Detroit Free Press: Mississippi Delta's fish are fine, but wetlands vanishing

Feb 24

Posted by National Wildlife Federation

The most important news out of last week’s Bassmaster Classic on the Mississippi Delta wasn’t the $500,000, four-time victory by Kalamazoo’s Kevin VanDam.

It was the concern by VanDam and many other top tournament anglers that there won’t be a Delta for them to return to if we don’t soon stop the erosion that’s wiping America’s most productive wetlands from the map.

It’s also a story of fishing guides, marina owners, tackle shop operators and tens thousands of others who depend on recreational fishing trying to overcome a false impression that hurricanes and the BP oil spill have ruined their area as a sport fishery.

In truth, fishing is as good or better than ever for both species like largemouth bass, redfish, flounder and sea trout and offshore species like yellowfin and blackfin tuna, wahoo and snapper.

It was here in Cajun country that Mike Iaconelli won the Bassmaster Classic in 2003. The title made him an idol in the eyes of 20 million dedicated bass fishermen. The New Jersey pro won when he found a honey hole, a small clear water pond full of big largemouth bass only a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

When the Classic returned to New Orleans last week to decide the 2011 champion, the first thing Iaconelli did was make a beeline for his secret pond far out in the wetlands.

“When I got there, it was gone. My little pond had become a giant bay,” Iaconelli said. “I’d read about the loss of wetlands here, but that really brought it home. I couldn’t believe it happened in such a short time.”

The marsh that surrounded his pond was among coastal wetlands being scoured away by wind and waves at a stunning rate — the size of a football field every 38 minutes, the size of Kensington Metropark in a month, the size of Detroit in five years and two-thirds the size of Lake St. Clair in a decade.

Read the rest of Eric Sharp’s column in the Detroit Free Press here.