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CONCORD, N.H., - In 2000, anglers will pay a mandatory $1 fisheries habitat fee when they buy their New Hampshire fishing license. Multiply $1 by approximately 170,000 licensed anglers, and you^ve got a fair-sized sum of money. Money that will allow the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department to significantly boost it^s management of the state^s fisheries habitat.
New Hampshire^s freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and streams offer a broad array of fishing opportunities for the whole family, points out Stephen G. Perry, chief of the Department^s Inland Fisheries Division. But good fishing hinges on good fisheries habitat - and habitat doesn^t always take care of itself.
"This new source of funding will allow the Department^s Fisheries Habitat Program to expand its focus on preserving, enhancing and restoring natural processes in various aquatic environments and watersheds," says Perry. "We^ll be looking at whole watersheds to determine how we can address factors that are impairing or threatening the state^s freshwater fisheries habitat."
A variety of land and water use practices can degrade fish habit and cause significant declines in fish populations. Among the land uses that, when practiced poorly, can harm fish habitats are sand and gravel mining, logging, road construction. landscape fragmentation, and agricultural activities. The water use practices include physical alteration of rivers and streams, hydropower operations, flood control activities, water diversion and consumption, and destruction or alteration of wetlands.
The Department^s Fisheries Habitat Program will work to address fish habitat needs by:
Developing watershed reclamation plans;
Working with landowners in establishing conservation easements to permanently protect riparian areas and wetlands;
Providing incentives for owners of agricultural and forested lands to use management practices that would reduce physical damage to watersheds;
Implementing measures to improve instream flows; and
Removing barriers to fish movements within watersheds.
Inland Fisheries Division biologists are already involved in fisheries habitat projects, including the Soucook River Watershed Reclamation Project -- a cooperative effort of local, state and federal agencies and nonprofit organizations. "Our current role in this project is to assess fisheries habitat and fish abundance in the Soucook River and its six major tributaries," says Perry.
The Fisheries Habitat Fee will help cover the cost of the Department^s expanded fisheries habitat program. The revenue from the $1 fee will be matched with federal Sport Fish Restoration funds, at a ratio of three federal dollars for each state dollar. As a result, between $350,000 and $400,000 per year will be earmarked for the Fisheries Habitat Program. The magnitude of this funding level will allow Fish and Game to address the challenges facing New Hampshire^s freshwater fisheries habitats and, in turn, ensure that the state^s fish populations remain healthy and support and array of fishing opportunities.
Uploaded: 8/22/1999
Uploaded: 8/22/1999