COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) After 14 years, South Carolina anglers along the Lower Savannah River will again get the chance to catch and keep striped bass.<br>
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A harvest moratorium enacted by South Carolina in 1991 ends Oct. 1, according to the state Natural Resources Department.<br>
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A ban was first imposed by Georgia in 1988 after biologists found the striped bass and hybrids populations had drastically declined in the 1980s, the agency said.<br>
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The department says the numbers of striped bass in the area have increased enough that a lifting of the moratorium was possible.<br>
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Anglers had been under catch-and-release rules during the ban.<br>
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``Lifting the striped bass moratorium on the Lower Savannah River on Oct. 1 will allow anglers a chance to harvest fish for consumption and possibly trophy fish,'' said Chris Thomason, Natural Resources fisheries biologist.<br>
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The affected area includes the Savannah River from the Lake Thurmond dam downstream to the river's mouth.<br>
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Natural Resources fisheries biologist Chris Thomason says the downturn came about because of poor reproduction of the native species. Thomason says a tide gate built in 1977 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a diversion canal and a deepened channel in the area raised salinity levels, flow velocities and silt in spawning areas.<br>
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Since the ban, the tide gate was removed and the diversion canal filled in. Georgia outdoors officials restocked the region with fish to increase numbers.<br>
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The state Natural Resources Board, after hearing biologists' recommendations, asked state lawmaker to enact a law to lift the ban. The General Assembly did so in May, and established catch and size limits to ensure the striped bass population would remain stable, the department said.<br>
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The South Carolina agency says Georgia also is expected to ease its striper ban this fall.<br>
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(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
