By DON DUBUC

When it comes to problems with wild critters, we in coastal Louisiana are not alone.

By now everyone knows the wetlands damage the nutria has wreaked upon us since arriving some 60 years ago from South America. We have tried to eradicate them for their fur and most recently for their flesh.

The fur industry is on life support and while despite being nutritionally and delectably sound, nutria suffer an image problem when it comes to serving them between the potatoes and veggies.

An open recreational hunting season with no bag limits instituted this year got little attention. Seems the only hunters interested in recreating by shooting the giant rodents were waterfowl seeking tourists who saw as many nutria as ducks.

There is even a proposal recommending a $4 per nutria bounty in an effort to prevent them from continuing to overpopulate by digesting our marshes.

Yep, we have certainly got our share of noxious plants, birds and animals, but so do other states. If the saying “Misery loves company” is true, enjoy yourself.

Alabama: Birds are costing the catfish industry $4 million a year; Arizona: Blackbirds threaten to contaminate cattle feed and water; Colorado: Coyotes kill $1.5 million worth of sheep annually; Connecticut: Birds, bats and squirrels are damaging buildings, landscapes and utilities; Delaware: Canada geese have done $75,000 damage to golf courses; Georgia: Beavers are damaging pastures, highways and sanitation lines; Hawaii: Tree frogs threaten horticulture, parrots and Axis deer; Illinois: European starlings spread disease and damage private and industrial property; Maine: Cormorants are harming pen-raised salmon industry and causing decline in wild salmon population; Michigan: Endangered gray wolves are threatening livestock; Missouri: Resident Canada goose population has tripled since 1993 and wild hogs are on the rise; Nebraska: Prairie dogs are damaging rangelands; Nevada: Rodents are posing a risk of bubonic plague; New Jersey: Deer are feasting on fruit trees and vegetables; New York: Bats and raccoon rabies are a concern and city-dwellers are plagued with droppings, odor and threat of disease from crow roosts; Ohio: Overpopulations of gulls, vultures and starlings; Rhode Island: Mute swans are fouling ponds; Texas: Feral hog population is more than 1 million increasing damage to crops, livestock and wildlife; Washington: Endangered salmon and steelhead threatened by gulls and northern pike minnows; and Wyoming: Coyotes, black bears, red foxes and mountain lions have accounted for more than $5 million in livestock losses.

Fish management for fishermen

Archbishop Rummel High on Severn Ave in Metairie will be the site of a fisheries management seminar Feb. 16 which is open to the public.

Beginning at 9 a.m. LDWF and LSU Fisheries biologists will discuss management principles and myths, redfish biology, the effects of freshwater diversions on largemouth bass and managing for trophy trout. Coffee and donuts will be served, the first 25 attendees will receive free New Orleans Boat show passes, and there will be door prizes, raffles and a silent auction for a fishing trip.

A jambalaya dinner and drinks will follow at noon. Admission is $10. For more information call 504-833-9625.

Hoelzel wins on Tchefuncte

There were seven contestants who caught full five fish limits in the first 3 Rivers Bassmaster tournament on the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville.

Billy Hoelzel’s catch (9.85 pounds) from Bayou Lacombe on a crankbait, was the heaviest, but not by much. Second-place finisher Jake Impastato checked in with 9.35.

Mark Mohr took third place and big bass money with a 7.85 stringer and a 3.45 lunker. Cliff Arnold (7.80) Jason Pittman (6.15) and Thomas Quave (5.40) filled the other top six slots for both the tournament and overall yearly standings. A total of 62 bass were weighed, all except one were live-released.

The 3 Rivers 2002 schedule includes upcoming tournaments March 16 at Venice, April 20 at Caernorvan, May 18 at Rigolets, June 15 at West Pearl, July 20 at East Pearl, Aug. 17-18 at Toledo Bend, Sept. 21 at Bayou Segnette, Oct. 19 at Caernorvan and Nov. 9-10 at Venice. For membership information contact tournament director Eddie Ramon at 985-892-0234.

DON DUBUC is the outdoors reporter for L’Observateur.