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Chinese scientists study Mississippi in great rivers exchange [La Crosse Tribune, Wis.]
(La Crosse Tribune (WI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 1--Four Chinese scientists trained their cameras on the La Crosse Queen and waved to passengers as the paddleboat churned toward the Interstate 90 bridge Wednesday afternoon.
They then turned their attention to the flat-bottomed boat approaching with probes sending 3,000 volts of electricity into the water.
The scientists had come to learn about the Long Term Resources Monitoring Program on the Upper Mississippi River, a multi-agency effort to collect data used to study the ecosystem and evaluate management practices. With six field stations in five states, it is among the most comprehensive river monitoring programs in the world.
The Chinese government is working to establish in-stream fish reserves and monitoring programs on the Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia and third-longest in the world. Considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, the Yangtze stretches nearly 4,000 miles from west to east, and its basin is home to a third of the country's population.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, China is looking at the LTR monitoring program as a model for its own assessments.
After a morning of water sampling Wednesday, the scientists took to the river in the flat-bottomed boat to see how their counterparts in La Crosse study fish populations.
Andy Bartels, a fisheries specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, explained the gear on his boat -- a GPS device for location, a Secchi disc to measure water clarity and a gas-powered generator to jolt fish to the surface, where they can be scooped up, identified, counted, and measured before being returned to the river.
Yao Yin coordinated the exchange and served as interpreter for the Chinese scientists. He is a native of the Yangtze River valley. Some 200,000 people in his hometown of Kaixian were relocated to make way for the reservoir created by the massive Three Gorges Dam.
A research ecologist, Yin has worked for the USGS in La Crosse since 1994, the year after he completed his doctoral degree at the University of Tennessee.
He hopes the Chinese scientists can modify their research methods so data from the Yangtze is comparable to that from the Mississippi.
The scientists became excited as the water in front of Bartels' approaching boat churned with flopping fish and researchers scooped them into a holding tank with long-poled nets.
As they chatted in Mandarin, Yin shouted from the back of the boat.
He said later that when they saw fish jumping, the Chinese researchers suggested cranking up the voltage to get even more. Yin explained that the voltage needs to be kept constant so that samples are scientifically valid.
The exchange was partly sponsored by the Nature Conservancy's Great River Partnership, a four-year-old project designed to preserve the world's great rivers. The partnership so far has focused on the Mississippi, Yangtze and Brazil's Paraguay-Parana River system.
Gretchen Benjamin spent 25 years with the DNR before recently becoming assistant director of the Nature Conservancy's Upper Mississippi River Program in La Crosse. She said the goal is to share some of this country's best practices with others.
"We're very fortunate with what we've learned and it would be a shame to keep that secret to ourselves," Benjamin said. "Let's provide that information to as many people as possible."
On the bank, the Chinese scientists gathered around as Bartels sorted through his catch, which included a cross section of the approximately 90 species of fish found in Pool 8, which stretches from Dresbach, Minn., to Genoa, Wis.
"You guys know what this is," he said, holding up a freshwater drum. "Nice and fat."
"So this is a normal catch?" Yin asked.
"Silver horse, lots of suckers and smallmouth bass," Bartels said.
Lou Weili, deputy section director with the Yangtze Fishery Resources Management Committee, said he was impressed by the long-term resource monitoring model.
"We are doing it a different way," he said through an interpreter. "That's why we came here."
Brian Ickes, a research ecologist with the USGS, was among four La Crosse area scientists who visited China last year. He said the exchange program wasn't just about sharing scientific methods. It also was designed to foster cultural understanding and introduce the Chinese to American ideas of conservation.
He knew the trip was a success Tuesday night during a kayak outing.
"Weili paddled up to me and said, 'Here I see peace between people, fishes and birds.'"
To see more of the La Crosse Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lacrossetribune.com/.
Copyright (c) 2009, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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