Lake Michigan Fisheries News

October 19, 1998

TO: People interested in Great Lakes fisheries

FROM: Bill Horns, Great Lakes Specialist

SUBJECT: Great Lakes fisheries issues

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 (608.267.7857), or e-mail (william.horns@wisconsin.gov).

Salmon and trout stocking in Lake Michigan – to cut or not to cut

Biologists in all four Lake Michigan states believe that some cuts in stocking are needed to avert a salmon die-off like the one we experienced in the late 1980’s. History. The die-off of a decade ago probably occurred because the abundant salmon and trout depleted alewives. Alewives are the staff of life for chinook salmon, and we believe that, when alewives became scarce, chinook salmon growth rates slowed and the salmon became more vulnerable to bacterial kidney disease (BKD). At that time Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana made substantial cuts in the numbers of chinook salmon planted. With chinook salmon abundance reduced by BKD and stocking reductions, the alewife population seemed to recover, the prevalence of BDK declined, and chinook salmon survival improved. The concern. But increased stocking by Michigan, sustained high levels of natural reproduction by chinook salmon in Michigan streams, and improved survival of stocked fish have produced a salmon and trout population that is probably greater than the one present in Lake Michigan in 1986. We estimate that stocked salmon and trout now consume 128,000,000 pounds of forage fish annually, with chinook salmon alone taking 95,000,000 pounds. Meanwhile, surveys by the U.S. Geological Survey show that the alewife population is, again, questionable. Most of you who receive this memo will have observations of your own about trends in alewife abundance. Will the forage base hold up? Are we about to relive history? Should we make some cuts? Stocking conference and video tape. A lakewide conference dealing with this issue was held September 12, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Benton Harbor conference was video taped and I have a limited number of copies of the tape available for viewing by interested organizations. Information on the Internet. Detailed information about this issue is available on the Internet through the Wisconsin DNR’s Lake Michigan web page:

http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/lakemich/index.htm

When you reach that site, click on "Lake Michigan Stocking Conference" to see all the slides presented at the lakewide conference, along with explanatory text. Public meetings. If you want to hear more about this or express your views on it, plan to attend a public meeting in Green Bay (6-9 p.m., Nov 10, Nature Center, Wildlife Sanctuary, 1660 E. Shore Dr), Cleveland (7-10 p.m., Nov 11, Conference Dining Room, Lakeshore Technical College, 1290 North Ave), or Milwaukee (7-10 p.m. Nov 12, Great Lakes Research Facility, 600 E. Greenfield Ave).

Rules in the works

This is an update on rules related to Lake Michigan fisheries that are currently being promulgated. Smelt quotas. On October 28 the Natural Resources Board will consider adoption of reduced harvest limits for smelt caught in commercial trawls. Under the Department’s proposal the harvest limit for Lake Michigan and Green Bay would be reduced from 2,358,000 pounds to 713,340 pounds, of which no more than 251,091 pounds could be taken from Green Bay. This rule proposal was developed in response to a citizens’ petition signed by over 1500 individuals and presented to the Natural Resources Board earlier this year. The petition proposed reductions in smelt harvest limits and other changes in commercial smelt fishing regulations. The specific harvest limits now being considered are somewhat different from those suggested in the petition and the Department is not recommending that the Natural Resources Board adopt other changes proposed in the petition. Yellow perch in Lake Michigan river mouths. In June, 1998, the Natural Resources Board adopted an emergency order that made Lake Michigan yellow perch rules apply to Sauk Creek. That is, the 5-fish daily sport bag limit for yellow perch and the June sport fishing closure already in effect on Lake Michigan were made to apply to Sauk Creek as well. This addressed a local situation in which yellow perch from Lake Michigan were attracted to a warm water discharge in Sauk Creek, and were therefore vulnerable to excessive sport harvest. Now the Department is proposing to make that rule permanent and to extend it to all Lake Michigan tributaries. This rule would not apply to Green Bay. On October 28, the Natural Resources Board will be asked to approve hearings on this proposal. The hearings, if approved, would be scheduled for December. Whitefish quotas. Commercial whitefish quotas are currently being reviewed. Department biologist Paul Peeters is reviewing assessment data from 1995 through 1998 and applying that information to the computer model used to estimated harvest limits. If, at the end of that analysis, we believe that quota adjustments are needed, up or down, the Natural Resources Board will be asked in December to approve hearings. The hearings, if approved, would be scheduled for January. Spring hearings. The yellow perch rule mentioned above is an exception to the standard operating procedure under which new sport fishing rules for the Great Lakes, like inland sport fishing rule, are handled in an annual process that involves formal consultation with the Conservation Congress and culminates in the Spring Hearings. That process may result in additional sport fishing rule proposals pertaining to Lake Michigan or Lake Superior.

Yellow perch

During 1998 biologists in four states continued to monitor yellow perch reproduction throughout Lake Michigan in an effort coordinated through the inter-agency Yellow Perch Task Group. Young-of-year yellow perch were found in all states, but reproduction appeared to vary from one area to another. Very good reproduction was documented in the southeast part of the lake (Michigan and Indiana waters), but along the west shore (including Wisconsin waters) reproduction was again disappointing. In Green Bay the annual trawl index of young-of-year abundance was the sixth highest in the 21 years that Brian Belonger has been conducting the survey, but still well below the best years of the 1980’s. Despite the hopeful findings in the southeast corner and in Green Bay, restoration of good yellow perch fishing is still several years off, at best. Visit our Lake Michigan web site at the address given above for more information about yellow perch. The monitoring program summarized here supplements a larger research initiative supported by Sea Grant and involving scientists from several Universities.

Commercial Fishing Task Force

In February the Natural Resources Board approved a public involvement process to assist the Department in its review of commercial fishing regulations. That review stemmed from documented cases of large-scale illegal over harvest of commercial fish species in Lake Michigan. The Board called for the formation of a Commercial Fishing Task Force to assist the Department in that process. That Task Force, which includes legislators, sport fishers, commercial fishers, and others, has now been selected. Task Force meetings are expected to begin in October or November.