Below is a post on our club forum about an event the Summerville Saltwater Anglers did this Saturday. Shortly after founding the club, the Board of Directors made a decision to adopt the Ashley River. In 2011 and 2012 we, as a club, have added to an oyster reef in the lower Ashley that we plan to continue to build every year. This year, in addition, we decided to do something for the Upper Ashley - a very beautiful and historic place - and sadly, as you will see, very littered. Due to the success of this event, we will make this an annual event and in time, I hope that we can make a real impact. I’m sure you all share our hatred of trash in our pristine, historic waterways. As you can see, we had many families helping, women, men, young & old. Being part of a fishing club is great, we all have become better fisher-people as a result, but I’m most proud of these events, and our yearly fund raisers for the Dorchester Children in Crisis - these are what REALLY matter!
Thanks for the good work guys… but the sad thing is, the problem can’t be stopped until the source of the trash is eliminated… You could take truckloads like that out weekly.
I live on the river (upstream from the ramp) and have to clean up around my dock constantly. The trash comes from somewhere upstream and gets washed into the river after every major rainstorm. The trash is typcially older looking - like it sat in the swamp for a few months… I think it comes from I-26 and the canals in Summerville/Ladson areas. I think the swamp up by Summerville Airport and I-26 is just full of road litter - litter that takes a few months to wash down into the tidal part of the river.
That plus all the garbage that comes out of the Sawmill branch…
Jughead that is interesting. Something just doesn’t add up with this problem in my humble little brain. Its just too isolated to me to make sense. If we had a problem as a “Charleston” community it would be more widespread. That’s weighed on me since Saturday. How, why and what to do next.
Great work by great peeps, though. Thanks Opti for your efforts in organizing the effort and to all the members who pitched in to help. I concur - we’ve achieved a lot as a “fishing” club in a short amount of time. Heck we’ve even fished a time or two! LOL! Events like this, our oyster planting, DCC, and more keep fishing and a whole lot more in perspective.
Always a good youth turnout, also, which bodes well for tomorrow’s waters.
I also found that interesting, jughed. One part of finding a solution is to identify the problem, and clearly we have a problem. Sadly, there is easily another truckload of trash that we simply ran out of time and resources to get, and probably much more than that. Maybe this awareness can go toward finding the true source of the litter if it is, indeed, something getting into the river in the form of runoff. To fix this will take a larger effort than our club can do alone. Thanks everyone for your comments.
Let me/us know next time in advance… part of the club or not (and I keep meaning to join…), I am happy to help clean up the river at any time.
Sad part is - I’ve given in to the fact that the trash is simply a fact of life. What you guys saw was the result of a long and fairly dry spell. The trash seems to build up and move up and down river with the tidal flow. A mild rainstorm will send it down river - where it simply gets caught in the tide cycles. If we have hard rain for a few days - like last spring - the river will rise 2-3ft above normal high tide lines and there will be no tide cycle for up to a week, just outgoing current with no level change - and it can move 6+knots. Screaming out and blowing all the trash down river towards Middleton. Then the river remains clean for a few months, until the next cycle of heavy rain.
Perhaps as important as the trash that was picked up and hauled away was the example that was set. When people hear about this type of event, they are more apt to contribute to this event (or another similar one) in the future. Good job!
13ft Whaler with 25hp Johnson
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
You always here of “environmental impact” studies being done ahead of projects (roads, bridges, etc). I always imagined that as what the actual physical structure does to impact things, not necessarily its residue. For reasons previously stated, your theory interests me jughead (and yes, you should come visit a meeting - and bring a neighbor).
Its a problem, and there’s a source. Finding the source is part of the solution me thinks. If ridiculous amounts of waste in one particular river was the result of user abuse (partying, etc), I think abuse of this magnitude would be legendary. Kind of like when Morris Island was getting a bit out of control. Word got out and it was curtailed somewhat. You just don’t hear about it on the Ashley - at least I haven’t.
