Rackem
02-27-2014, 12:33 PM
I haven't been able to find this on any joke sites, so maybe they actually do this over there...seems like it wouldn't work, you would think that the holes would just freeze over every night...
http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/russian-conservationists-drill-25000-ice-holes-save-suffocating-fish/
Conservationists in Russia’s Astrakhan region have drilled more than 25,000 holes in the ice to prevent a major fish kill in the area’s waters. Officials told RIA Novosti (http://en.ria.ru/Environment/20140226/187883492/Russian-Environmentalists-Punch-Air-Holes-in-Ice-to-Save-Fish-.html) that thick ice in the region is suffocating fish and could lead to a major die-off. The holes were drilled at the ratio of roughly four per acre.
“Specialists drill 10-12 holes per hectare using ice augers. Then they put reeds into the holes, which allow the fish to breathe and prevent the holes from freezing over,” read a statement from the Volga-Caspian department of the Federal Fisheries Agency.
Winterkill, or fish kill caused by ice and cold, is the most common form of fish die-off. Thick ice and snow often results in a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water. This is because the ice blocks sunlight from oxygen-producing plants and the remaining oxygen is used up by the bacteria on the bottom of lakes.
Russia is not the only place hard hit by an unusually cold winter, heavily frozen rivers and streams across North America are also in danger of heavy fish die-offs.
“Winterkill begins with distressed fish gasping for air at holes in the ice and often ends with large numbers of dead fish that bloat as the water warms in early spring,” Gary Whelan, fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told The Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/article/20140219/NEWS06/302190120/Michigan-DNR-Severe-winter-may-lead-to-more-fish-kills). “Dead fish and other aquatic life may appear fuzzy because of secondary infection by fungus, but the fungus was not the cause of death.”
Ice coverage in the Great Lakes was at a record high this year, with almost all of Lake Superior and Lake Erie frozen at one point. However, it is the fish in shallower bodies of water that are most vulnerable to winterkill.
“Given the harsh conditions this winter with thick ice and deep snow cover, it will be particularly common in shallow lakes and streams and ponds,” Whelan said.
Fish will not be the only animals to surface as the ice melts, Michigan officials warn that frogs, turtles, and other aquatic animals may be found early in spring.
http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by donnareid http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1451926#post1451926)
Do the COs or other officers taking care of lakes have to cut holes through so that the fish can breath when it is frozen? How about the food, how do they get food when it is frozen and flies and bugs cannot fall in?
Hey Donna, do you come from a warm country where lakes don't freeze over? I know that my relatives in Scotland have a lot of funny questions about the way we do things here. It blows their mind that I can drive for 16 hours in one day to get to a hunting destination, as you can drive across Scotland in 3 hours. Most never leave their home village.
So to answer your question, deep lakes never freeze to the bottom. The oxygen gets trapped under the ice. Fish breathe the oxygen that is in the water, and bugs and smaller fish live in the water year round. Big fish eat small fish and whatever bugs are around in the water. Some fish nibble water weeds. But some also have a slowed metabolic rate in the winter, so they eat a lot less and don't move around a lot.
In BC, many small lakes, or pothole lakes have been stocked with game fish like Brook Trout or Rainbow Trout. These lakes are small and shallow, so there is the danger of oxygen depletion. Normally fish would not survive in these small bodies of water. but to protect the investment in stocking these lakes, an aerator or "bubbler" is installed in the lake to keep the oxygen levels high enough to ensure fish survival. The fish never need to be fed.
Even koi or goldfish survive in small ponds if you have an aerator, and they do go into a lowered metabolic rate, or hibernation state. But when the ice is off in the spring, there they are, as good as new!
http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/russian-conservationists-drill-25000-ice-holes-save-suffocating-fish/
Conservationists in Russia’s Astrakhan region have drilled more than 25,000 holes in the ice to prevent a major fish kill in the area’s waters. Officials told RIA Novosti (http://en.ria.ru/Environment/20140226/187883492/Russian-Environmentalists-Punch-Air-Holes-in-Ice-to-Save-Fish-.html) that thick ice in the region is suffocating fish and could lead to a major die-off. The holes were drilled at the ratio of roughly four per acre.
“Specialists drill 10-12 holes per hectare using ice augers. Then they put reeds into the holes, which allow the fish to breathe and prevent the holes from freezing over,” read a statement from the Volga-Caspian department of the Federal Fisheries Agency.
Winterkill, or fish kill caused by ice and cold, is the most common form of fish die-off. Thick ice and snow often results in a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water. This is because the ice blocks sunlight from oxygen-producing plants and the remaining oxygen is used up by the bacteria on the bottom of lakes.
Russia is not the only place hard hit by an unusually cold winter, heavily frozen rivers and streams across North America are also in danger of heavy fish die-offs.
“Winterkill begins with distressed fish gasping for air at holes in the ice and often ends with large numbers of dead fish that bloat as the water warms in early spring,” Gary Whelan, fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told The Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/article/20140219/NEWS06/302190120/Michigan-DNR-Severe-winter-may-lead-to-more-fish-kills). “Dead fish and other aquatic life may appear fuzzy because of secondary infection by fungus, but the fungus was not the cause of death.”
Ice coverage in the Great Lakes was at a record high this year, with almost all of Lake Superior and Lake Erie frozen at one point. However, it is the fish in shallower bodies of water that are most vulnerable to winterkill.
“Given the harsh conditions this winter with thick ice and deep snow cover, it will be particularly common in shallow lakes and streams and ponds,” Whelan said.
Fish will not be the only animals to surface as the ice melts, Michigan officials warn that frogs, turtles, and other aquatic animals may be found early in spring.
http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by donnareid http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1451926#post1451926)
Do the COs or other officers taking care of lakes have to cut holes through so that the fish can breath when it is frozen? How about the food, how do they get food when it is frozen and flies and bugs cannot fall in?
Hey Donna, do you come from a warm country where lakes don't freeze over? I know that my relatives in Scotland have a lot of funny questions about the way we do things here. It blows their mind that I can drive for 16 hours in one day to get to a hunting destination, as you can drive across Scotland in 3 hours. Most never leave their home village.
So to answer your question, deep lakes never freeze to the bottom. The oxygen gets trapped under the ice. Fish breathe the oxygen that is in the water, and bugs and smaller fish live in the water year round. Big fish eat small fish and whatever bugs are around in the water. Some fish nibble water weeds. But some also have a slowed metabolic rate in the winter, so they eat a lot less and don't move around a lot.
In BC, many small lakes, or pothole lakes have been stocked with game fish like Brook Trout or Rainbow Trout. These lakes are small and shallow, so there is the danger of oxygen depletion. Normally fish would not survive in these small bodies of water. but to protect the investment in stocking these lakes, an aerator or "bubbler" is installed in the lake to keep the oxygen levels high enough to ensure fish survival. The fish never need to be fed.
Even koi or goldfish survive in small ponds if you have an aerator, and they do go into a lowered metabolic rate, or hibernation state. But when the ice is off in the spring, there they are, as good as new!