Quote Originally Posted by M R Dux View Post
I think it's stupid to block off all the way to the locks as a non-fishing area. There are not a lot of great fishing areas for bank fishermen but up along the lock walls is one of them. Bluegill or crappie fishermen aren't going to hurt that barrier. If it is that delicate they need to be rethinking the design.
It certainly isn't ideal that the area is blocked. However, the area closure came at the request of the barrier manufacturer due to the vulnerable nature of the barrier. It is solidly built, but the interior is full of wiring and tubing and has to be open to the surface by necessity. I also agree that panfishermen would very likely not damage it since they probably wouldnt be fishing that deep, however, a tightlining catfisherman could easily damage it and setting up a regulation that would only allow certain types of fishing would be unnecessarily complicated.

The decision to block off the area was not made in a vacuum. A public meeting was held and attended by hundreds of anglers. At the meeting we announced the plan to close that area. Wade White was in attendance and specifically stood up and asked everyone if they were opposed to the area being closed for the barrier testing. I do not recall anyone saying they were opposed. We have certainly gotten a few complaints since then, particularly from bass fishermen who like to target the rockpiles there. Additionally, this regulation went through the fish and wildlife commission which is open to the public. No complaints were received during that process either.

One other potentially mitigating issue is that the fishing might not be as good there as it used to be. The barrier uses sound designed to deter Asian carp, but it is possible that the range of sound frequencies overlaps with the hearing range of some of our sportfish. (sportfish generally hear low frequency sounds, while Asian carp are more sensitive to high frequency). This is something which we hope to learn more about during the testing process.

As for the length of the 3 year test. It will not be 3 years before any results are gathered, interpreted, or presented. We should know much sooner than that whether the barrier is working as intended. However, it does take a little bit of time to have any results. There are trackers in hundreds of fish right now and stationary receivers to track their movements. Because those receivers are passive, fish need to be moving in order for biologists to determine their movement patterns. Movement slows in winter and the data collection and testing is being handled by multiple agencies so it will take some time to synthesize. It will take some time to get a clear answer, but it wont be 3 years.

Hope this helps,