Wiping down is always a good idea... but they are already in the major watershed in our area.
The natural current will take them downstream. So Winnipesaukee, Opechee, Winnisquam, Silver and further down are all going to be infected to some degree.
The tournament issue is more about no fish, no tournament.
Obviously tournaments that use the surrounding water bodies not connected to Winnipesuakee could go on. But over time, depending on the natural progress, it will change the dynamics in the Lakes Region.
One of the political challenges that we've endured for quite some time is the financing of Fish & Game.
In the past, if the cost of the F&G increased at, or near, inflation... but the number of new licenses outpaced that inflationary pressure... we could keep the cost of a new license down. As growth in license sales stagnate, license cost had to increase to cover the inflationary pressures. When license sales decline, then the cost has to adjust for the inflationary pressure and the loss of license sales. It creates a type of death spiral... were the increase in license costs pushes out new growth and fringe anglers that fish only occasionally - furthering the downward cycle.
The pandemic, as bad as it was, saw a boon to outdoor recreation.
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