Headline News

Four men nabbed by DNR after poaching investigation Port Huron Times Herald A nearly four year undercover investigation by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s Law Enforcement Division’s Special Investigation Unit has netted four local men on a variety of charges. Jerry Gordon, 50, of Clay Township has pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of a lake sturgeon taken during the closed season, illegal sale of sport-caught fish, operating unlicensed fishing charters, taking over limits of deer, taking waterfowl over a baited area, possession of unregistered handguns and possession of narcotics. He was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail, ordered to pay $5,125 in fines, costs and restitution and all of his hunting and fishing licenses were revoked for five years. Gordon also forfeited two boats, one shotgun, several handguns, fishing equipment, numerous sets of deer antlers and a large quantity of fish. Brian Williams, 41, of Algonac pleaded guilty to attempted operating of an unlicensed fishing charter and illegal sale of sport-caught fish. He was sentenced Wednesday to pay $815 in fines, costs and restitution. His fishing license was revoked for three years. Alan Goerke, 47, of Algonac pleaded guilty to attempted taking waterfowl over a baited area and will pay $200 in fines. Robert Brearley, 56, of Algonac, pleaded guilty Friday to attempted operating of an unlicensed fishing charter. He was sentenced to pay $300 in fines and costs and $340 in restitution. The public is reminded to contact the Report All Poaching hotline at (800) 292-7800 with any information regarding large- or small-scale poaching operations. Looming ice invokes fears BY STEPHEN TAIT TIMES HERALD • MARCH 5, 2010 Giant chunk sitting north of river sparks memories of 1984 A massive ice bridge in Lake Huron just north of the Blue Water Bridge has U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard officials concerned about what might happen if the weather quickly warms this weekend. The concern is the bridge might break into chunks too big to flow smoothly along the St. Clair River. "There is the potential, if it breaks off in large plates, that those plates could be wider than the narrow parts of the river," said Erin Clark, ice specialist for Environment Canada, which works with the Coast Guard. Mark Stauffer, a chief warrant officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, said that could cause massive flooding and damage to docks -- something the Blue Water Area hasn't seen in nearly three decades. Frank Frisk, a maritime consultant at the Great Lakes Maritime Center in Port Huron, said the ice bridge measures 30- to 35-square miles. "It just sits there like it does every year except that it is extremely heavy this year," he said. Stauffer said warm temperatures expected Sunday and Monday -- about 40 degrees -- paired with rain, which is on Sunday's radar, could help the situation. The hope is warm weather will start melting the ice and rain will accelerate the process, he said. That would cause the bridge to break into smaller pieces. The bridge rivals one from 1997. But a repeat of what happened in 1984 seems to be foremost on the minds of officials who have been monitoring the bridge intensely in recent days. When the April 1984 bridge broke apart, it caused a St. Clair River ice jam that lasted 24 days. Aside from flooding in southern St. Clair County, the water level in Lake St. Clair dropped almost 2 feet and water flow in the river was decreased by 65%, according to a 1986 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It also led to a $1.7 million loss for the shipping industry, the report said. The ice jam was caused by "severe cold spells" in December and January, followed by warming in February and another freeze in March, the report said. Practically anyone who lived in the area in 1984 remembers the jam. The phenomena even drew people from outside the area. Marine City Mayor Bob Lepley remembers taking his kids to the river to watch. "There were actually chunks of ice on the shore that had been pushed up," he said. Frisk said the best case scenario is the bridge slowly melts and breaks apart. The worst case scenario, he said, is that it breaks apart quickly. For now, it's a waiting game. "It is a situation that is reviewed on a daily -- almost hourly -- basis," Frisk said. Warmer weather means ice hazards; icebreaker coming to Sandusky Bay Sandusky Register Deteriorating ice conditions will increase this weekend and make recreational ice activities more dangerous than usual, the Coast Guard reports. The combination of the warmer temperatures and shifting winds, along with expected sunshine, will cause hazardous conditions on the ice.  The Coast Guard cautions the public about venturing out on the ice. If you decide to go out, officials recommend taking these precautions: • Pack a VHF-FM radio, cell phone, rope, whistle, flashlight, compass and red flares. • Dress in layers and bright colors, a dry suit is best. Wear a personal flotation device. • Notify a responsible person of your destination, who is with you, when you will return and your cell phone number if you have one. • Take some type of "ice awls" and have them attached to your body. They are used as spikes to pull yourself up on the ice if you break through. • Be weather wise. Be aware of the temperature and wind direction for the previous few days before you venture out, as well as the day's forecast. Strong winds in any direction will break up the ice. • Never go on the ice alone. • Do not cross a pressure crack or open water. To report a person in distress or the need for search and rescue, contact the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit Operations Center 24-hours a day at 313-568-9560. ICEBREAKER MONDAY AND TUESDAY: The Coast Guard will conduct ice-breaking operations on Monday and Tuesday in Sandusky Bay to facilitate the movement of ships into and out of the bay. Principal cargoes are coal from Sandusky Coal Dock to steel mills and power plants around the lower Great Lakes, and stone barge traffic from the Gradel Dock. The Great Lakes shipping season will resume March 25 with the opening of the two major traffic control points, the St. Lawrence Seaway authority reports. Icebreakers have been working the St. Clair River, linking Lake Huron with Lake St. Clair north of Detroit, for the last couple of weeks to keep ice jams from raising water levels along the densely-populated and heavily industrialized riverbanks on the U.S. and Canadian sides of the river. For information, call the Coast Guard Sector Detroit Command Center at 313-568-9559. To report a person in distress or the need for search and rescue, contact the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit Operations Center 24-hours a day at 313-568-9560. Lake fish continue to show contamination - The Macomb Daily News ... Macomb Daily staff photo by David N. Posavetz Bob Barnes doesn't worry about contaminants when he drops a line into his favorite fishing hole. In the early morning when the walleye come in droves to pick off schooling bait fish, he's at the spot where the South Channel dumps into Lake St. Clair. Barnes, an engineer from Sterling Heights and vice president of the Lake St. Clair Walleye Association, knows the lake's history. He knows about the mercury and PCBs, and he knows he's supposed to limit the number of fish he eats. He just doesn't much care. Research shows that methyl mercury inhibits brain development. PCBs can suppress the immune system and thyroid development. They may also cause cancer. But Barnes doesn't think about that. He thinks about the fish. Lake St. Clair, he says, "is a great fishery. It's fantastic." But that fishery has a murky past. In 1970, the Canadian government banned commercial fishing in Lake St. Clair because chemical plants and petroleum refineries on the St. Clair River had released so much mercury into the water that fish were unsafe to eat. When the fishery reopened 10 years later, officials retained warnings against eating mercury-contaminated fish. Thirty years later, consumption advisories are just part of the reality when fishing the lake and that won't change any time soon, according to a recent study. Mercury and PCB levels in fish dropped dramatically between the 1970s and 1990s, but leveled off in the past decade, said Sarah Gewurtz, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto. Gewurtz was part of a research team that analyzed fish contamination data collected by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment since the 1970s. Fish contaminants dropped rapidly when polluters closed and dredging removed toxic hotspots, the study shows. Now the contaminants are coming from the sediment itself, Gewurtz said. The contaminated lake bottom is the legacy of decades of pollution, she said, with little prospect for rapid improvement. "Unless the whole system is dredged, which is not feasible, it can be hypothesized that the sediment will continue to be a source (of contamination) to the fish." Enough mercury and PCBs are released from the sediment to limit fish consumption for the foreseeable future, Gewurtz said. There are mercury-based advisories for two of the lake's most popular sport fish: walleye and yellow perch. PCBs are a concern in carp, but studies show that St. Clair area anglers aren't much interested in catching them. Both contaminants build up in fish over time — mercury in the muscle and PCBs in the fat. Older fish and fish higher up the food chain are the most contaminated. The U.S. and Canadian governments recommend children under 15 and women of child-bearing age restrict themselves to small fish, and even then eat the popular sport fish only one to four times each month. The general population can eat more fish, but should still avoid large ones. While PCBs slowly degrade, mercury stays in the system until it's covered by a new layer of sediment — hardly a quick process. "It could certainly be on the order of decades," said Alexis Cain, an environmental specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional office in Chicago. Still, Cain said the mercury levels are improving, even if the fish testing suggests otherwise. "We're confident that putting less mercury into the system is a good thing and eventually will result in declined concentrations in fish," he said. "The way mercury circulates in the environment, even if releases go down, it may not show up in the fish." And while natural sedimentation takes care of the lake bottom, additional dredging is planned to clean up three more areas on the St. Clair River. Claude Lafrance, who coordinates cleanup of the river for Ontario, said, "We expect that once these areas are remediated this will further reduce available contaminants and contribute to reducing fish contamination. Plans for managing those areas are under way, and any remediation will begin in 2011, he said. Meanwhile, Barnes keeps fishing and eating what he catches. He usually eats fish at least once a week, but trims fat from his catch and generally sticks to small and mid-size fish to limit risk of contaminant exposure. It's enough, he figures, to keep him safe in the pastime he loves. "Maybe I've lulled myself into a false sense of security, but I believe it to be safe," he said.