May 10, 2015 3 min read

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission biologists confirmed the first case of cancer in smallmouth bass caught in the Susquehanna River.

Commission biologists observed sores and lesions on many smallmouth bass in surveys of the river since 2005, but this is the first confirmed cancer.

Because of suspicions of cancerous tumors in the fish, the commission had catch-and-release rules already in place in the section of the river where the fish was caught.

The commission will renew its request for the Department of Environmental Protection to add the Susquehanna to the list of impaired rivers.

Cancerous growths and tumors on fish are extremely rare, but they do occur. This is the only documented case of this type of tumor being found on smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania. The finding was confirmed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at Michigan State University.

Commission biologists observed more than 22,000 adult smallmouths since 2005 as part of routine surveys in the Susquehanna River basin and have not documented any fish with obvious signs of tumors. They did, however, continue to find sores and lesions on young-of-year bass during late spring and early summer surveys at alarming rates.

“There is no evidence that carcinomas in fish present any health hazard to humans,” said Dr. Karen Murphy, acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, “However, people should avoid consuming fish that have visible signs of sores and lesions.”

Water quality is obviously the first thing the commission will look at when studying this problem. And while many of the state’s waterways are much cleaner than they were a couple of decades ago, there’s still plenty of work to do.

• If you’ve wanted to target shoot with an automatic weapon but don’t want to purchase one, there’s a business in Washington County that will give you an opportunity.

Washington County Guns and Suppressors in West Alexander now offers machine gun and automatic rifle rentals for its shooting range.

On May 23, it is offering shooters a chance to test all 30 of its models, which include a Thompon M1A1 (Tommy Gun), M60, a number of different M16 models and an AK47.

About 30 people are signed up for the event, but about 10 tickets remain.

Owner Tredd Barton said Washington County Guns and Suppressors has been in business for about 2 1/2 years but expanded to the point that it has an inventory that allows shooters to test out a number of different guns.

“We really didn’t publicize it too much before because we didn’t have the inventory,” said Barton. “Now, we have so many guns that people can come out and shoot four or five times and never shoot the same gun.”

For more information about the special shooting event or if you’d like to schedule a regular shoot, call 724-249-5112 or visit washingtoncountyguns.com.

• The Meadowlands Sportsmen’s Club is getting into the business of hosting a kid’s fishing derby.

The club, which is located below Dutch Fork Lake, will hold its first fishing contest for kids 15-under from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 16.

As part of the event, the club will stock 500 trout in Dutch Fork Creek below the dam on Friday.

Outdoors Editor F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.