2011-2012 Was A Tough Winter for Beaches

Ask most Ohioan and they’ll tell you that the winter of 2011-2012 has been a great one so far.  Many of the snowbirds wonder why they bothered to go south this year.  With the temperatures staying so warm, heating bills have been low and life has been rather pleasant on the North Coast.

However, if you’re a beach, this winter hasn’t been so great and most Lake Erie beaches are living in fear of a possible “Perfect Storm” as spring approaches.  Say what?  Don’t understand how a beach thinks?  Let me clue you in on the problem.

First, the Lake Erie water level this past week was 26 inches above the same time last year.  To a beach, That’s a problem.  Second, there is no ice to protect beaches at the water’s edge like there usually is this time of year.  Third, the winds are blowing the same as ever.

With high water, high wind, and no ice, you have the perfect situation for major shoreline avulsion.  Shoreline what, you say?  Avulsion is a rapid tearing away of the shoreline from a short-term combination if high water and high waves during an ice free period.  Crank up the wind and direct it from the northeast and you have the elements of the Perfect Storm and big time avulsion – like the kind that destroys public parks and makes houses go over the edge.  At this time, there is little that public beach managers and private shoreline owners can do except pray and wait.

Of course, avulsive events are nothing new.  Minor ones occur every year and this year is no exception.  Usually, the beach self-repairs and life on the shore continues as usual.  However, that is not always the case.

Avulsion can be contrasted with erosion, a more common term.  Erosion occurs very slowly and continuously over an extended timeframe.  Erosion is most common on rivers since the water always flows in a single direction along the bank.  Avulsion also occurs on rivers.  On rivers, avulsion occurs during monster rainstorms, usually as the result of stalled weather systems.  On rivers, the path or bed of the water may actually be altered with the result that property boundaries can move from one side of the river to the other.  Of course, that doesn’t happen along the lakeshore.  Under Ohio law, property owners have a right to restore land lost to avulsion.

An avulsive event occurred on Cedar Point on Feb 11, 2012, as shown in the following pictures.  The wind blew from the North West about 20 to 30 knots for about 12 hours.  In subsequent posts, we will explore other avulsive events including the major ones which led to the destruction of the original wonderful natural beach at East Harbor State Park shortly after its opening a half-century ago.

Photo Taken Feb 9, 2012

Photo Taken Feb 12, 2012

The Ohio Supreme Court Got It Right - Or Did They?

On September 14, The Ohio Supreme Court issued its opinion in Merrill v. State of Ohio.  The Court opined that the boundary between the public submerged lands and the private lands of lakefront owners was the natural shoreline.  Thanks to the wonders of technology, both sides had claimed victory within hours. 

The reader can decide by looking at Case Number 2009-1806 on the Ohio Supreme Court website.  After a decade of seeking legislative action and a half dozen years in the courts, it appears that the lakefront owners may still have some work to do if they want to privately enjoy the peace and quiet of their little slice of paradise.

My last post, back in July talked about the unique features of East Sandusky Bay and the problems and opportunities it provides to property owners on the Cedar Point peninsula.  It turns out that the Merrill Court based their decision largely on a confirmation of the decision it made back in 1878 that involved the fishing grounds a couple miles from the Ohio Beach Guy's Cedar Point house.  That brought the decision close to home.

I had previously planned to explore the key cases which the Court referenced  from a historic perspective.  Now there is a modern background to use as well.  It's interesting to see the spin which various academics, journalists, and lobbyists are putting on the decision.  If they are all right, it must have been a heck of a strange case.  If some are wrong, it may be necessary for the legislature to get into the act - something they were unwilling to do a decade ago.   This time, there is no excuse for not acting.

Coming Soon - The Rest of the Story About Issatan and Kafralu Islands

It's been quite a while since I thought I'd quit carping about the Asian Carp and move on to new topics.  At the time of my last post, I had several hot topics, such as the history of the islands in East Sandusky Bay including the resorts of Issatan Island and Kafralu Island.  Both have an interesting history that affect our life and time on the East Sandusky Bay.

Then life got interesting.  I got called for jury duty the week of the Erie MetroPark's Huron Greenway trial.  The trial  was for a jury determination of the money damages owed to Warren Jones.  Mr. Jones was one of several property owners whose property was "taken" by eminent domain for the project.  Under Ohio law, the government agency who wants the property defines what they need to "take" and a jury then decides what the "take" is worth.  The MetroPark thought the "take" they defined was worth less than $10,000.  The property owner's appraiser said it was worth over $500,000.  I didn't get chosen for the jury, but I was so fascinated that I watched the trial for an entire week as the sole gallery occupant.  The jury awarded Mr. Jones about $200,000 plus legal fees.  The current director and park board has attempted to spin the story as the fault of the previous administration - but it was the current guys who defined what the park was "taking."  A board meeting set for next Tuesday should produce some interesting public comments.  By the time the dust settles, the Greenway is likely to be a multimillion dollar debacle. 

Incidently, I think the Greenway jury got it just about right - possibly a little low.  I guess the system works.

No sooner did I get focused back on Kafralu and Issatan than my friendly banker demanded that I get flood insurance or pay off my mortgage in 30 days.  It seems that it had been federally guaranteed and the feds were nervous.  The bank explained  that were told by FEMA that the house was going to wash away sometime in the next hundred years.  After working that problem for a while, I got a lot smarter about the floodplain designations.  A few hundred dollars later, the house was "saved" by my surveyor.  In the process, I learned that the new survey technology allows micrometer level accuracy in determining the elevation of a blade of grass and the flood maps were now new and improved.  Everyone should know what elevation their house is at within 0.01 inches.  This was once accuracy territory approached only by a skilled tool and die maker working on a well-tuned Bridgeport.  What FEMA didn't tell the bank was that the related problem of determining the level where the water may rise to is still done the old fashion way and, in fact, has not been rechecked anytime since 1977.  It remains unclear when, if ever, it was scientifically determined for even the "open lake."   It is clear that, even following the Army Corps of Engineers' analytical framework, it was never determined for East Sandusky Bay.  But that's the subject for a half-dozen future blog entries in which I will try to maintain my cool while discussing how your tax dollars are at work and costing me money.

The Asian carp story refuses to go away.  More of your tax dollars at work.  There's more and more handwringing from the environmentalists, cries for action from the politicians, and news stories about recipes and eating the critters.  Even the New York Times recently picked up on the idea of eating invasive species.  After all, the Carp we are so afraid of are called Kentucky tuna just a couple hundred miles to the South.  (One should remember that the first Asian carp to reach the Great Lakes in the 1880's were brought here by the federal government to help the fishing industry.)    Since the Chinese love big carp, maybe we can trade to get back our dollars in exchange for their favorite fish. 

My personal feelings are that Sandusky Bay and other shallow waters of Lake Erie are the waters most endangered by the new carp invasion but that the greater threat is from trucks rather than the river system.  Ohio should be taking an Ontario-like approach to stopping them at the border by simply making possession of live fish illegal.  Some politicians claim the "new and improved" Lacey Act stops interstate shipments under federal law.  However, it appears to have more holes than a badly built gill net.

Another angle on the Carp crisis is to let them eat the green gunk that grows on the western basin to fatten them up before shipping them to China in trade for dollars.  Seems like a win-win.  Guess we'll have to keep carping about the situation.

In our spare time, we've been looking at such famous people as Lyman Cooley, Robert Manning, and John Ripley Freeman who have helped to shape the Great Lakes a century ago and whose technology still govern Great Lakes science.  Say who???  Stay tuned for the answer to what all inquiring minds want to know.

The Asian Carp Problem is Worth Carping About for Ohioans

Just when I thought I could stop carping about the Asian carp, someone sent me a copy of Michael Scott’s Cleveland Plain Dealer article from March 12 about a new Life Science Investigation for middle school students.  Scott’s article is at http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/03/bad_carp_good_algae_and_ugly_u.html and the LSI program can be found at http://wviz.org/lsi .  The program contains eight video segments and a number of links that teachers can give to the students for additional research.  It is an exceptionally thorough piece of work by the Great Lakes Science Center and WVIZ.

In light of the two recent Ontario convictions for attempted importation of Asian carp at the Bluewater and Ambassador bridges, it’s clear that live Asian carp were transported through the Great Lakes watershed by truck.  One of the convicted importers owns a fish farm in Peru, Indiana, which is within about 25 miles of the Lake Erie watershed. 

The Army Corps has acknowledged that feral Asian Carp are in the Wabash watershed within 25 miles of the upper limits of the neighboring Maumee watershed.  There is a valid concern for a transfer between the watersheds in the case of flooding.  However, there had been no mention of fish farm operations in the area.  The owner of the Indiana fish farm arrested at the Canadian border has told reporters that the fish were trucked from a southern United States fish farm.  http://blogs.wlfi.com/2011/03/08/illegal-in-carp-shipment-netted-in-canada/ .

The federal law governing the import of “injurious fish” into the United States is the Lacy Act.  However, the Lacey Act does not regulate intrastate transfers unless the receiving state has regulations in place that criminalize live fish possession.  The Lacey act has recently been updated to include the Big Head carp but is widely regarded as too little too late.  While it prohibits importation, it does little to regulate interstate transport since few states have laws against live Asian carp possession.

In 2007, The Asian Carp Working Group, consisting of 66 government employees and other interested parties, generated a report identifying 22 “pathways” for introduction of the Asian carp into the Great Lakes.  The Working Group roster indicates that Ohio was not represented.  The Working Group’s 223 page report identified a myriad of introduction opportunities and clarified that totally preventing introduction may be next to impossible.  The report can be read at http://www.asiancarp.org/documents/Carps_Management_Plan.pdf .

The latest Control Strategy Matrix (Jan 2011) includes 33 million dollars of requested funding and is online at: http://asiancarp.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2011-Matrix-Dec30.pdf .

After reviewing the on-line information, I am convinced that, unless all of the Great Lakes states simply ban possession of live Asian Carp in the same manner that Ontario has, the Asian carp will eventually enter the Great Lakes.  Ontario’s position is clearly and unequivocally stated in their law.  You simply cannot possess live Asian carp anywhere in the Province for any reason.  We should promulgate similar laws in Ohio and in the other Great Lakes states.

Clearly, Ohio’s Lake Erie estuaries, such as Sandusky Bay, Old Woman Creek, East Harbor, and the many Black Swamp marshes will become ground zero for the propagation of the Asian carp if they make it to Lake Erie waters. 

In the 1880’s, the Federal Government intentionally introduced imported German carp to Lake Erie to compensate for over-fishing of the native stocks.  In a span of 130 years the German carp of 1880 became the “common carp” of today.  The effects of “common carp” on our ecosystem are discussed in Video 5 of the Public Television/Great Lakes Science Center middle school video series referenced in the first paragraph of this posting.  http://wviz.org/lsi/interior

If possession of live Asian carp is not banned throughout the Great Lakes region, they seem destined to become the “common carp” of 2111.  It is clear that no one knows for sure what damage these fish can cause.  I don’t think we want to find out and I see no upside to letting them in without putting up a good fight. 

I urge government action to address all of the potential introduction pathways and not just the Chicago River connections on which the Army Corps of Engineers has focused to date.

A Busy Week for the U.S. Carp Professionals and Canadian Carp Cops

February 8 was the twelfth and final regional NEPA Public Scoping Meeting conducted by the Chicago Army Corps of Engineers Office on GLMRIS, (the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study.)  In English, that means “How are we going to keep the Asian carp out of the Great Lakes”  The meeting was in Ann Arbor and was well attended.

John Goss, President Obama’s Carp Czar attended the meeting.  Mr. Goss’ background includes serving as Indiana’s DNR under two governors and for four years as the executive director of the Indiana National Wildlife Federation.  See: http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/us-names-asian-carp-czar.html

As the twelfth in the series of NEPA meetings on the Asian carp problem from Minneapolis to New Orleans, it was a well-orchestrated presentation followed by an opportunity to ask questions and make comments.  Comments can also be submitted in writing or on-line until the end of the month.  Major General John Peabody, head of the Army Corps’ Great Lakes and Ohio River Division led the meeting.

For more background information or to comment, see the GLMRIS NEPA website at: http://glmris.anl.gov/involve/whatisscoping/index.cfm .  All of the public comments, both written and oral, will be put on-line next month.

The oral comments were overwhelmingly in favor of preventing the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and doing it quickly.  Many of the public comments sought to clarify that prevention should mean 100% prohibition and not just “discouraging entry” to some level deemed economically feasible based on a Corps analysis.  Many comments also addressed the need for a sense of urgency and considered the five year scoping study timeframe unacceptable, citing the fact that it had been more than a decade since Asian carp escaped from a southern fish farm.  

Reportedly, the fish were first imported in the 1970’s to southern fish farms.  http://detnews.com/article/20110308/METRO/103080373/Feds-defend-carp-strategy-at-Ypsilanti-meeting

A SCARY DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARP STORY

While the Carp Czar and the Chicago Corps were meeting with the public to scope their study, reports of live Asian Carp crossing both the St Clair and Detroit Rivers were reaching the press.  Of course, at the present time, the carp had to do this by truck and, fortunately, they were stopped by the Ontario law enforcement officials.  It seems Ontario has wisely already outlawed the transport of live Asian carp.

The Detroit River crossing was first reported over the weekend.  The St. Clair River Crossing was first reported on Tuesday.  During the week the story expanded and, by Friday, we learned from D’Arcy Egan of the Plain Dealer that the Toronto Chinese community sometimes celebrate with a pair of live Carp by eating one and releasing the other for good luck.  Egan’s article is at http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/03/sales_of_live_asian_carp_threa.html   

For many of the other carp articles this past week, check the GLIN.net archives at:  http://www.glin.net/news/inthenews.html

ANOTHER EXTENSIVE CARP INFORMATION SOURCE

In an earlier post, I mentioned finding references to the introduction of German carp to the Great Lakes area by the federal government.  At the time, I was trying to understand the differences between historic Lake Erie fishing practices employing seine fishing and pound fishing technology.  As a byproduct of that research, I have now found an excellent on-line information source on the entire German carp importation history and its effects.

For those of you wanting to understand what damages the Asian carp can do in greater detail, check out the 1904 Report of the Bureau of Fisheries.  Pages 524-641 present a factual retrospective analysis of the last carp crisis on the Great Lakes after the damage was done.  The entire report is on-line at:  http://www.archive.org/details/reportofbureauoff1904unit

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE AND WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There are two disturbing things about this week’s Asian carp developments. 

·        First, they are here already, having come by truck. 

·        Second, some were trucked in by a Peru, Indiana, fish farm operator. 

Sort of makes you wonder if the Great Lakes states should copy and enforce the law used in Ontario.  Let’s stop the carp before they reach the Bluewater and Ambassador Bridges.  Doesn’t sound too hard to me and doesn’t require a five year scoping study  - just find and copy the Canadian law.

Unfortunately, I’m sure the Chicago Army Corps Office will correctly find that such laws are beyond their jurisdiction.  However, maybe we can seek the help of the Carp Czar, who is also from Indiana, (a Great Lakes State,) has run a Department of Natural Resources, and is connected in high places.  Just a thought.  Start writing your state officials if you care.

Why Pound Fishing Replaced Seine Fishing on Lake Erie

In a previous post, I  explained how and why the Fisheries Commision encouraged the introduction of (european) carp into the Great Lakes to address the dwindling fish supply in the 1880's.  In that post, I also mentioned that I came upon the references to the carp introduction as a diversion from trying to understand why the Sandusky area commercial fishing industry changed from "seine fishing" to "pound fishing" around 1860.  It's time to get back to understanding seines and pounds and why they were so important to Lake Erie's expanding fishing industry in the second half of the 19th century.

The change in technology was clearly important to the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Sloan v. Biemiller
34 Ohio St. 492(1878).  As it turns out, the change was made simply to take advantage of the higher productivity of the pound method.  A smaller crew could harvest more fish in far less time.  After all, the bounty of the lakes was free for the taking and was limitless - at least under the common wisdom of the day. 

The other thing that happened with seine to pound changeover was that fishing was no longer under the control of the landowner in possession of the shore.  Commercial fishing with seines had to be done from the shore.  Pound fishing was done from pound boats.  The pound boats became the pick-up trucks of Sandusky Bay by the 1880's. Shore access was no longer required and was irrelevant for pound fishing. 

In fact, seine fishing continued to be done from the shore on the Detroit River long after the conversion to pound fishing on Lake Erie.  With time, the equipment was vastly improved with mechanical net retreival systems but it remained labor intensive.  Pound fishing was, of course, impractical on the River because of the impairment of navigation created with the net stakes and extensive leaders required for a commercial pound system.  To this day, net stakes are shown on Lake Erie navigation charts.  The following figures are from the Fishery Commision report to the 50th Congress are were obtained from the Washington University sites provided in the links.

Typical Pound Fishing Arrangement

Lifting the Pot on Lake Erie Pound Fishing System

Seine Fishing From Grassy Island on Detroit River

In the near future, we'll begin to explore the past, present and future of East Harbor State Park's once wonderful beach.  We will explore how the East Harbor Beach has responded to past level changes, storm events and  governmental "fixes."  We'll also crystal ball what's likely to happen in the future.

  

Fortunately, East Harbor's Beach has a citizen group intensely interested in it's restoration.  Beachaideastharbor has been a key advocate for the Beach at East Harbor for nearly a decade.  Their website is at http://beachaideastharbor.com/.

New At East Harbor

East Harbor
We took advantage of the sunshire earlier this week to visit East Harbor and see what's new.  It appears that there has been a good ice cover all winter and there has been little sand blown from the beach over the parking lot.  Hopefully, the near shore ice can remain for a few weeks.

The South parking lot is the scene of a pipe welding operation which appears to be assembling lots of plastic sewage pipe - presumably for a restroom upgrade at some point on the beach.  We'll try to find out more.

There is also a new paved parking area near the north turnaround.