The Partial Observer by Dan Sullivan
Friendly Cooperation Protects Lake Way of Life
Susquehanna Bass Association hosted a fishing tournament at Canadarago Lake on Sunday, June 25 in memory of Joe Kosina. This was a big outing, with 33 boats participating, which—from the lake association perspective—means a lot of work for its watershed protection stewards. The job of the stewards is to check boats and protect the lake by helping anglers ensure watercraft entering and leaving the water are clean. Ultimately, the anglers and stewards want the same thing, which is to ensure Canadarago Lake can continue to be enjoyed in the same way by themselves as well as future generations of their families in the years to come.
The stewards work May through October at the launch to check boats inside and out and wash them when necessary. Inspecting and washing the boats both before and after use of the lake is key in order to ensure that obvious, easy-to-see plant and animal matter is removed as well as the microscopic larval forms. The microscopic forms are best decontaminated by high heat (140 degrees Fahrenheit) pressure washing, treatment with potassium chloride and/or vinegar, and drying for an extended multi-day period without rain or additional moisture being added. This includes all exterior and interior areas of the boats where moisture can be contained, such as bilges, live wells, and ballasts. Water protection steward efforts are led by staff and supported with funding from the Canadarago Lake Improvement Association, the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station, and the Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership.
Early last fall, Susquehanna Bass Association, CLIA, BFS, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation worked together to overcome differences between anglers and stewards that developed at a fishing tournament at the same launch, which had made it difficult to ensure all boats were adequately cleaned prior to launching. At the time, this led to a scare—the results of which are yet to be determined—involving the potential that hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata), an invasive species, may have been introduced to the lake. Boats and trailers of anglers who had not been compliant with watershed protection steward efforts had been found to be contaminated with hydrilla.
The organizations listed above corresponded after the incident, expressing concerns and frustrations, and to their great credit the Susquehanna Bass Association stood by the environmental concerns and made it known to their membership that non-compliance with the watershed protection stewards was unacceptable behavior and conduct unbecoming of their membership. All efforts should be made to work together in a friendly manner in the future with the watershed protection stewards, association officials said. The fruits of those collaborative efforts were evident at the tournament this past Sunday where, afterward, the stewards reported that anglers participating in the tournament were very polite and friendly to work with in ensuring that their boats were compliant with “clean, drain, dry” principles.
Hydrilla is also known as “water thyme” and originated in Asia. It was introduced to the United States through the home aquarium industry, often by individuals disposing of their home aquarium contents directly into waterbodies. NYSDEC highlights that hydrilla “is one of the most difficult aquatic invasive species to control and eradicate in the United States.” This is due to its extremely rapid growth rate and its ability to outcompete other species as well as thrive in varying depths and water conditions. Due to the tremendous threat posed to recreation, tourism and the local environment, the federal government prohibits both foreign trade of hydrilla and its transport amongst the states. New York prohibits all sale or possession of the plant.
Hydrilla breaks apart easily, attaches to trailers and gear, and is then transported accidentally from waterbody to waterbody. A fragment as small as one inch can sprout roots and lay the foundation for a whole new bed of the invasive plant. Two high-traffic waterbodies nearby in which hydrilla can be found are Cayuga Lake and the Erie Canal.
The danger of hydrilla is even more heightened in a relatively shallow lake such as Canadarago where, if not found early, it could easily grow from lake bed to surface in almost all parts of the lake, choking out fish and cutting off recreational use of nearly the entire lake.
Hydrilla is also poisonous to eagles, an apex predator of which we have all been thrilled to see a resurgence in the region, and a key representation of the health of the local food web and ecosystem.
Ongoing efforts are being made, and will continue to be made by CLIA and CRISP, in monitoring and proactively searching for the first sign of hydrilla in Canadarago Lake so that—if detected—it can be fought back early, before the growth rate can make the costs of remediation prohibitive. These efforts involve monthly searches around the entire shoreline of the lake, as well as possibly employing environmental DNA sampling to identify any traces of hydrilla that may be present in the water column even before it can be identified by the human eye.
Hydrilla is frequently mistaken for more common and native forms of elodea, which look very similar, both growing in a similar whorl or circular leaf pattern. The native elodea rarely, if ever, exceeds a three-leafed whorl pattern, whereas hydrilla can grow in whorls of four or more leaves. Another key difference between hydrilla and elodea is that hydrilla has serrated leaf margins and a spiked midrib if you look closely at the individual leaves, whereas the native elodea has smooth leaves.
The Canadarago Lake community is thankful for—and looks forward to seeing—further friendly cooperation between anglers and watershed protection stewards in ensuring that boats, trailers, and gear are “cleaned, drained, and dried” to ensure that future generations get to experience this and other lakes the same way people do today, no matter what form of recreational enjoyment that may be.