Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

With the advent of the 1974-75 trapping season Georgia's Game and Fish Law Enforcement Section elected to place emphasis on the control and management of the fur industry within the State with one reason being to find out, if nothing else, what was the fur industry in the state. As could be expected several things were learned. Deficiencies were detected and an evolutionary process was begun to improve on the managing and control of this valuable resource. Included in this effort to improve upon the State's management and control program was a review of the laws, regulations, and methods of fifteen other states, most of which were in the Southeast. This was done in an attempt to learn of better ways to administer an effective law enforcement program and also to provide a suggested approach to other southeastern states which might find themselves in the same boat with Georgia. The purpose of this paper is to provide some insight into what has been learned.

A survey of Wildlife Law Enforcement Directors throughout the United States was used in assessing the status of anti-poaching campaigns. Thirty-five of the 45 state wildlife agencies returning the questionnaire have an anti-poaching campaign in progress. Personal contact is the medium most frequently used (34 of 35 agencies). Six (17.1%) agencies reported that they had been able to evaluate the effectiveness of their anti-poaching campaigns in eliciting the cooperation of citizens in reporting wildlife violations. Fear of involvement and of being called as a witness was the most frequently cited barrier preventing persons from reporting wildlife violations. A conservationist attitude was cited most frequently as the reason for reporting a violation. Discontinuities seemed apparent in the frequency and percent use of various media in anti-poaching campaigns.

A program (Help Our Wildlife), encouraging citizens to report vandalism and game law violations was adopted by 15 states when introduced by the National Rille Association in late 1974. An early 1975 survey showed six other states had a similar program in operation or under development.

This paper deals with the development of graphic design concepts as incorporated into a conservation agency magazine from 1966 to the present. This evolution will be presented relative to six different categories each with an individual set of typical graphics problems. They are: Logo (title block), covers, inside front cover, editorial page, interior (both print and illustration), and special graphic effects. The refinement of a coherent and meaningful graphics design in these areas typifies the evolution of the whole.

Only by isolating similarities and differences between those who strongly oppose or favor hunting can programs be developed to increase understanding about hunting as a wildlife management tool. The extremities of the continuum were studied because this is where a clearer understanding ofdemographic, adolescent experience, and attitudinal type variables can be obtained. It was found that sex, occupation, nature of the community during youth, occupation of father, and meaning of hunting lands were the important variables in determining differences.

Programs in Agriculture (Natural) Resources designed to provide vocational education for the total agribusiness and natural resource industry are being implemented through agricultural education curricula in a number of southeastern states. Vocational training programs for occupations related to fish and wildlife management exist in 8 states and will likely spread to others. These programs, if planned and implemented properly, can benefit the fish and wildlife resource. Those in the wildlife profession must be aware of developments in their state and provide leadership and expertise for directing programs toward the fulfillment of valid goals and objectives. Members in the profession cannot afford to ignore educational programs disseminating information on the fish and wildlife resources, especially those which are designed to provide vocational education.

During the 1974 spawning season in Tennessee. 17 female striped bass were injected with chorionic gonadotropin and placed in circular tanks to spawn. One or more males, also injected with gonadotropin. were placed in 13 of the tanks with each female. In four of the tanks, treated white bass males (M. chrysops) were added in an attempt to produce hybrids. All 13 of the females, where there were no white bass, successfully spawned producing an estimated 19.3 million eggs. More than 11 million fry hatched. The four females in tanks containing white bass males ripened but had to be manually stripped. The tank spawning method requires considerably less handling and imposes much less stress on brood fish than the conventional hormone technique.

The increasing demand for striped bass fingerlings has established a need for improved pond culture techniques for this species. Standard guidelines were developed from methods in use at several production hatcheries. These along with improvements after two production seasons are described.

A brief history of developments with Morone hybrids is given. Two of these fishes have shown potential as a supplemental sport fish for fresh water lakes and reservoirs. The original hybrid. white bass male X striped bass female. has provided substantial fisheries in the Southeast. Compared to striped bass, greater returns to sport fishermen, faster early growth. and higher survival has been documented. The threat of backcross deformities appears minimal at this time. The reciprocal hybrid, striped bass male X white bass female. was successfully cultured in 1973. Early findings have been encouraging, but data is incomplete for conclusive evaluation. First year growth varied between 12 and 14 inches, while average weights were higher than for striped bass of similar sizes. In general appearance, this hybrid resembles white bass. Life history aspects and culture methods for hybrid production are discussed.

Striped bass have been introduced into many inland waters of the southeastern states in an effort to establish a fishery, and to provide a biological control for clupeoid fishes. The Striped Bass Committee of the Southern Division, American Fisheries Society compiled information on the success of past introductions in 1970 and again in 1973. The information collected by the Committee is used to illustrate the successes and failures of introductions of fry, fingerlings, and adult fishes. Variables, other than size of fish at the time of stocking, were tabulated and analyzed to determine their significance in the success of introductions.

One million acres of water in inland reservoirs currently contain fishable populations of striped bass. Fingerling production in 1974 was in excessof 10.5 million fish and this equals the total fingerling introductions between 1965 and 1973. Major efforts are in progress in estuaries to reestablish striped bass populations and to mitigate losses of fish due to power plant operation. Improved fertilization techniques in ponds should serve to increase fingerling production in the future. The use of hybrids is slowly gaining favor, both in reservoirs and in small impoundments. Reservoir management of striped bass suffers from the lack of quantification of fingerling survival and of the effects of the fish upon the forage base and upon the creel.

A three-day fishing tournament on the 51. Johns River, Florida, in which 200 fishermen competed. yielded 1165 largemouth bass over 12 inches, and 1254 bass smaller than 12 inches. The over-aU catch rate was 0.50 bass per hour. The catch per acre of water fished was 0.03 bass. Over-all mortality estimates ranged from 22.3 to 43.8 percent; they were due primarily to epidermal bacterial and fungal infections, contracted by handling. The 3 I-day tag retention rate for largemouth bass tagged with the Floy FD-68-B anchor tag was found to be S1.1 percent for fish held in a hatchery pond.

A study of two bass tournaments was undertaken on Lakes Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend in March, 1974 to evaluate a "Don't Kill Your Catch" program initiated by the Bass Anglers Sportsmen's Society, Mortality offish held in live-wells or water tanks up to the point and just after "weigh-in" was determined. Delayed mortality was measured by taking a sample from the tournamentcaught bass and stocking them in hatchery ponds for 28 days. A treatment of Terramycin was given loa portion of these hatcheryheld fish to evaluate its use for improving survival of the fish. Tolal mortality of fish taken in both tournaments was considered low (32 per cent of the harvested fish). Tournament fish stocked in hatchery ponds and treated with Terramycin had similar survival rates to those of stocked untreated fishes.

Oxytetracycline, as a prophylaxis against secondary bacterial infections, was injected into 531 largemouth bass (Micropterus salmaides) which were caught during a fishing tournament on Lake Seminole, Georgia. The injected fish, along with 531 control bass, were held for observation in a 1-acre canal contiguous with the lake. After 19 days, 4.3% of the injected fish had died and 2.2% of the control fish had died. The oxytetracycline was not beneficial in reducing mortality in the released bass.

Tournament-caught largemouth bass were compared with hatchery bass to determine survival rates of bass injected or uninjected with oxytetracycline. Significant mortality rates occurred only in injected tournament-caught bass held in plastic pools. Hatchery controls, uninjected tournament bass and injected tournament bass held in hatchery ponds exhibited mortality rates similar to each other. Survival was best in hatchery ponds, but not significantly better than in pools except for injected tournament-caught bass.

A 1972 survey was taken of Texas bass clubs todetennine the number and location of organizations. their membership, club objectives, tournament regulations, fishing success and estimated harvest of bass from Texas reservoirs. Questionnaires were sent to 206 clubs, and reports were received from 170 of the groups during this study. The 170 reporting organizations collectively held 1,755 tournaments in 1972. Harvest records revealed an average catch per unit effort of 0.17 bass and/ OT O.28tb. per man-hour. Harvest from tournament lakes was, in most cases, less than 0.50 lb. per acre and was not considered harmful to bass populations at this time.

The results from the use of antimycin A in Georgia fish ponds as a fish toxicant within the period 1968-1974 are presented in the following paper. Concentrations of antimycin at 0.4 to 0.6 parts per billion (ppb) were found to be the most desirable range for reducing populations of scalefish in attempting to improve balance and/ or to improve fishing. For controlling all sizes of scalefish in catfish ponds, concentrations of 2.0 and 4.0 ppb seemed effective. The gravity flow method of application by boat was found to be adequate, but other means of application could be used successfully.

Applications of 1.5 mg/l ofThanite were made in a 0.68-hectare hard-water pond and a 3.64-hectare soft-water pond in Florida. The 19 species of fishes collected alive represented the following families: Lepisosteidae; Anguillidae; Esocidae; Cyprinidae; Catostomidae; Ictaluridae; Aphredoderidae: Cyprinodontidae; Poeciliidae; Atherinidae; and Centrarchidae. The treatment was not effective for collecting bowfin (Amia calva), yellow bullheads (lelulurus natalis), or brown bullheads (I. nebulosus). Thanite eliminated all but 20 fish (0.4 percent) in the small pond and 100 (1.4 percent) in the large pond.