Salvinia major problem in lakes says Barham By James Ronald Skains "The biggest challenge the Department faces right now is what to do about the Giant Salvinia aquatic in some of our lakes," Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham told the Piney Woods Journal on a visit to his office in Baton Rouge. "The Giant Salvinia came to us from Central and South America," Barham explained. "It is a major problem in Lake Bistineau and seems to be getting a little toe hold in Toledo Bend Lake. The Giant Salvinia will double in mass size in one week and will continue to double in size each week thereafter," Barham said. "In Central and South America, there are weevils that control the spread of the Giant Salvinia. We imported some of these weevils here to Louisiana but our winters killed them," Barham said. "The only other way to control the Giant Salvinia is to use a very high priced chemical. This chemical cost us $1,851 per gallon," Barham pointed out. "You don't spray the chemical on the Giant Salvinia, you have to pour it into the water." "You can imagine the challenge of trying to control something by pouring a chemical into a lake," said Barham, a former long term State Senator from Richland Parish. "You have to use enough of the chemical to get an exact concentration in the water. If you can get the right concentration, then it rains and dilutes the concentration which reduces the chances of success," Barham stated. "We are working with LSU to help us solve this problem but the Giant Salvinia is out of control in Lake Bistineau. We are open to any ideas of how to control it," Barham noted. "Boats moving from one lake to another, is one way it spreads to new areas." "Apparently, the Giant Salvinia got to Louisiana through home aquariums that were washed out or dumped in streams or lakes," Barham said. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is a self generating revenue entity that does not receive funding from the state treasury. Its annual budget comes from fishing and hunting license fees and other fees related to the outdoors. "We did hit a bonanza a short time back," Barham pointed out. "We leased 400 acres in the Loggy Bayou Wildlife area that was in the Haynesville Shale for $30,000 an acre. It was unbelievable. In addition to the $12 million we got up front, we are getting 30% of the production revenue," Barham, a farmer, businessman and educator said. "We have more Wildlife and Fisheries land in the Haynesville shale but we are waiting for the lease price to go back up. After hitting a peak of about $30,000 an acre, lease prices dropped with the economy but they are moving up a little and we are waiting on another increase before leasing additional acreage," Barham stated. "Here at Wildlife and Fisheries, we have to spend our monies and allocate our resources very wisely." The LDWF manages some 1.5 million acres in Louisiana, most in wildlife management areas. Last year, LDWF sold 715,042 fresh water fishing licenses of which 145,027 were to non-residents of Louisiana. The total number of saltwater fishing licenses was 487,421 of which 394,910 were resident licenses. The LDWF actively promotes fishing and hunting for women and teenagers. Other specialty hunting programs that are gaining in popularity are bow hunting and muzzle loading guns. "The other major problem we are facing all over the state is feral hogs," Barham pointed out. "These wild hogs are more than a nuisance in our Wildlife Management areas, they are a major problem that is growing everyday. We are planning on allowing feral hogs to be hunted at night provided that the hunters register with the local game wardens and notify them when they are going to be hunting in an area at night," Barham explained. "This is totally against our philosophy over the years of no hunting at night, but the problem has become so major that we are having to think out of the box to solve it. We want the hog hunters to notify the local game wardens so that we won't get a lot of calls from people who hear guns firing at night," Barham noted. "When calls come in from the public, the game wardens will already know that hog hunting is going on in that area." "There was a rumor floating around at one time that we were going to prohibit the transfer of wild hogs from one area to another, which would have had a negative effect on Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trials in Winnfield," Barham added. "However, whatever we ultimately do about the feral hogs will have no negative impact on Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trials. The people up there in Winn Parish do things a little different than in other parts of the state, so we will leave their hogs alone," Barham emphasized with a laugh. Another problem facing the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries is the invasive Asian Carp that is wreaking havoc in the states bordering the Great Lakes. In solving this dilemmaa, the LDWF is taking an innovative approach. "Chef Parola has developed a crab cake with the meat of the Asian Carp or as they are known by their new name, Silverfin, that can not be distinguished by taste from real crab cake," Barham explained. "We had Chef Parolo come demonstrate his Silverfin crab Cake and the taste was amazing. So we are helping launch an all out, not only edible, but delicious Silverfin campaign," Barham, who was appointed Secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries by current Governor Bobby Jindal pointed out. "Our thinking is that if we can help create a commercial demand for the Silverfin, that the law of supply and demand will take over," Barham said with a laugh. "If commercial fishermen find out that they can make money catching Silverfin, they will hunt them down and help solve our Asian Carp problem. these fish can easy grow up to fifty pounds and are known to leap out of the water and into boats," Barham noted. "We are going to make using a boat to catch Silverfin legal. It is our understanding that if a fisherman locates a school of Silverfin, they can rev their motors down creating more of vibration in the water which will cause the Silverfin to start jumping, into the boats," Barham finished up on elaborating on the Silverfin program with a laugh. "One of the Agencies success stories is the black bear," Barham emphasized. "We are very close to getting the black bear de-listed off the endangered species. There are officially about 600-700 black bear in Louisiana, but the actual number we believe is higher than that," Barham pointed out. "Our deer population was down slightly this year but we don't see a real problem there." The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Agency has around 800 fulltime personnel around the state. A few months back when the Agency scheduled a Law Enforcement Academy, they had over 100 applicants for ten positions. Some of the applicants were from as far away as Indiana and Michigan. "We don't have much attrition here in the Agency," Barham noted. "About the only attrition we have is through retirement, after a 30 plus year career with Wildlife and Fisheries. This is a dream job for me too," Barham stated. "I had no idea that I would enjoy this job at Wildlife and Fisheries as much as I do. There are so many neat things that happen in this agency," Barham noted. "We rescued a very rare giant sea turtle that had been injured. It is about four feet in diameter and its technical name is Kemp's Riddley. We renamed her `Lagniappe'," Barham said. "We nursed her back to health in the aquarium in New Orleans. Before we released her back in the Gulf, we used epoxy to put a satellite on her back so we can track her movements. We noticed a while back that she was headed west in the Gulf," Barham said. "But just as Lagniappe got to the Texas state line, she suddenly turned around and headed back east. It was almost as if she had a map when she turned around." Lagniappe, the giant Sea Turtle, can be tracked by the public on the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries website. http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?tag_id=98203&full=1&lang= |