.

Historically, the Michigan conservation officer has worked as the situation dictated- a concept of total job responsibility- i.e., he worked 7 days a week if necessary, or as many hours daily as required, to fulfill the sundry functions of responsibility in his assigned work zone. I can recall when I started with the Department in 1941 that officers were required to work seven days a week. There was a job to do and we worked as the job demanded. In 1946, the work week was modified to five days, but with no hour limitation per day, and days worked in excess of five entitled the officer to compensatory days off. Many of the officers, nonetheless, continued to work extra days as necessary to do the job. On July 1, 1966, twenty years later. due mainly to union but also employee association pressure. a Civil Service overtime directive mandated compansation to the officers at time and one-half for hours worked in excess of 80 hours per bi-weekly pay period.

Gentlemen: Certainly, most of you are aware that the State of Mississip'pi is one of the few states that has created a separate state agency charged with the sole function of Boat and Water Safety Administration, I am sure that many of you are expecting me to have some dramatic spill as to the advantages of this individuality, I don't intend to dwell on that. I address my remarks about our organization, its operations, effectiveness, cost, and impact on the boating public, In so doing I will talk about both advantages and disadvantages of administering water safety. You must draw your own conclusions as to whether it should be administered by a department of Conservation or not. First let's look at boating law enforcement Should the law be enforced by conservation officers?