First of all a big thank you to Lady Fisher for the wonderful article! Thank you!
In the article there was mention of the burning waters of Lake Erie. I don’t know about the lake proper but I do remember when the Cuyahoga River, an Ohio tributary to lake Erie, had so much hypergolic pollution in it that it spontaneously ignited and burned. If you do a google search on the spontaneous ignition of the Cuyahoga River you will find some interesting reading. It will also help you to understand the good progress we have made in cleaning up the Great Lakes and their tributaries. We have a long way to go for the Great Lakes fisheries but thanks to the efforts of Canadian and American fishers, hunters and governments the Great Lakes are no longer the polluted, dead waters they once were.
I’m old enough to remember the Cuyahoga River being on fire. Those were ugly days when Cleveland was refered to as “The mistake on the lake,” and you dared not eat too many meals of fish caught in the lake. Today, the tributaries have rebounded with panfish, bass and excellent runs of steelhead trout, thanks to an excellent stocking program and reciprocal agreements with adjacent states. Sportsmen and concerned environmentalists led the fight to bring the lake back to it’s original potential. Our challenge now are the invasive species being introduced by international shipping.
We still have a ways to go, but if we can stop the abuse by the commercial fishermen the going will be easier. Just recently another commercial boat was fined for having over half of their quota of yellow perch below the 8 1/2" minimum live length. There is just no call for this blatant abuse of the resource.
Jack,
I was just a youngster then but remember my dad and uncles talking about it. I think it was David Brinkley that showed the pictures on the evening news.
It still amazes me that now it is safe to swim in Lake Erie and you can, if you wish, consume your catch from the lake. The waters are actually clear and don’t stink anymore! Now if we can just get rid of the lampreys. Being from the Erie area L.F.'s article really hit home.
