Commission finishes adding fish attractors to seven lakes

Grant to improve fisheries on Catawba River is used

RALEIGH -- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was scheduled to have finished installing 700 fish attractors on seven Catawba River reservoirs this week

     The Commission received a grant from the Habitat Enhancement Project (HEP), a cooperative initiate between Duke Energy, the Commission and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to "enhance, create and protect fish and wildlife" along the Catawba-Wateree basin in North and South Carolina.

     The "porcupine" fish attractors have been placed in Lake James, Lake Rhodhiss, Lake Hickory, Lookout Shoals Lake, Lake Norman, Mountain Island Reservoir and Lake Wylie.

     The Commission received assistance from several homeowners and conservation groups to assemble the attractors -- a ball-like sphere, five feet in diameter, that consists of a central receiver and PVC pipes that look like giant porcupine quills. The finished product looks much like a sea urchin. The partnering groups also helped sink the attractors, which were put in locations around the lake to add to existing fish-attractor sites, as well as create new underwater habitat for fish.