AGFC approves changes to fishing regulations

By RANDY ZELLERS/Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission unanimously voted at today’s regularly scheduled meeting to approve new changes to Arkansas’s regulations on recreational fishing, commercial fishing and aquaculture.

The recreational sportfishing regulations changes were announced to the Commission during its March meeting and were circulated in a public comment survey on the AGFC’s website beginning in March. The responses from that survey were then presented with official proposals during the Commission’s August Commission meeting.

Ben Batten, chief of the agency’s Fisheries Division, said 80 percent of the 46 regulations changes were clarifications, simplifications or reductions in current regulations. The other 20 percent were changes backed by scientific evidence or public input aimed at improving sportfish populations and angler experience.

A few notable changes include:

  • Requiring boaters to remove drain plugs from vessels while being trailered to and from water bodies;
  • Requiring trotlines and limblines to be checked every 48 hours or removed when not in use;
  • Standardizing the number of free-fishing devices and yo-yos being used to 25 of each per person;
  • Increasing the possession limit on fish from two daily limits to three daily limits.
  • Removing rough fish gigging season dates an allow rough fish harvest by gig year-round;
  • Removing the requirement to possess an alligator gar permit to fish for alligator gar (a Trophy Alligator Gar Tag is still required to keep alligator gar longer than 36 inches);
  • Adding a 10-inch minimum length limit on crappie for Lake Dardanelle;
  • Allowing 10 additional spotted bass to the daily limits for Ouachita, DeGray and Greeson lakes;
  • Allowing twice the statewide limit of channel catfish on the Arkansas River, regardless of size, and
  • Allowing unlimited recreational harvest of channel catfish on Lake Erling.

Changes to Arkansas’s commercial fishing and aquaculture regulations also were passed today. Surveys were sent to licensed commercial anglers for their comments to proposals presented to the Commission at its March meeting as well. While most regulations proposals remained unchanged, a proposal to eliminate commercial fishing on the entirety of the Strawberry River was modified to allow it only on the 13-mile stretch of the river from its mouth to Arkansas Highway 25.

Additionally, the Commission unanimously voted to approve the proposed reworking of Arkansas’s aquaculture codes to benefit the integrity of Arkansas’s aquaculture industry while protecting our natural resources. Staff worked with aquaculture producers in focus groups as well as online surveys before their official proposal to the Commission in August.

A complete list of changes is available at agfc.com/en/education/calendar/commission-meetings/monthly-commission-meeting-2020-10. All regulations will go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

Commissioners also heard the first reading of a proposed update to the Commission’s captive wildlife code to add 889 species of reptiles and amphibians to the unrestricted list and 49 species of reptiles and amphibians to the permitted list. The lists are available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jFh9oLlHpqLhImiPzTnFNCWC3v1LynJ5/view?usp=sharing and https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jIBlo8t0HiHWKgao3PJNHgoK-jc01cA8/view?usp=sharing.

In other business, the Commission:

  • Recognized Danielle Havens, Stacey Clark and Cpl. Shannon “Mac” Davis as recipients of this year’s annual Campbell Awards for their dedicated service to conservation and their communities.
  • Recognized Mike Harris with the AGFC’s George H. Dunklin Jr. Award for his work in conserving and promoting wetlands conservation and waterfowl management in Arkansas.
  • Recognized Noah Wyatt with the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative’s Firebird Award for his work in promoting northern bobwhite habitat on Arkansas’s landscape.
  • Recognized 18 employees representing 360 years of service to the natural resources of Arkansas.
  • Heard from Jeremy Wood, the AGFC’s Turkey Program Coordinator, with an update on the state’s turkey population and the 2020 turkey brood survey.
  • Granted a confiscated firearm to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to be used in ballistics tests for their forensics analysis needs.
  • Approved the removal of outdated and obsolete inventory with a total original cost of $38,422 and a net book value of $9,428.
  • Approved a budget increase of $1,000,000 to the AGFC’s fleet budget for capital vehicle purchases to replace vehicles necessary for conservation and enforcement work throughout the state.
  • Approved a budget increase of $300,000 to the AGFC’s capital equipment budget to replace heavy equipment needed for conservation and habitat work throughout the state.
  • Sold a surplus boat and trailer to Columbia County Rural Development Authority at fair market value to be used in the control of giant salvinia and other fisheries management concerns in Lake Columbia.
  • Granted three surplus vehicles to the University of Georgia to be used in research contracted with the AGFC on chronic wasting disease.
  • Revised a section to the AGFC’s vehicle policy to require any employee determined at fault of a vehicle accident in a Commission-owned vehicle to take a mandatory defensive driving class, regardless of the value of the damage caused in the accident.

A video of the meeting is available at https://www.youtube.com/user/ArkansasGameandFish.

‘Wings Over Arkansas’ takes flight for birdwatchers

By RANDY ZELLERS/Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

LITTLE ROCK – With the fall migration of many bird species beginning, birdwatching enthusiasts and educators are just as excited as the most avid waterfowl hunter, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a great way to bring more birders into the watchable wildlife ranks. After 20 years the AGFC’s Wings Over Arkansas program has been revamped and is ready to share the outdoors with more people than ever before.

The program rewards birdwatchers for the number of different species they document in their birdwatching adventures with special certificates of recognition and pins they can display as they move up in the ranks. 

Program materials include brochures, certificates, bird lists and a newly redesigned Backyard Birds pocket guide.

“There are six levels of advancement to the program,” Kirsten Bartlow, Watchable Wildlife Program coordinator for the AGFC, said. “You start at 25 species with the Carolina chickadee level, and top out at the swallow-tailed kite level when you record 300 separate species sightings.”

Participants in this free program receive an Arkansas Bird checklist as well as a free Arkansas Backyard Birds pocket guide to help them identify common species in The Natural State.

“We also have a brochure filled with handy information to help you get started, including links to popular websites and apps to make your birding efforts more rewarding,” Bartlow said. “Smartphones were not as prevalent as they are today when the program was last updated, so we’re excited about telling people about all these resources at their fingertips.”

Bartlow worked with Karen Rowe, the AGFC’s Nongame Migratory Bird Program coordinator, to refine the list for the program and help beginning birders with the species they are most likely to encounter.

“It is not a complete list of every bird ever confirmed in Arkansas,” Rowe said. “We removed those species that had 10 or less recorded occurrences in the state to cut down on confusion for beginning birders. The complete list is curated by the Arkansas Audubon Society, and we include a link to it in the program documents for interested people.”

According to Bartlow, the program is great entertainment for people from all walks of life. Educators can also adapt the materials to their classroom studies to help engage with students who may be learning on virtual platforms. Bartlow has seen great success introducing everyone from school-aged children to retired individuals at assisted-living communities to the outdoors with the help of the program.

“Everyone can enjoy birdwatching,” Bartlow said. “Whether you get out and visit parks and remote areas, or just want to sit by a window and watch a bird feeder, you can find many species of birds to participate in the program.”

Bartlow says the new Arkansas Backyard Birds pocket guide is filled with new, colorful images of the most common species found in Arkansas and interesting tidbits about their behavior and habits. 

“The pocket guide, brochures and publications were all given a fresh new look by AGFC Graphic Artist Kristen Hodges, so even if you’ve participated in the program before, you may want to order a new book just to see the new look,” Bartlow said. 

Visit www.agfc.com/wingsoverar for more information on the program and downloadable materials, or you may call 501-223-6352 to request free printed guidebooks and brochures to get started.

Donation offers scholarship to top shot at Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program

February 5, 2020

By RANDY ZELLERS/AGFC ASSISTANT CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS

LITTLE ROCK — Student athletes considering participating in this year’s Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program have a new reason to sign up and build their shotgunning skills: the chance to claim a $1,250 scholarship as top gun in the Champion of Champions shoot that will be held in conjunction with the program’s state championship event.

The additional scholarship opportunity is possible thanks to the Homebuilders Association of Greater Little Rock. In November, they signed a five-year agreement to donate $2,500 each year to the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation to support the scholarship. The remaining portion of the donation will be held in an annuity to continue funding the scholarship in the future.

AYSSP trap shooting competitor

AYSSP is a competitive trap shooting program created by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in 2007 for any student in grades 6-12. Teams practice on their own beginning in February, and then compete in regional tournaments held each weekend from the end of April through May. Teams and individuals who qualify through regionals advance to the annual state championship.

Jimmy Self, AYSSP coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, says the contract will renew at the end of its five-year term unless either party opts to cancel it at that time, so the donation may very well support young shooters’ college goals for the foreseeable future.

AYSSP trap shooting competitor

“We’ve always been able to provide a scholarship to the top teams in the senior division at the state championship, but this will be the first time we can offer the top overall shooter a scholarship as well,” Self said.

According to Self, before this donation it was entirely possible for the best shooter in the whole program to get a trophy and a pat on the back, but no scholarship like the top overall team. In some cases, individual shooters have come to the state championship’s “Champion of Champions” competition from teams that didn’t even show up to the final weekend’s shoot.

“Usually the top shooter is on a qualifying team, but there are cases when the entire team could not make it to the competition day,” Self said. “We hope the added incentive helps motivate some of our young outdoors-oriented students to take up the sport and compete.”

Visit www.agfc.com/ayssp for more information on the program.

AGFC hears 2019 elk, bear harvest reports

January 17, 2020

By RANDY ZELLERS/AGFC Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’s bear and elk harvests showed slight declines during the 2019 season, but biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said much of the decrease could be attributed to last year’s extremely productive hard mast crop during presentations to Commissioners at today’s regularly scheduled meeting.

According to Myron Means, the AGFC Large Carnivore Program biologist, hunters harvested 432 black bears in Arkansas during 2019.

“Considering the mast crop that we had available across the state, it was actually a pretty good harvest for bears,” Means said. “I didn’t expect it to be quite that high.”

Baited sites and food plots do not have the same appeal to deer, bear, elk and other game species when acorns and other natural foods are abundant in the woods. Animals can find all the food they need without moving long distances, making them much more challenging to hunt. Last year’s bumper crop is likely responsible for decreases in harvest for many species.

The majority, 293 bears total, were harvested with archery equipment, while 57 bears were harvested with muzzleloaders and 82 bears were taken using modern guns.

“That’s nothing new,” Means said. “Most of our bears are taken over bait on private land, and archery hunters get those bears on bait while they are still in pre-hibernation.”

Means says Arkansas bears are still at a stable to slowly expanding population and recommendations going into the 2020 regulations cycle will be to increase the quota of bears allowed in Bear Zone 1 to 500 animals.

Commissioner J.D. Neeley of Camden asked when hunters could expect to see an open bear zone in southwest and south-central Arkansas. Each year more hunters in those areas are reporting bears on their deer leases. Means explained that a current study at the University of Arkansas at Monticello is in its last year of field research to establish a population baseline on bears in those regions of the state and regulations would be based on those findings. The UAM study is being funded by a Wildlife Restoration Program grant through taxes placed on firearms and ammunition sales. 

“They hope to have us a final report in 2021,” Means said. “2022 would be the next regulations cycle to set season dates and quotas.”

Means stressed that if the zones were opened, it would start with a very conservative quota to protect the population from overharvest.

Wes Wright, the AGFC Elk Program coordinator, also gave a summary of the Arkansas elk season. According to Wright, hunters checked 47 elk during two managed hunts in north Arkansas in 2019. The harvest showed a substantial decline in harvest from the 2018 season, specifically in the private land portion of the hunt.

“Last year we had a record harvest of 67 elk, but we had just started a new method for the private land permit system that increased participation on that end,” Wright said. “This year was more in line with historic harvest numbers.”

Despite talk from some hunters about seeing relatively few elk on public land last year, public land harvest numbers remained steady. The total public land harvest actually increased 12 percent, and the overall public land hunter success rate was 63 percent, which is in line with most seasons.

“Again, the heavy mast crop likely dispersed elk and kept them closer to the woods where they are harder to find and harder to hunt,” Wright said.

Wright said only one of the 47 animals harvested was positive for chronic wasting disease, and it was the only CWD-positive elk from the last 114 taken by hunters. A handful of elk that were removed from the herd outside of the season have shown up positive for the disease, but overall only 22 elk have been found that were positive for the disease since it was first spotted in Arkansas in 2016.

“We have had less than 1 percent incidence rate of hunters taking an elk and it being positive for CWD over the past 2 years,” Wright said.

Wright said he plans to propose a slight reduction in the harvest goals next year to compensate for the previous three years of record harvest and additional mortality from CWD sampling to increase numbers of elk on available habitat in north Arkansas.

The Commission voted to continue granting one elk tag each to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and Arkansas Wildlife Federation to help those organizations’ efforts in raising funding for and awareness of elk conservation in Arkansas. According to Mark Hutchings, AGFC assistant chief of wildlife management, the permits have garnered more than $750,000 for elk management in Arkansas since these grants began.

In other business, the Commission:

  • Approved a funds advance for a cooperative federal grant awarded to the AGFC and Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission totaling $967,590 to the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to add 1,108 acres to Longview Saline Natural Area Wildlife Management Area for protection of three endangered species.
  • Approved AGFC Director Pat Fitts to disclaim interest over a 10-acre parcel of land near Petit Jean WMA to which the AGFC holds no title.
  • Recognized AGFC Cpl. Ryan Nast of Batesville as Arkansas’s 2019 National Wild Turkey Federation Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.
  • Recognized Matt Horton, AGFC fisheries habitat biologist from the Mayflower Office, as the 2019 Mike Freeze Fisheries Biologist of the Year.
  • Recognized Jordan Lindaman from the Rogers Field Office as the 2019 Fisheries Division Technical Employee of the Year.
  • Recognized 13 employees representing 280 years of service to the natural resources of Arkansas.
  • Approved the removal of outdated and obsolete inventory with a total original cost of $262,404 and a net book value of $15,944.