Fishing Forum

"Why don't you bring the Florida strain largemouth bass to Hawaii?"
We've been trying to do that for over 35 years. Here is one reason it hasn't happened.....

Some 25 or so years ago while testifying before the Hawaii State Legislature... (yes, until recently the legislature, not the fish and game dept, made all the decisions and fishing laws.) Hawaii was the last state to allow the fish & game department, not the legislature, to make the fishing rules and regulations.
Anyway, the Sierra Club brought in this giant photo... the famous painting "Florida Bass" by Edward J Bierly. They testified that if Florida Bass were allowed in Hawaii they would eat all of the endangered birds. It made no difference that the "endangered birds" lived up in the mountains on different islands than where the fish would be. This picture said it all... according to the Sierra Club: "Florida Bass equals an end to Hawaii's endangered birds."
And that, boys and girls, is why we still haven't been able to import Florida Bass into Hawaii.
Aloha,
Stan
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now that picture just dosnt do the florida bass justice, I mean the florida bas has longer legs, six inch fangs, wings like the flying fish so it can jump from one lake to another several hundred miles away.

but seriously, you have to concider the feeding habits of the birds, what bugs they eat that come from the water, do they feed in the water on any aquadic species?

I remember when they thought carp would be good for the environment on our lakes. they may be fun to catch and not to shabby a taisting fish, they how ever reek havoc on many of the fish species in our rivers and lakes...

It is probably best you dont have them, just think of all the other stuff that would come with the bass, parisites in the entistines... there is just so much more envolved in bringing another species in to an already existing eco system just the fish...

we got a little tiny fish called gobi that dosnt get much longer than a few inches, yet they have managed to devistate the great lake perch fishery, yet some people blaim the devistation on a bird called a cormorant.... I dont care if they do swim under water and eat perch, I know for a fact that it would take a bird that can stay under water long enough to swim 30 feet down and grab a hundred perch on a dive.

on top of which the sky would have to be full of cormorants to do the damage some people claim them to be doing...

point is, it is vary well posible that birds that exist only on your islands could vary well become extinct if something were to change on just one lake on one island...

if a single bug was reduced in numbers that were responcible for polinating a cirtain plant on the island the slightest change would be devistating..

these symbosis between plants and animals exist all over the planet,

on the upper hand you guys have some of the best surf fishing in the world...[cool]
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Right now the state brings in catfish and trout eggs and hatches them out for stocking.

For those anglers who want to catch an assortment of fish. Wahiawa Res. has a huge selection. Lots of people have, and probably still do, dump their unwanted aquarium fish in the lake. Those little tropical fish grow to large size in a big lake.

Stan
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excilent counter point,

bringing in eggs may take care of intestine borne parisites, it wont garentee against a virous born pathogen...

You cant hardly hold a state acountable for the actions of them dont hurt an animal peta people who have no conception of the conciquences of their actions when they decide how qute it would be to turn their over grown pet fish loos in a creek streem river or lake....

as for the bringing in of cat fish, they are used for cleaning up the bottom of lakes and rivers now insted of bring in carp., Carp will eat every thing in thier path, carbage, dead fish, muck, any thing it can suck in to its mouth including vegitation... they will over populate any body of water.

states have found that they still need to mediate over the health of a lake or pond that has been interfeared with by unatural conditions such and chemical spills coming from sweage treatment plants, houses surounding the lakes, dranage from road side spills and and leeks from vehicals.. this all adds up to fish kills that have to be delt with...

cat fish became the number one choice in todays environment, cat fish are only some what proliffic, meaning they will not flurish on what ever is in the lake, they wont eat vegitation, if there isnt enough food for them they will become stunted and or die out, hence the need for restocking regularly along with they ability to taist good at the anual cat fish fry people become the number one preditor for this species...

bass on the other hand provide poor table fare, they eat every aquadic bug in the water, they eat small birds that swim "ducklings", mice, frogs,

Bass are almost as prolific and carp, tho it dosnt eat garbage off the bottom as a stable diet they can resort to it if need be, they do resort to canibalism regularly when other fish populations have depleated. this can result in a major shortage of food for hawks that have no idea what a bass is and is unable to adapt.

point is
Bass is a preditor species
Carp is an invasive species

bull heads or cat fish do catch live prey once in a while, thay are not preditroial by nature, they are oppertunistic.

hope this helps you to understand the dicision being made by the state. now that the game division is taking over,

I wouldnt get your hopes up to expect there to be much of a change in the dicision to not bring bass or any other preditor species over to the islands..

the Seira Club my be your arch nemosis on the bass issue, but they have helped to bring wild game populations back up in several states to the point they can be hunted again... this includes helping to bring Elk back to areas they have been totaly disimated...

They do have the best intrest in maintaining and restoring our natural environment more over than most of the other concervation wanna be's...
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