Show MAN U aby AM RH DY A fish killer throughout tho the summer of 1949 1049 instances of fish dying in ponds near cotton fields that had been dusted with the new organic cotton insect poisons were wera reported to both the alabama department of conservation and the agricultural a experiment station the two organic poisons reported to have caused the death of fish were and the BUC DDT mixture one report of killing fish was from froin the kilby prison farm near montgomery on this farm there was a small fish pond located in a pecan grove that was planted in cotton when the boll bell weevil infection became heavy during the early summer this cotton field was dusted with 20 per cent by airplane sines since the cotton was protected by the pecan trees it wa was impossible to get good dust coverage with an airplane to overcome this difficulty the pilot tried swooping down over the pond with the duster SIM still working thereby blowing dust under the trees onto the cotton this dusting was done late one evening and the warden reported that no not only tonly the dust released over the pond but the dust fog from the entire field seemed to settle over tho the pond after the plane left the following morning there were large numbers of small dead fish along the pond edge and many more were in distress and diving la in deeper waters the fish continued to die for about 48 hours when the fish stopped dying the po pond d was drained and no live fish were recovered death of these fish was assumed to be caused by since it was known that very low concen concentrations trat ions of this material would kill fish Ilo however wever there was no information on how bow toxic this 20 per cent dust form was to fish to obtain this much needed information a number of tests were conducted by the experiment station during the summer of 1949 the more common pond fishes bluegill bream and largemouth black bass were used in the tests results ot of these experiments showed that six pounds of 20 per penh cen dust one halt half of a cormal norm alfield field application applied tojan atoian average one acre pond d would km kill fasl fishe t tj since this 20 iper cent dw dust wai was foundton found to i be poisonous in small amounts it Is believed that the drift from dusting large areas maybe sufficient to kill fish in nearby bod bodies lesof of water it is possible that hat this drift of dust was responsible for the death of fis fish h in most W that tha were reported put tin em B back ack if 11 care as exercised in relea release 1 se most small fish that are turned i back will live to grow and bite agabi say biologists of the tennes q mey apa fish cam sion efte fe nj 4 oafish ely u upon pari the extent jp jbf r ish snagged in a vital organ will certainly die but those with just mouth cap can tact fact most fish that chat are hooked have at least 6 a SO 50 50 chance chancelor chan cetor for survival tests have proven hat unless the handling hanamo Is especially severe and nd prolonged fish will survive treatment with dry hands handi flopping about on the bank or in a boat and the swift jerk out of the water tom ham Ten terressee Tennes Ressee chief of law enforcement cuts off hooks hopelessly lodged lodge din ln small fish aorl he Is convinced they con can live the chief once fished cumberland springs lake frequently and landed edv a largemouth lar genio uth bass weighing a 8 pounds 2 ounces deeply Im bedded in the fish was a hook and short section of line he knew the fish had been beail previously snagged by a friend because the hook was a hand forged specialty there have been other cases of fish living for long periods when attached to plugs leaders and long bengtha leng tha of loose line un posting spreads wisconsin is in with an encouraging report one that should stimulate sportsmen esmen in other states to learn the why and wherefore vis i coasin reports that this year for the first time in many years landowners land owners are un posting more streams than are being posted this is attributed to the state conservation departments rigidly en forced rule against planting trout within a hal of any pa part ra of i 3 stream that is posted |