Latest 'arrivals' will help restock Lake Wilson

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

WAHIAWA — The female largemouth bass being depended upon to help restock Lake Wilson's bass population did her part this month. And it's a boy.

And a girl. And a boy. And a ...

Approximately 3,000 hatchlings were spawned on April 2 by the eight-pound bass. The mother is being housed at a hatchery at Wahiawa Middle School, according to science teacher James Chow.

The bass repopulation project is part of a $90,000 program financed by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Aquatics Resources Division to restock the 300-acre Lake Wilson, also known as the Wahiawa Reservoir. The project is part of a long-term plan to revitalize the lake and the economy of the former plantation town by using bass fishing as a visitor attraction.

"It was a good-sized hatch," Chow said about the latest spawning. "Now we have to get them to a big-enough size where they can hopefully survive."

The spawning comes as a resolution that would form a task force to study the feasibility of establishing a freshwater fishery at the reservoir makes its way through the Legislature.

State Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-40th (Wahiawa, Whitmore), who co-authored House Concurrent Resolution 200, said the resolution also have DLNR officials report back to state lawmakers next year on the economic feasibility of operating at Lake Wilson.

The resolution has passed the House committees on Water, Land & Energy, and Economic Development & Technology. Oshiro said the measure faces a second crossover vote in the Senate tomorrow before heading back to the House.

Under the proposal, DLNR officials would select volunteer task force members.

"The next step to the plan is establishing a feasibility study to gather some established numbers on economic impacts, including money needed for fishing access and shoreline improvements," Oshiro said.

The task force also would seek grant money to help jump-start related business ventures, he added.

"The tourist industry is always looking for new activities, particularly the Japanese market which is interested in this sort of thing," Oshiro said.

The next step of the restocking program is to grow the fish to about two inches in length and release a portion of them into the reservoir later this year. Almost all of the hatchling bass from a previous batch raised in 2000 mysteriously died before they could be released.

"We don't know if it was a virus that killed the last ones, but we are keeping a close eye on this batch and praying at the same time," Chow said.

Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.