Davis: "It's really anybody's guess" 



on milfoil growth. Carefully selected plots were 

 mowed at regular intervals during the peak growth 

 season. Control plots were left unmowed for com- 

 parison. 



Even before all the data had been analyzed it was 

 obvious that mowing was not totally effective. Davis 

 found that unless an area could be cut three or four 

 times in a growing season, mowing actually en- 

 couraged regrowth. 



There were other problems with mowing. Ac- 

 cording to Davis unless the mowed milfoil could be 

 harvested, the cuttings could wash ashore in huge 

 floating mats or sprout new plants. 



Mowing was also time consuming. And that makes 

 it expensive as a control technique. With routine 

 mowing, Davis found that only eight to 10 acres could 

 be covered in a day. In dense patches the mower had 

 to creep along at one mile per hour. Davis estimated 

 that 50 to 100 machines working every day all sum- 

 mer long would be needed to control milfoil 



throughout the sound. Even the smallest mowers cost 

 around $1,500. Add to that the price of labor, fuel and 

 maintenance and the cost is substantial. 



Davis believes that mowing is practical only on a 

 small scale to maintain localized weed-free "canals" 

 for swimming, boating or other special uses. But he 

 thinks the whole picture could be changed if a com- 

 mercial use of milfoil were developed. 



Jerry Hardesty, Currituck County extension agent, 

 agrees with Davis. According to Hardesty the county 

 doesn't have the money to support milfoil control on 

 even a limited basis. But by finding a commercial use 

 for the plant, he thinks that the county could "turn a 

 liability into an asset we can all live with." 



Davis also looked at the nutrient content of the 

 milfoil on a dry weight basis to see how it compared 

 with fertilizers and livestock feeds. The results look 

 promising, but he cautions that the high water 

 content of the plant (nearly 90 percent) may make it 

 too costly to process into a dried form. 



What about fish? 



No one can say that B.R. Vance doesn't know 

 Currituck Sound. For 30 years he has fished nearly 

 every acre of it. "He knows the sound better than the 

 back of his hand," his wife proudly claims. 



First as a fishing guide, then as a vacationer and 

 now as a resident, Vance has probably caught more 

 largemouth bass out of Currituck Sound than most 

 people have ever dreamed of. And he's kept extensive 

 records of his experiences. 



According to Vance the beds of milfoil act "just like 

 a game preserve." As a result he says he's been able 

 to catch more bass and larger bass since the exotic 

 plant came to Currituck Sound. "Milfoil gives them 

 protection. It's a cool place in the summer and itgives 

 them a hiding place." He adds, "When you fulfill 

 those requirements you've got bass here." 



But not all fishermen agree with Vance. Some 

 claim the weed has hurt bass and other fish popula- 

 tions by using up oxygen and other important ele- 

 ments and minerals. Others argue that the bass 

 fishing only "appears" to be better because the milfoil 

 concentrates the fish into open or edge areas where 

 they fall easy prey to the fisherman's lure. Still 

 others contend that, more fish or not, the sound is 

 just plain too hard to fish with all the choking weeds. 



For nearly two years now Mel Huish and Howard 

 Kerby of the Cooperative Fisheries Unit at North 

 Carolina State University have been trying to deter- 

 mine if the milfoil has had an effect on fish popula- 

 tions in Currituck Sound. Much of their study has 

 been based on a comparison of earlier information 

 collected by state and federal biologists in the late 

 1950s and early 60s before milfoil had reached the 

 sound. 



Sampling activities in Currituck Sound 



Through a monthly sampling program, the scien- 

 tists have looked at the number, size, age and types of 

 fish caught plus such environmental conditions as 

 water temperature and salinity. Their studies have 

 primarily focused on the largemouth bass, because, 

 says graduate researcher Jim Borawa, "it's the fish 

 the people want to hear about the most." But they 

 also have collected information on a variety of other 

 fish including carp, catfish, golden shiner, and white 

 and yellow perch. 



Although the researchers are still analyzing data 

 gathered and comparing them with "pre-milfoil" 

 studies, their results indicate that the milfoil hasn't 

 had a harmful effect on fish populations. 



In some cases changes in populations have varied 

 according to species. For example, the researchers 

 found that compared to earlier studies the number of 

 largemouth bass has grown since the milfoil's arrival. 

 But because the total population of fish has also in- 

 creased, the proportion of bass to the total population 

 has actually gone down. 



The question remains, is the milfoil responsible for 

 the population changes? According to the researchers 

 there isn't a clear-cut answer. Milfoil has been the 

 biggest change in the sound since fish studies were 

 started in 1958. But variations in other environmen- 

 tal conditions also may have contributed to popula- 

 tion changes. 



Vance is convinced that milfoil is an asset to the 

 fish. Bass fishing, he claims, hasn't been as good 

 since the milfoil started disappearing from many 

 parts of the sound last year. 



Economics of milfoil 



Robert Doughety has lived and worked in the 

 Currituck Sound area since 1958. But it was not until 

 milfoil had become a household word that he decided 

 to open the Currituck Bait Barn. 



"I personally would not have built this building or 

 bought this property had the milfoil not been here," 

 says Doughety. 



According to Doughety it was the presence of 

 milfoil that boosted the sound's sports fishing in- 

 dustry to the point where bait and tackle shops like 

 his could survive. "Milfoil, as far as I am concerned, is 

 the greatest thing that has happened to the sports 

 fishing in this part of the country," he asserts. 

 "Anyone who tells me this milfoil has hurt them, well 

 they've got to prove it to me," he says, adding, "I 

 think that there are more people making a living off 

 the sound than ever before." 



Not everyone agrees with Doughety. Some resi- 

 dents argue that business and property values have 

 been hurt by the milfoil. Others claim the plant 

 hasn't had any effect. 



The question of milfoil's economic impact is an in- 

 triguing one. It's a question that Sea Grant economist 

 Leon Abbas felt had to be answered before the milfoil 

 story could be fully understood. "We wanted to get 

 some idea as to the extent that Currituck Sound, as a 

 resource, influenced the economy of Currituck 

 County," Abbas explains. 



Through a series of surveys, Abbas and graduate 

 researcher Dennis McCornac were able to identify the 

 various businesses that depended directly on the 

 sound and how much money they generated. The 

 researchers found that sound-related activities in 

 1976 contributed nearly $5 million to the economy. 



Next, the researchers asked business operators, 

 property owners and visitors to the sound how they 

 felt about the milfoil and how it affected them. More 



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