Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Arkansas Culture and Characters Calling all garfish lovers
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 2:18 PM
But I admire UCA professor Mark Spitzer for his study, affection and advocacy for this prehistoric beast. To that end, a letter from Spitzer:
Dear Friends of Alligator Gar,Seems that there will be some sort of City planning zoning meeting Tuesday Jan 18 at 7 pm at the District Court in Conway (801 Parkway) regarding Conway Corp. putting a new sewage plant into a spawning ground of the largest known population of alligator gar in Arkansas. I learned about this from a resident of Lollie Bottoms who found a notice tacked up in a pasture. I couldn't get any information on this meeting from the District Court, the Circuit Court, Conway Corp, or City Hall. I did speak to the Mayor, though, and he got his secretary to look it up and confirm that it is a public hearing. If this is a public hearing, though, there's been no posting of it on the Internet or anywhere except maybe that sign in the field. Anyway, I'll be there to speak on behalf of gar and I'm inviting you experts to join me. Conway Corp never contacted Dr. Adams regarding the environmental study I advocated last summer (they said they would contact him) and they spent their 10-day public response-gathering period refuting my public awareness campaign without any facts whatsoever. My concerns are that constructing the plant might harm the next spawn and that water levels and water temperatures in Tupelo Bayou could be altered in such a way so as to make future spawns less effective. Conway Corp doesn't seem to be too interested in working with the community or UCA biologists to learn more about the impact of their project, and I'll give you 70 million reasons why (I got that figure from Judge Scroggins—I don't know if it's accurate, but that's what he told me).
Best,
Mark Spitzer
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Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
“But I admire UCA professor Mark Spitzer for his . . . advocacy for this prehistoric beast.”
Me, too, Boss. Once upon a prehistoric time there was a bar in the basement of the long-gone Marion Hotel called the Gar Hole. A young fella could sit there after work getting a magnificent buzz while watching the gar swim round and round and round in that ancient aquarium built into the wall behind the bartenders. Have caught a few gar in lakes Maumelle and Hamilton, as well as the River Arkansas. They can put up a helluva fight. Love it when I snag one.
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"I am not a particular fan of the alligator gar, except for its appearance — so awful it is almost entertaining. I certainly don't want to eat any part of one."
Max, I'm surprised. I figured your Louisiana roots would leave a soft spot in your heart for a good piece of fried gar. Two words to describe the creature... ugly.. and yummy!
As a kid fishing in Cockleburr Creek just outside Black Oak it was considered a duty to catch and dispatch any and all gar.
We would sit on an old wooden bridge maybe 20 feet over the "creek" and catch all sorts of fish. Brim, catfish, perch - then - nothing. That meant a gar was swimming through. All fish disappeared till after the gar had passed. Then 5 or 10 minutes later the other fish started biting again.
You couldn't hook a gar but it could hold on hard enough to bite through your line. They weren't too bright and would not let go once they caught something. The trick was to lift the gar all the way up to bridge height before it decided to let go. Then sling it over on the bridge and dispatch it.
Then lay it up next to the road so any passersby would see the gar and stop and congatulate your gar dispatching prowess.
Every old farmer had the same phrase as if practiced.
Gar is trash fish, they eat the good eatin game fish. Good work boys!
Killing a gar was like a community service project.
Citizen1, the myth that gar eat game fish is exactly one of the myths that Professor Spitzer debunks in Season of the Gar. This kind of misinformation and folk myth is yet another reason an integral facet of the food chain is in danger now.
Chelydra, You are correct. I no longer listen to or believe my elders without further study. At 10 years old you did what you were told and believed what you were told.
"Just because that was how it always was" or "we always do it that way" are now reasons to question a practice as opposed to just go along.
When I was born in the 50's blacks sat in the back of the bus, women didn't drive or hold jobs, divorce was a scandal even if the husband beat her occasionally or even often.
I have overcome much of my upbringing.
Don't ever tell my wife or neighbors but I shoo snakes away instead of chasing and killing them.
The Times would do a public service to help flesh out the pros and cons of the proposed sewer project and any potential effects on the Gar. I realize you can't help it if Conway Corp won't comment. But can you ask for a project description and LINKS TO RELATED studies so we can check it out? If any of the money is federal (likely) there is at least an argument that an Environmental Impact Statement is required. This should be provided on the web.
I second Jean's comment. Gar is delicious! Don't let a scary face scare you away. It's what is on the inside that counts, right?
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