VESSEL NAME: BARNEY DEVINE

OPERATOR: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Sturgeon Bay Fisheries, Station, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
HOMEPORT: Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The annual operating season for the BARNEY DEVINE begins with an early-April to early-May lake-wide assessment of lake trout and burbot followed by a two-week assessment of juvenile lake whitefish in northern Wisconsin waters.  In September, chubs (deep-water ciscoes) and lake trout are assessed in the northern part of Wisconsin waters at Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport Deep Reef, respectively. During October, inshore and offshore lake trout spawning populations are assessed from Sturgeon Bay to Sheboygan, and lake whitefish spawning populations are sampled north of Sturgeon Bay at Cardy’s Reef. Spawning lake trout are sampled on Jacksonport Deep Reef from the last week of October to mid-November, and then the boat is moved to Milwaukee to sample yellow perch during the last week of November into the second week of December. The BARNEY DEVINE operates about 75% of the available time from April to mid-December. All assessments are done with gill nets, mainly graded-mesh (mesh sizes dependent on species) that are fished on the bottom, except that nets used for chinook salmon are many meshes deeper and fished suspended. The work on lake trout and yellow perch done with the BARNEY DEVINE in Wisconsin waters is part of lake-wide efforts involving many other agencies.

VESSEL DESCRIPTION: The BARNEY DEVINE is a Great Lakes gill-net boat designed and built in 1937 by Burger Boat of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It is steel-hulled, 50 feet long, a beam of 14.5 feet, a draft of 5.5 feet, and a displacement of 37 tons. The work deck is mostly the enclosed internal area of the boat, which is approximately 700 ft. The BARNEY DEVINE is powered by a 235 hp Cummins diesel engine that was installed in 1972. Total engine hours are approximately 10,000 with 755 hours since the last overhaul. Onboard electrical power is provided by a diesel-powered 8.5 kW Onan generator installed in 1995. Deck machinery consists of a Crossley gill-net lifter that is believed to have been installed in 1937. Pilothouse electronics includes a Simrad Robertson autopilot installed in 1999, a Simrad radar installed in 1998, a Northstar X41 GPS installed in 1991, a Garmin 210 GPS installed in 1997, a Furuno depth sounder installed in 1983, a Datamarine depth sounder installed in 1999, two Icom marine radios (I10 and I06) installed in 1993 and 1999 and a cellular phone.