May 4, 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 information on a variety of related topics, check out our Lake Michigan WEB page at http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/lakemich/index.htm
Green Bay yellow perch hearings. The Natural Resources Board has approved public hearings on a rule to reduce the harvest of yellow perch from Green Bay. Under the proposed rule the sport fishing daily bag limit would be reduced from 25 fish to 10, and the annual total allowable commercial harvest would be reduced from 200,000 pounds to 20,000. Public hearings are scheduled for Monday, May 21, in Peshtigo and Green Bay, as follows:
Peshtigo – 3:00 p.m., Council Chambers, Peshtigo Municipal Building, 331 French Street.
Green Bay – 6:30 p.m., Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, 1660 East Shore Drive.
I can provide you with a copy of the rule proposal. You may put your comments on the record by attending one of the public hearings, or by sending written comments directly to me.
Fish Community Objectives for Lake Superior. The Lake Superior Committee (representing Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ontario, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Agency) has drafted new Fish Community Objectives. I also have copies that I could mail to you at your request. Your comments on the draft document would be appreciated. Send them directly to me by June 1.
Importation of exotics for stocking, bait, or aquaculture. Under Wisconsin law, the Department of Natural Resources regulates the importation of non-native species for stocking, use as bait, and for aquaculture. We are now in the process of developing formal procedures for considering importation requests. Your thoughts on this issue would be appreciated.
The Department is proposing to adopt a "clean list" approach, similar to that used by Michigan and Ontario. That is, we would specify a list of non-native species that could be permitted (rainbow trout and brown trout, for example), with all other non-native species not eligible for importation. Under this policy, import permits for the eligible non-native species (those on the clean list) could be denied for certain specified reasons, but the process could be streamlined for the commonly used species, like rainbow trout.
Implementation of this policy will require a rule change (that is, an amendment to the Administrative Code), and therefore will require action by the Natural Resources Board. We expect to bring the issue to the NRB in June, at which time we will request approval of hearings on a rule to do the following: 1) Define "native fish species" to include those species known to be present in Wisconsin waters at the time of European settlement. 2) Define the "clean list", the non-native species that could be imported, subject to permit. 3) Specify criteria to be considered in requests to import the non-native species. The hearings would take place during August, at the earliest.
Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum. The Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum has been taking on a variety of issues of interest to sport and commercial fishers. For information about past and future meetings, I don’t have space to list all the issues that have been discussed, but I’ll mention a few.
Commercial rule-revisions are temporarily dead in the water. As you know the Department and the Natural Resources Board recently endorsed a package of recommendations developed by the Commercial Fishing Task Force. Central to those recommendations was a proposal to implement electronic reporting by commercial fishers. This was strongly supported by the Department, and by commercial and sport fishers on the Task Force. We believe that such a system is needed to achieve accurate, enforceable, and efficient reporting of commercial harvests. To help get the ball rolling, the Department recommended that the state budget include funding for a pilot project, which would cost around $100,000 over two years. That recommendation was deleted from the Governor’s proposed budget. Therefore, the project is temporarily stymied. Forum members support the project, and several said they would contact their legislators regarding this issue.
Steelhead bag limits. Because of poor runs of Skamania and Chambers Creek steelhead to our spawning facilities on the Kewaunee and Root Rivers in 2001, some people think that we may need to reduce the harvest. The Forum discussed the steelhead daily bag limit along with 28 other sport-fishing issues. By a 12 to 4 vote (one abstention), the Forum supported a reduction in the daily steelhead bag limit to two fish. [For a summary of Forum thinking on the other issues, check "Questionnaire Results" on the web page, or contact me.] This is advice, not a binding vote, but it means we need to consider the issue seriously. The issue of bag limits is complicated by the fact that our sport harvest is a mix of stocked fish and naturally-reproduced steelhead that spawn in Michigan streams. Incidentally, Dr. Kim Scribner of Michigan State University is conducting a genetic study of steelhead caught in all parts of Lake Michigan. His results should tell us which fish contribute to our sport harvest, and help us jointly manage these highly migratory fish, in cooperation with the other states.
Fox River clean-up and damage assessment. The Department has been involved in discussions with companies on the lower Fox River about cleaning up the river and assessing damages related to the release of PCB’s. A proposed agreement with Fort James Corporation was made available for public comment earlier this year, and the comment period has been extended to June 20. The Forum recommended in January that funds from any settlement be used to ". . . restore and protect the fisheries of Green Bay including yellow perch by any means including removal or population reduction of invasive species." For more information about the Fox River clean-up and related issues, contact Greg Hill at 608.267.9352.
Green Bay yellow perch. In February, the Forum advised against a total closure of yellow perch fishing on Green Bay, and recommended that the Department consider a 5-fish daily sport bag limit and a 100,000 pound commercial harvest limit. That recommendation was considered by the Department, which withdrew its initial proposal for a total closure of the fishery in favor of the present proposal, which will be the subject of public hearings on May 21.
White perch in Green Bay White perch have become abundant in Green Bay as yellow perch have declined. This raises two questions. Should we try to control white perch? I know that many people would like to see a major white perch removal project initiated, with the hope of helping yellow perch to recover. Department biologists are very skeptical about this. I think the following questions need to be answered before we pin our hopes on an expensive eradication program: 1) Is there good evidence that white perch are limiting yellow perch reproduction, growth, or survival in Green Bay? It is possible, because white perch will eat young yellow perch, but so do walleyes, cormorants, and other predators, including older yellow perch. I know that white perch have gone up while yellow perch were going down, but other changes have been happening at the same time in Green Bay: cormorants have proliferated, zebra mussels have multiplied and now blanket the lake bottom in some areas, water clarity has increased noticeably, and water levels have dropped. 2) Do we know that white perch can be removed in significant numbers without harming the remaining yellow perch, walleyes, and other valued fish? Why not let commercial fishers harvest white perch? Under existing rules, white perch from Green Bay may be harvested commercially, but high PCB levels make the fish unmarketable. Measurements made in the mid 1990’s showed that PCB levels in white perch flesh exceeded the FDA minimum for commercial sale. We hope to update our data, and we will look specifically for evidence that smaller white perch from some areas of the Bay, or harvested in certain seasons, meet the FDA standard.