July, 2001
TO: People interested in Great Lakes fisheries
FROM: Bill Horns, Great Lakes Fisheries Specialist
This is an update on some of the issues facing us on the Great Lakes. If you have questions or comments about the topics discussed here or any other issues related to Great Lakes fisheries, contact me by phone (608.266.8782), FAX (608.266.2244), or e-mail (william.horns@wisconsin.gov). For additional information, visit our Lake Michigan WEB page: http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/lakemich/index.htm.
Budget bill provisions related to Great Lakes fisheries. The Senate/Assembly Conference Committee has completed its work, and has submitted a budget bill for Governor McCallum’s consideration. For details, visit http://www.legis.state.wi.us/spotlight/spotl.html. The budget bill sets the biennial operating budgets for all departments of state government, including the DNR, and also includes a wide variety of non-budgetary provisions. T You can review the budget bill at the following web site: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/spotlight/spotl.html. The Governor will consider the advice of Secretary Bazzell and others, and will then approve or eliminate individual provisions of the bill. Three provisions of the budget bill are specifically related to Great Lakes fisheries. If you have questions about any of these provisions, let me know. Commercial fishing reporting system. Last year, the Commercial Fishing Task Force recommended the establishment of a system of electronic reporting of commercial catches. To help make that happen, the DNR requested funding to conduct a pilot project to test an electronic reporting system. The current budget bill includes $104,500 for this purpose. Brook trout. In cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bad River and Red Cliff Tribes, Trout Unlimited, and others, the DNR is developing a brook trout management plan for our waters of Lake Superior and its tributaries. The current budget bill would provide $170,000 from tribal gaming revenues for the study and reintroduction of those brook trout, known as coasters, that spend all or part of their lives in the open lake. Commercial fishing licenses and fees. The budget bill would allow each Green Bay commercial fisher to retain his or her license for one period of up to seven years without fishing and without paying the commercial fishing license fee. During that period the fisher would be exempt from the minimum-catch requirement established by the Department.
Legislation related to ballast water dumping. The dumping of ballast water by ocean-going vessels is the primary route by which exotic species enter the Great Lakes. Ballast water brought us zebra mussels, gobies, the fish-hook water flea, and dozens of other unwanted species. In recent years, increasing attention has been given to legislative remedies for the problem. Wisconsin legislation. In June, Representative Scott Gunderson introduced Assembly Bill 437 to address the problem. Subsequently, the Michigan legislature adopted a bill (SB 152) in this area. Their bill would require the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to identify safe methods that can, or could in the future, be used by all ocean-going vessels to prevent the introduction of aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes. The Michigan bill provides further that once such methods are identified, the MDEQ may not provide grants loans or awards to Michigan industries that directly do business with ships that do not use the identified methods to prevent the introduction of aquatic nuisance species. Representative Gunderson is now planning to introduce legislation in Wisconsin that is patterned on the Michigan legislation. Federal legislation. The issue is also being addressed through federal legislation. Two bills (H.R. 1680 and S. 1034) attempt to assure that "to the maximum extent practicable", vessels entering the Great Lakes do not spread aquatic nuisance species through the discharge of ballast water. The two bills would also require that ballast water and sediments in ballast compartments be treated with the "most effective and efficient techniques available" to remove or destroy aquatic nuisance species. The Senate bill (S. 1034) is co-sponsored by Wisconsin Senatore Kohl and Feingold.
Importation of exotics for stocking, bait, and aquaculture. Delayed action. In my last memo, I mentioned that the Department was planning to advance a rule to clarify the process for permitting or denying requests to import non-native fish species for stocking, for use as bait, or for aquaculture. Under present law, non-native fish species may not be imported with out a permit issued by the Department, but we need to clarify exactly how importation requests will be handled. My earlier memo stated that we would bring a proposed rule to the Natural Resources Board in June, for approval of hearings, which would then have been held in August, but the rule-making process has been postponed until after a meeting of the Aquaculture Industry Working Group.
Green Bay yellow perch. Rule making. In June, the Natural Resources Board approved an emergency order (rule) reducing the harvest of yellow perch from Green Bay. Under that order, which took effect July 1, the sport fishing daily bag limit was reduced from 25 fish to 10 and the annual allowable commercial harvest was lowered from 200,000 pounds to 20,000. The emergency order is identical to the proposed permanent order that was the subject of public hearings in Peshtigo and Green Bay in May. The emergency order remains in effect for 150 days, and may be extended twice for 60 days at a time. It gives us time to obtain and review more data before making a final decision on the permanent order. In particular, we will be able to complete our 2001 summer yellow perch population assessment trawling before acting on the permanent order. The Department’s options will include a) advancing the order as drafted, b) dropping it entirely, c) advancing it with lower harvest limits, and d) advancing it with higher harvest limits. Public hearing. Even though hearings have already been held on the identical permanent order, a public hearing on the emergency order is required by law. It will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, August 13, 2001, at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, 1660 East Shore Drive, Green Bay. You can put your views on the hearing record without attending the hearing by sending written comments directly to me. If received by August 14, they will be made part of the hearing record. Got a better idea? During the public hearings in May a number of possible management actions were suggested to help restore yellow perch. These included controlling white perch abundance, killing cormorants, and limiting the stocking of predators, including walleyes and brown trout. We are working with the Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum to arrange one or more public workshops at which possible solutions to the yellow perch decline can be discussed. Department biologists, outside experts with experience managing yellow perch in Lake Erie and elsewhere, and interested members of the public will participate. Details have not been specified yet, but I will keep you informed about plans for these workshops as they develop.