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Essex County could close its hatchery causing worries about hurting local economy

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From Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 31, 2010

By MIKE LYNCH, Enterprise Outdoors Writer, and NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff Writer

ELIZABETHTOWN - Essex County is considering closing its fish hatchery, and some anglers are concerned the move could hurt the local economy.

"You will see a significant decrease in the amount of fishing tourism throughout the county," said Ken Calil, a board member with the Tri-Lakes chapter of Trout Unlimited, "not just on the West Branch of the AuSable but throughout the county. You'll see less money spent at hotels, grocery stores, all kinds of places - campgrounds, you name it."

The Essex County Fish Hatchery, located in Crown Point, raises three types of trout: brook, brown and rainbow. It is projected the fish hatchery will cost the county $281,000 in 2011. It employs three people: a director and two technicians. The hatchery opened under state ownership in 1928 and was taken over by the county in 1982.

The decision to close it or not rests with the county Board of Supervisors. Supervisors are working on the 2011 budget now and trying to find places to save money to reduce a projected $7 million deficit and avoid a steep property tax increase - possible hikes of more than 30 percent have been mentioned as possible if nothing is done. The 2011 budget will take effect Jan. 1; the county passed its current budget in December last year.

The county board has rejected requests to invest in improvements at the hatchery, such as new water lines, over the past decade or so, county Manager Dan Palmer said Monday. He said it would now require about $500,000 in work in future years to keep the hatchery running. This was one of the factors in his recommendation to close it, he said - the county has invested in recent years in some other facilities it could possibly close, such as the county fairgrounds in Westport.

Wilmington Supervisor Randy Preston said he had originally thought he would "wholeheartedly, if reluctantly, go along" with closing the hatchery, but he changed his mind after reading the 2007 New York Statewide Angler survey published by the DEC in 2009. It stated that anglers spent $12,671,592 related to fishing trips in Essex County; the county ranked sixth in New York. Preston said this brings in roughly $400,000 in sales tax revenue, not counting the occupancy tax revenue generated by the anglers who stay in hotels.

Preston said he doesn't fish but knows about its importance to Wilmington - the West Branch of the AuSable, one of the state's most popular trout-fishing rivers, runs through his town. Preston said many people come to the county for the larger fish produced at the hatchery rather than the 8- to 10-inch ones produced at the state's hatchery. He said he thinks the hatchery could be run more efficiently but that closing it would do more harm than good.

What concerns some in the fishing tourism industry is that it could be difficult to replace the county's hatchery fish. Critics of the potential closure say the state Department of Environmental Conservation doesn't have money to bolster its stocking programs and that the private sector would be hard-pressed to raise enough money to buy trout from other hatcheries.

"If we were to replace each and every fish that (Essex County Fish Hatchery Manager) Steve LaMere worked hard to grow every year, last year those fish would have cost us $249,000 plus delivery," said Jerry Bottcher, owner of the Hungry Trout Resort in Wilmington.

This spring, the county hatchery stocked about 50,000 trout, with the majority of those being in excess of 12 inches, some as large as 20 inches long.

By comparison, the DEC stocked about 147,500 yearling trout in Essex County, according to its website. Of those, all but 2,500 are under 9.5 inches in length.

Some fear the loss of those trophy trout might lead to anglers taking their rods and wallets elsewhere, which would cost the county and its businesses revenue.

A 2009 Leisure Travel Information Study conducted by the Lake Placid-Essex County Convention and Visitors Bureau also showed fishing is a key element to the local economy. That report claimed that between 2004 and 2008, 17.2 percent of visitors who came to Essex County fished while they were here.

"We understand that Essex County has some very serious budget issues," Bottcher said. "But there are few line items in their budget that have the return on their investment that the county hatchery does. Before closing it down, I would suggest they put in place a very, very secure alternative, because not only would they be losing sales tax money, but they would drastically affect the (tradition) of family fishing in this county."

Casting out the dollars

Estimated angler expenditures in 2007 at the location fished, by county

County Expenditures

1. Oswego $42,623,006

2. Jefferson $35,314,663

3. St. Lawrence $17,861,105

4. Chautauqua $15,353,656

5. Warren $13,804,053

6. Essex $12,671,592

7. Erie $11,948,376

8. Wayne $11,813,163

9. Delaware $11,103,441

10. Sullivan $8,497,470

(Information from 2007 New York Statewide Angler Survey published in June 2009 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation)

Fly-fishing: Mead’s spiders become TV stars

Thursday, September 2, 2010
 

Glenville’s own Bob Mead is well-known within the world of fly-tying for his ultra-realistic renditions of ladybugs, mosquitoes and praying mantises, made with traditional fly-tying materials and techniques.

They look so real, people have been known to swat them at fly shows.

Mead’s skill at the vise will have a much larger audience come January. He was commissioned two weeks ago to tie two hook-less black widow spiders for an episode of “Royal Pains,” the USA network TV show about a doctor to the rich and famous in the Hamptons.

The scene with Mead’s creepy spider was filmed Monday, said Ruth DiPasquale, prop master for the show.

“We shot it today, on a stunt person’s back,” she said. “They’re astounding. Who better to make an insect than a fly-tier?”

The plot involves a black widow stinging a character and knocking her unconscious when she’s on the verge of winning a golf tournament. Enter handsome young Dr. Hank Lawson, played by Mark Feuerstein. Presumably he saves the day, but we’ll have to wait until the show airs in January to know for sure.

DiPasquale isn’t a fly-fisher, but she had been in a similar situation — needing a fake bumblebee for TV — once before, two years ago. Apparently, it’s not as easy as you might think to find a model bug that looks real enough for the cameras. Someone suggested she seek out a fly-tier, and after many phone calls, she ended up hiring a tier from New England for the bumblebee episode.

“So when this [the black widow episode] came up, I said, ‘Oh, I have to find a fly-tier,’ ” she said. A Google search for a fly-tier in New York turned up Fran Betters, the late sage of the West Branch of the Ausable. Betters died last year, but he wouldn’t have been the right guy for the job. His flies caught fish like crazy, but no one ever called them ultra-realistic.

However, Betters had been friends with Mead for years, and when DiPasquale called, Betters’ wife, Jan, who still runs Betters’ fly shop in Wilmington, said, “You don’t need us. You need Bob Mead,” and gave her Mead’s phone number.

“I hadn’t tied a spider in nearly two decades, but they are pretty simple, and I said OK, I’d do it,” Mead said. “Then she said she needed two, one as a backup, and that they had to be in her office by Monday the 23rd.”

NO EASY TASK

“I spent the first day and parts of each succeeding day doing a lot of thinking and doodling of just what I would do, what I would use, how I would tie it, sans hook, of course, and had a pretty good idea of how it would go before I started,” he said. “As simple a fly as it is, at least a half-dozen mini-problems presented themselves as I created the spider.”

He even attached a single, all-but-invisible thread teased from a stocking that could be pulled to give the spider a little movement.

DiPasquale marveled at the way the natural materials used in fly-tying help produce such lifelike results.

“The legs are made of porcupine quills,” she said. “They’re absolutely gorgeous.”

Mead, who’s retired, may have found a new line of work.

“He’s in my book now,” DiPasquale said. “He’s the go-to guy when you need an insect. He was quite a find, and I’m just thrilled to have these two icky, creepy works of art.”

Morgan Lyle’s commentary appears regularly in The Daily Gazette.

DIDYMO ALERT

May 12, 2010

Didymo (aka: Rock Snot) was confirmed by DEC to be present in Kayderosserras Creek, Saratoga County. CLEAN YOUR GEAR!

How can you prevent the spread of didymo?

There are Four Steps you can take:

• CHECK: Before leaving the river, look for strands of algae on your equipment. Remove them and leave them on site.

• CLEAN: choose a method that will not harm your equipment. Soak items for one minute in a 2% bleach solution (1 cup of bleach mixed with 3 gallons of water) or a 5% solution of salt, antiseptic hand cleaner or dishwashing detergent (2.5 cups mixed with 3 gallons of water). Scrub or spray larger items such as watercraft, with the same solution.

• DRY: If cleaning is not practical, allow all items that came in contact with the water to completely dry then keep them dry for another 48 hours. Freezing is also effective.

• LEAVE: Fish, plants, rocks, and vegetation should not be moved between waterways.