November, 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 http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/lakemich/index.htm, our Lake Michigan WEB page.
Trouble at Wild Rose. Failure of a well at Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery is forcing us to scramble a little to meet our chinook salmon production goal for stocking in Lake Michigan in 2002. Wild Rose, our primary chinook production facility, normally produces 1,123,000 fingerling chinooks every spring, but the well problem will put us 200,000 fish short of that production target, and has required us to make space at other state hatcheries. We may have to ask other states for help, so preliminary contacts have been made with Michigan. We are confident that, if we cannot meet our own chinook production needs this year, we can fill the gap with fish reared in Michigan and trucked to our stocking sites. There is no easy fix to the problem; Wild Rose is an integrated system of artesian wells and it is impossible to repair or replace one well without disrupting other portions of the system needed for producing fish. Preliminary estimates place the cost of complete renovation of Wild Rose at $6.5 million. Wild Rose is one facility in a statewide system of 14 hatcheries and 3 spawning facilities, most of which are 50-100 years old. The Department is preparing a report to the Legislative Audit Bureau describing the needs of our statewide fish production system. If you have questions, contact Al Kaas, our Statewide Fish Propagation Coordinator (608.267.7865 or Al Kaas).
Green Bay yellow perch harvest limits will continue, but with a sunset clause. Last June, the Natural Resources Board adopted a temporary emergency rule for Green Bay, reducing the daily sport fishing bag limit to 10 and reducing the annual commercial fishing harvest limit to 20,000 pounds. Now the NRB has adopted a rule extending those harvest reductions for an additional two years. The new rule will have to undergo legislative review before it takes effect. The Department had recommended that the sport and commercial harvest restrictions be continued indefinitely, but at the request of State Representative John Gard the NRB inserted a sunset clause. Department assessment trawling at 78 locations in Green Bay, together with commercial fishing reports, creel survey results, and biological data from yellow perch caught by sport and commercial fishers, shows that the yellow perch population remains low. Green Bay’s yellow perch population has declined over 90% in the past decade because of a series of years of poor natural reproduction. Fish spawned in 1998, the only reasonably good year of natural reproduction since 1991, now make up 90% of the sport and commercial harvest.
Lake Superior lake trout quotas to be increased slightly. Lake trout harvest limits on Lake Superior are subject to a negotiated agreement with the Red Cliff and Bad River Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Under terms of the Lake Superior State-Tribal Agreement, the total allowable harvest by sport fishers, tribal commercial fishers, and state-licensed commercial fishers, as well as the allocation of the harvest among the parties, is reviewed periodically. Department staff recently met with representatives of Red Cliff and Bad River, and agreed to some changes in the Agreement that will result in modest increases in commercial lake trout harvest limits, subject to adoption by the Natural Resources Board and legislative review. For additional information, contact Steve Schram, our biologist in Bayfield (715.779.4035 ext 12 or Stephen.Schram@wisconsin.gov).
The Orienta Dam is gone. The Orienta Dam on the Iron River, a tributary to Lake Superior has been removed. It will be replaced by a low barrier dam that will block sea lamprey from spawning in the Iron River above the old dam site. The sea lamprey barrier will also block salmon and trout from gaining access to the upper river. Passage by salmon and trout is blocked in order protect stream-resident trout populations and to prevent migratory salmon or trout from transporting disease organisms to the vicinity of the Iron River National Fish Hatchery, which produces lake trout for stocking in the Great Lakes. If, after a public participation process, the decision is made to manage the Iron River system for migratory salmon or trout, the barrier can be modified to allow upstream fish passage. For additional information, contact Mike Keniry, Lake Superior Basin Subteam Leader in Bayfield (715-779-4035 ext 11 or Michael.Keniry@wisconsin.gov).
Commercial fishing rule change proposals for Lake Michigan. The Department is considering some rule changes pertaining to commercial trap netting for whitefish on Lake Michigan. Hearings will be held on a rule that would increase the maximum depth for whitefish trap nets from 90 feet to 150 feet and allow whitefish trap nets to be set in Whitefish Bay. The hearings are scheduled for November 15, as follows:
1:00 p.m. -- Room A324, Door County Courthouse, 421 Nebraska Street, Sturgeon Bay and
4:30 p.m. -- Room 106, Sheboygan County Job Center, 3620 Wilgus Avenue, Sheboygan.
Exotic species. They keep on coming, and that will continue until the ballast dumping problem is solved. For example, we now have tubenose gobies in Lake Superior and a new species of mussel in Lake Michigan. But what we know about may be the least of it.
So,what’s up with the Department? The Department has drafted a plan, and your comments are wanted. The draft plan is entitled, Wisconsin’s Comprehensive Management Plan to Prevent Further Introductions and Control Existing Populations of Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Species. You can obtain a copy of the draft plan by contacting Ron Martin at (608-266-9270 or ronald.martin@wisconsin.gov). Please have a look at this and send your comments to Ron by the end of November.
What’s up with EPA? You may recall that in 1999 representatives of the California Assembly, the Chippewa-Ottawa Treaty Fishery Management Authority, and environmental advocacy groups sent a petition to the Administrator of EPA requesting that EPA regulate the discharge of ballast water from ships using authority provided by the Clean Water Act. In response, the EPA initiated a Ballast Water Study and has now issued a draft Ballast Water Report to "generate public discussion on this matter. The public comment period ends January 11, 2002.