THE BUCK STOPS HERE BY RON MARKS

Fall 2009 Edition

“ The Buck stops here” ... That was a quote that President Truman liked to use. That quote also applies in my case. Our Shad in Schools project ran into a few problems this year, mainly our inability to supply viable Shad eggs to the schools. It was not from a lack of trying. We got help from our friends down south, but the timing was off for delivery to the schools. I made the trip to the Potomac and saw first hand how the whole egg taking process works. It was very interesting and the young men from the state of Virginia shared a lot of information on the handling and striping of the Shad eggs, and as always Jim Cummins went out of his way to help us. Jim had over fifty (50) schools involved in his program this year. The program went forward without eggs and we were invited to three schools to see how they studied Shad. It was very encouraging to see how the young students handled the program. They were all very enthusiastic, but some Shad eggs would have been the icing on the cake. The program as a whole was successful and program director, David Bittner, and his entire crew are to be congratulated for a job well done. I know that we will learn from our mistakes and hopefully not repeat them. In conclusion, while I am in a congratulatory mode I would like to thank PPL’s Meg Welker and Fred Gast for their continued support for this important educational program. With out PPL’s generosity the Club would be hard pressed to continue with this program. This year’s Youth Fishing Education Day was also successful, despite some very adverse weather. Rain bothers old people, but has no affect what-so-ever on young children. They learned about knot tying, first aide, aquatic life (insects), casting and many more interesting outdoor activities. Most importantly they had an opportunity to put what they learned to good use. The fish were biting and almost everyone had a trout on their line. David Carl and his group did a great job again this year. We had over 90 children at the event. They all had wet feet and a lot of mud on their clothing, what could be better for kids? We had many Club members on hand, cooking and serving hot dogs, BBQ and anything else that makes for a good picnic. Jeff Sabo (PF&BC), John Mauser and all of his friends from Trout Unlimited, the ambulance crew, Galen and of course all of our friends at Point Philips Rod and Gun Club were in attendance and volunteered their talents and their time. Speaking of which, Point Philips Rod and Gun Club’s membership are worthy of our heartfelt thanks, as is everyone else who helped us. This is a very good program for everyone including the children. Again, thank you all! The Club is in need of a treasurer. We have worked our last treasurer into premature retirement. Bernie did a fine job, but the work load proved to be a little much. We need volunteers to help take the heat off of us older people. The officers of this Club are taking on way too many responsibilities. We have many problems to iron out as far as our fundraising efforts. The membership must help in anyway they can. We need younger helpers, anybody under 70 is considered a youngster in my world. Everyone should attend our monthly meeting and try to get involved. We must make some drastic changes in our approach toward our funding of all our programs. The Club is in fairly good shape compared to many other clubs but we have to improve to continue moving forward. The Lehigh and Delaware Rivers are important, and the Shad are a very important resource to both of them. While on the subject of Shad, the run was pretty good this year. The Captain and I managed to land some every time we went to the river this year. Without YOU, our volunteers, none of the worthwhile endeavors your club is involved in could be possible!

Many thanks are in order for three volunteers who accomplished a long-talked about project. Ron Marks, Tom Petrilla and Nestor Dickert spent some of their valuable time to repair the storage shed. Thank you, gentlemen for a job well done.

Youth Day Report by Dave Carl / Committee Chairman

Our 3rd Annual Youth Fishing Education Day was held on June 20th. Despite the threat of rain, we had 91 out of 107 registrants show up bright and early with eager and respectful attitudes. Not only under a threat of rain though; it poured! We did not have to contend with any storms so the program was able to continue without interruption. The membership needs to be applauded for the return of raffle tickets during these economic times of struggle. We also received a fantastic number of donations for the fish fund. Thank you to all the members who responded and helped to create another successful day out for our future outdoor men and women. A thank you was sent out to all the volunteers who registered that morning. If you did not receive a thank you and you were present then your name was not on the registration sheet. So, thank you for all you did to make the 3rd Annual Youth Fishing Education Day a success! We also had volunteers to “set up and tear down” which was a huge help to the organization. Any and all time a volunteer has to commit is deeply appreciated and needed! I heard many positive comments during the day and had people who wanted to register for 2010 already! The date for next year is June 19th. We have already received permission from Point Phillips Rod & Gun Club to return on that date next year. This program requires a tremendous about volunteers to make it happen. If you cannot get out in the great outdoors and have fun as a group then you cannot expect anyone else to be excited about the event. The committee and students were very fortunate that we had a very willing group of parents to fill volunteer positions in the morning. that were vacant. We did have a follow up meeting in August and all the committee members that were present volunteered to stay on the committee for next year. If anyone is interested in getting on board with this committee, please contact Dave Carl at fisherman_dcarl@ yahoo.com or 570-325-4336. Once again, thank you to everyone who had a part in making this a successful day for the youth! We couldn’t do this without YOU !

Bill McWha has also been very busy trying to get the ball rolling with the shad and herring runs. Rom Marks, Dave Bitner, John Berry, Rodger Rotushny and Bernard Bast have also been actively pursuing the PA Fish and Boat Commission for help with the shad runs in the east coast river systems. This is by know means a “dead issue’. All these gentlemen have presented a very good case and it seems like we have interested people wanting to find answers. Unfortunately, this will probably take a lot more time and money, but we have to start somewhere. Please join us in wishing them luck. Please support the club’s endeavors by purchasing or selling your raffle tickets in 2010.

While many people are enjoying their summer vacations, some of our volunteers are busy working on club business. Bill McWha has completed a lot of leg work trying to update our member email list. This is very important because we can utilize it to update everyone on legislative matters, solicit volunteers for events, keep everyone informed of current events and we would like to put the newsletter on the website. Please let us know if you do not have access to a computer so we can continue to mail the newsletter to your home address.

Dave Bittner and the Shad in Schools Committee have been working diligently with PPL as a sponsor for the program. They have granted funding for the program two years and have committed themselves to continue this practice into 2010. A huge thank you to the personnel at PPL that have supported this education program. Without the grant monies, this program would still be in the planning stages. Since the beginning, which was just two years ago, this program now has 10 facilities involved and is looking to add more for the 2010 year. Bernie has a new hobby; building hatchery stations! This committee sure could use some help! If interested in helping, please contact David Bittner at 610-759-1885.

Our raffles have fallen way off since we do not have all the expos and shows in the area like we did before. We are not saying the support of the members is not evident but our membership was about 5-6 times what is now. We also had in years past, entertained thousands of people at the expos. Something we are seriously looking at to raise money is a fish dinner or breakfast at the Se-wy-co Social Hall. The cooking would be handled by the Meadows but the members would have to sell the tickets and serve the meals. Please contact the club if you would be interested in helping with this type of fundraiser. Thank you!

2009 Shad in Schools End of Season Report The 2009 school year brought both rewards and disappointments. In addition to last year’s four schools and Carbon County Environmental Education Center, we added five more schools. Bushkill Elementary School, Lopatcong Middle School, Bangor Middle School, Harrison-Morton Middle School, Liberty High School, and Saucon Valley High School were the newcomers. I Actually, there are six new schools. Unfortunately, one of our last year’s stars, Northampton Middle School, did not participate this year due to a tragedy at their school which consumed a lot of instructional time from the regular curriculum. They will be back again next year. There were 662 students that were involved in teacher directed instruction. 1,113 additional students received information from other students through reports, Power points, in-house TV, and publicly displayed projects, for an estimated 1,775 total students that received information on the American Shad. Perhaps the most disappointing occurrence this year was the inability of the Delaware River Shad Fishermen to secure viable fertilized eggs for the classrooms. The following attempts to secure shad eggs and their results were made: *February we requested 1.5 liters of fertilized eggs from the PA Fish and Boat Commission which was denied. *May 10: We tried to catch our own shad at Smithfield Beach in the Poconos, but only caught 2 buck shad but no viable roe shad. *May 11: We fished at Easton-Phillipsburg and caught plenty of shad (30 in George Magaro’s boat alone) with 9 roe, but none ripe. *May 15: Ron Marks and his wife, Jess, drove down to the Potomac, went out on the boat and helped to collect the shad and strip the eggs.  They were much smaller than last year, but most died by the time they arrived home.  John Berry drove to a hatchery in Virginia and asked for viable eggs.  It was also denied, although they gave him a thorough tour of their facility and offered future help and advice. May 24: We again fished at Smithfield Beach, caught plenty of shad, but no ripe roe.  We opened one up that we thought was ripe, but found only immature eggs. *May 25: We fished at Milford Beach, Milford, PA.  After braving a severe thunderstorm, we caught about 5 roe and 7 bucks.  The roe were not ripe and were released immediately as were 5 bucks. *May 26:we drove to Lambertville in hopes that the Lewis Fishery could supply us.  No shad were caught. We especially feel bad for the students and teachers who have done such an outstanding job in conditioning the water, overcoming system problems, and have worked so hard in learning and teaching about the American shad.  We know there are many outstanding projects that were done.  For example, Liberty High School Students and Easton Middle School Students created Power Point presentations and shared them with other classes in their schools. Bushkill Elementary School students presented their shad projects to the entire school and us, a two-hour presentation. Pohatcong Middle School had a trail of shad facts written on the outline of a shad that reached from the school lobby to Mr. Peccia’s science lab. Belvidere Middle School also had a “school” of shad facts on the hallways. Emmaus High School combined shad videos which students created with other ecological activities. Students gained technical knowledge through the use of electronic “white” boards, and other electronic media. Social and political concerns were discussed as well as ecological concerns. There were many other examples of students’ involvement from other schools which proved the strength of the curriculum, in spite of not being able to raise, observe, and release shad fry. With the shad fry, the students would have been able to estimate, observe the development, record egg mortality and fry survival, create mathematical models and analyze results. We are extremely pleased at the patience, professionalism, student attitudes which was evidenced this year by all involved, including the sacrifice of Mother’s Day and Memorial Day holidays by our Delaware River Shad Fishermen’s Association in their attempts to secure viable eggs for the classrooms. In summary, although 2009 had its disappointments due to Mother Nature’s different calendar this year, students, teachers, and administrators termed the program a success, citing the enthusiasm of all involved in the program. All teachers gave the program a positive evaluation and will participate again next year. With these kinds of attitudes toward American shad and concern for our rivers, we are ensuring the continued improvement of our natural resources in hopes that “our rivers will again run silver with shad.” David E. Bittner Shad in Schools Coordinator / Delaware River Shad Fishermen’s Association

YOUTH DAY RAFFLE WINNERS:

1st Prize #776 S. O’Neil
2nd Prize #4599 Karen Delesky
3rd Prize #1537 Henry Glanz, Jr.
4th Prize #4245 Captain Rich Newallis
5th Prize #536 Steph Helfrich
6th Prize # 5176 Kenneth Leath
7th Prize #3272 Sandra Todd
8th Prize #3271 Sandra Todd
9th Prize #1477 Lois Silfies
10th Prize #5102 Morgan Christensen
11th Prize #0048 Elaine Strahle
12th Prize #3637 William Kurtz
13th Prize #0454 C. Transue
14th Prize #4177 Ethan Ordog
15th Prize #1660 Laird Thomas

Saucon Park Hatchery Update

Currently, the committee is waiting on a meeting with Bethlehem’s Mayor, John Callahan, to discuss the proposal. We will try to keep everyone updated on this issue in our newsletters.
Committee Member John Berry

Elections for 2010

The club is in desperate need of a nomination committee. This committee should already be assembled and have nominations ready to submit. Please consider giving the club some help with this very important committee. This year should be a little easier for the committee since most of the officers are willing to run for another term.

85th PFBC MEETING PUBLIC INPUT “First Resource First” 1866 PFBC created to restore shad runs in Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. “Be aware of the Delaware” Longest undammed, unpolluted river east of the Mississippi. 20 million and citizens live within 1˝ hours drive. 23% of U.S. population is within a gas tank’s distance. Historically, had the heaviest shad and herring runs on the entire U.S. East Coast (several times more numerous than any other river after the turn of the twentieth century). “Shad in Schools” 2008 – 5 schools (52% hatch success) 2009 – 10 schools (0% hatch success) 2010 – Plan: 20 schools (52% hatch success) “Killer, Non-Hydro” Dam removal for Lehigh River dams PFBC white paper. Easton, Chain (Glendon), Allentown, Cementon. Additional 117 miles of excellent shad habitat. 5. Overfishing Commercial Delaware Bay shad fishing suspension. “Curious chronological coincidence” - upsurge in herring factory ship harvest in federal waters / drastic decline in spawning shad in natal rivers. Recreational harvest reduction – three daily procession limit. 6. Reallocation of resources to the Delaware for highest rate of return. a. On our investment b. Of our shad.

2009DELAWARE RIVER BASIN SHAD RESTORATION PLAN Whereas: The American Shad runs in the Delaware River basin watershed have greatly decreased in numbers over the past two decades; and Whereas: The Delaware River Shad Fisherman’s Association (DRSFA) seeks to involves citizens, schools, sportsmen’s clubs, conservation organizations, state, intra- and interstate agencies and federal agencies in the resolution of American shad migratory problems and increasing shad spawning populations to self-sustaining levels throughout the Delaware River basin watershed. Therefore Be It Resolved: That the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs (PFSC) endorse the DRSFA’s 2009 Delaware River Basin Shad Restoration Plan (DRBSRD) which includes, but is not limited to, the following actions, and recommendations: 1. Increase Delaware River and other river egg harvests; stoppage of commercial harvests (NJ & DE); reduction of recreational harvest to three daily (for NY, PA, NJ & DE); continuation of the ocean intercept moratorium until self-sustaining shad population goals (Delaware River – 2,000,000, Lehigh River – 750,000, Schuylkill River – 750,000) are met or exceeded. 2. Creation of an American shad stamp ($5) and a Delaware River permit ($10) to generate funds for implementation of the 2009 DRBSRP. 3. Establishment of a PFBC shad in schools program to connect the future stewards of our aquatic resources – our kids, their teachers, and parents, to shad restoration like the highly successful “Schools in Schools” Potomac River basin program. 4. Netting “young of the year”, tagging and telemetry shad studies for shad passage evaluation on the Delaware, Lehigh, and Schuylkill Rivers and their tributaries. 5. Immediate reestablishment of self-sustaining spawning shad population goals (Delaware River – 2,000,000, Lehigh River – 750,000, Schuylkill River – 750,000). 6. Removal of the “killer, non-hydro dams” of Easton, Chain(Glendon), Allentown, and Cementon dams on the Lehigh River and their replacement with pumping stations similar to the successful pumping station furnishing water to the Riegelsville-New Hope stretch of the canal. 7.Improvement of attraction flows for successful shad passage at the “killer, non-hydro dams” at Easton, Chain(Glendon), Allentown, and Cementon dams on the Lehigh River until all the dams preventing shad passage are removed. 8. Increased shad fry releases (50x 2008 stocking rate for mainstream Delaware, 10x 2008 stocking rate for Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers) for a 10 year period beginning in 2010. 9. “Shovel-ready” plan for a shad hatchery dedicated to Delaware River Basin shad run restoration utilizing natural spawning method. 10. Recommendation that Gov. Rendell (PA) connect Gov. Corzine (NJ), Gov. Paterson (NY) and Gov. Markell (DE) to the implementation of our 2009 DRBSRP so that the 20 million plus people who live within an hour and a half drive can enjoy its significant benefits as soon as possible. 11.Reallocation of resource and reemphasis to the 2009 DRBSRP to include a fulltime fisheries coordinator (PFBC) to work closely with the Delaware Fish and Wildlife Co-Op (DFWC), the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS). 12. Transfer of seined or electrofished shad spawners at the base of the Easton and chain dams on the Lehigh River in tanks with aerators to the suitable spawning habitat above the Allentown and Cementon dams until all the “killer non-hydro” dams are removed or the attraction flows at the fish passage facilities at the Easton, Chain(Glendon), and Allentown, dams are satisfactorily established. 13. Elimination of walleye and musky fry and fingerling stocking in the Lehigh River. 14. Increase the striped bass and other predator possession limits and lower size limits until self-sustaining shad population goals are met or exceeded. 15. Correction of the “curious chronological coincidence” of the upsurge in mid-water trawling and small mesh fisheries in federal waters and the dramatic decline in shad numbers, by formally urging the NOAA and the U.S. Dept. of Interior enforce a 1/3 commercial harvest reduction, increased at-sea, by catch inspection and home port weigh master verification of harvests as soon as possible.

Next 2009 Meeting Date:

3rd Wednesday of the Month 7:00 pm

November 18th

CLUB STORE:

Flutter Spoons/Darts .75 each or $7.50 a doz.
Decals $1.00
Patches $3.00 Pins $5.00
Hats $12.00
Floating Grips $15.00
T-Shirts $12.00 (Medium/Large/X-Large)
River Maps $15.00
$13.00 XXL
$14.00 XXXL
Books Prices may vary

Delaware River Shad Fishermen's AssociationDelaware River Shad Fishermen's Association
Shad Hotlines: 610-954-0577 and 610-954-0578
Join by emailing shadfisherman@aol.com
http://www.orgsites.com/PA/shad/
http://shad.devhub.com/

Captain Rich of the “Just One More” graciously gave us a discount for the striper trip again this year. If considering going salt water fishing, please contact Captain Rich to book a charter. He specializes flounder, weakfish, striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, sea bass and ling.

Captain Rich Newallis, Jr. Box 103 Highlands, NJ 07732 Phone: (908) 472-2684 Email: RNewallis@comcast.net