well.. I've certainly garnered a sense of paranoia occasionally from
this list.. but I've yet to hear any stories of any horrible things
happening as a result of collecting. From what I've seen, all the real
world dangers have come from habitat loss and pollution. I for one,
would love to hear some stories of non-game fish being decimated or hurt
by collecting in your region. It would fill this obvious void in my
knowledge on the subject.
Thanks,
-derek parr
Chapel Hill, NC
I know of a couple of places that have been more or less destroyed by over
collecting but I think in both cases the collecting was done to catch live food
for tropical fish. I had one little stream about 75 feet long between two
underground culverts that had turned up some really cool stuff but for some
reason someone started not only collecting but leaving behind a mess of bottom
debris he scooped up with his net laying on the bank. that sort of thing
causes city park people to vapor lock when an area is trashed by leaving the
unwanted contents of a dip net on the side of the stream or lake. I guess who ever
was doing it was looking for gambusia but they left all the leaves sticks,
and water plants they dipped just laying where they dumped them. it made an
unsightly mess and now the stream is empty of baby amphiumas, mud minnows, baby
sirens, salamanders, even crayfish have been fished out. It was close to my
home and I went there every few weeks to pick up a few crayfish and other
things when I wanted some. No more, just mounds of debris and little or no fish.
Michael Hissom
aurea mediocritas
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