Smallmouth Bass in Big Trouble

Throughout the last decade, one of the most prized freshwater sport fish species, the smallmouth bass, has suffered fish kills and severe, perplexing illness in several Chesapeake Bay tributaries.

In the Susquehanna River, the hotbed for the kills, populations have plummeted with catch rates of adults falling 80 percent between 2001 and 2005. Several reports indicate that the fishery still hasn't recovered, as populations in sections of the river have collapsed.

"This perfect storm of conditions has required us to restrict fishing in Pennsylvania waters in hope that we can work together to get our world-class smallmouth fishery back to where it was before 2005," said John...