Action needed for Lake Erie

OAK HARBOR — The charter boat industry has suffered major losses because of harmful algal blooms. And charter boat captains want action, not further studies, the president of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association said. The group strongly supports Gov. John Kasich's order to impose new regulations on farmers in eight key Lake Erie watersheds, said Paul Pacholski, a charter boat captain and the organization's president."In looking at the data … those eight watersheds could address quite a bit of the issues," Pacholski said. "It is very, very important that we get that passed."The governor issued an order in July targeting eight high-phosphorus watersheds all in northwest Ohio. The eight are Platter Creek, Little Flat Rock Creek, Little Auglaize River, Eagle Creek, Auglaize River, Blanchard River, St. Marys River and the Ottawa River.The Ohio Farm Bureau, which has fought addition regulation of farmers, protested the order, and the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission has delayed action on the order for months, preferring to study it first.There's no need for more studies, as every water quality scientist in Ohio universities agrees that curtailing phosphorus levels is needed to reduce harmful algal blooms, Pacholski said.The voices of the charter boat industry and of the sports fishing industry need to be included in discussions about Lake Erie, Pacholski said."If you leave it up to farmers to police themselves, we've already seen how that works out," he said. "We do know 60 to 70 percent of the farmers are doing the right thing, and they take this very seriously. But there are some farmers in some areas that do not."Pacholski said he knows people don't like additional regulations but said action could help turn around the harmful algal bloom problem.Ohio has about 685 fishing charter boats in Lake Erie. About 250 charter boat captains belong to the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, he said.While fishing on Lake Erie is excellent, bad publicity about the harmful algal blooms has hurt business. A poll of members suggests the blooms have reduced business by 20 to 25 percent, Pacholski.It isn't just the hundreds of charter boats that are affected, either, as fishermen coming to Lake Erie stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and spend money at other locations, Pacholski said."There are few tourists that are as free with their money as men in our demographic that are out for the weekend, out for a couple of weekdays with the boys," he said.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Paul Pacholski, president of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, talks to reporters.