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Lake Michigan States Agree To Stocking Reductions
Chinook Salmon plantings to be cut 27%
ELMHURST, IL - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have agreed to a 27 percent
reduction in the number of chinook salmon to be stocked in Lake Michigan next year as part
of a major effort to maintain a sustainable Great Lakes fishery. Additionally, the MDNR plans
a 20 percent reduction in Lake Huron chinook stock next year.
In 1998, state agencies stocked 6 million chinook fingerlings in Lake Michigan. Next year, the
agencies will stock 4.4 million - a 1.6 million reduction. The MDNR stocked 3.6 million
chinook fingerlings in Lake Huron in 1998, and that figure will be reduced to 2.9 million in
1999 - a 700,000 reduction.
Fisheries biologists managing Lakes Michigan and Huron agree the action is necessary
because food supply is limited for existing trout and salmon populations, says Kelley Smith,
Fisheries Division Chief for the MDNR. "This is a critical juncture for the management of
Lakes Michigan and Huron," Smith says. "We know we can boom and bust fish populations
by stocking, especially chinook salmon. We now must design and implement appropriate
management strategies that create a sustainable, diverse sport fishery into the future."
The decline of once abundant alewives has raised concerns about a possible crash in the
salmon fishery because of a lack of food. Those concerns are coupled with the all too familiar
threat of the return of BKD, which devastated the chinook fishery in the 1980s.
"Indications are that Lakes Michigan and Huron may be exceeding their salmonid carrying
capacity, and without immediate action a collapse is not out of the question," Smith states.
"Our goal is to find a balance that ensures enough food for trout and salmon and avoids a
repeat crash of the chinook fishery."
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MDNR stocks the most chinook in Lake Michigan and will take the biggest cut. Illinois,
Indiana, and Wisconsin previously reduced the number of chinook they stock, and the three
combined will reduce chinook stocking by 400,000 in 1999. Wisconsin will reduce its
stocking efforts from 1.7 to 1.4 million, Illinois from 495,000 to 419,000, and Indiana from
360,000 fish to 304,000.
The stocking cuts will be spread across all ports on Lake Michigan. Net penning of smolts will
continue at sites where they were in operation in 1998. Smith says Michigan will continue to
review and assess the stocking plan and continue to discuss future stocking policies with
interested parties. Smith says. "The process in this instance worked, and I believe this bodes
well for the success of other management initiatives in addition to providing long-term
protection and sustainability for the fisheries in the Great Lakes Basin."
Over the 30-year period since coho and chinook were first introduced into the Great Lakes
Basin, research shows the number of trout and salmon have increased significantly while the
amount of food has declined proportionately, particularly during the past decade.
"Officials say managing Lakes Michigan and Huron requires a broader, ecological approach
rather than the traditional single species management practices. Fisheries managers in the Great
Lakes Basin are beginning to utilize adaptive management techniques that require current
management decisions be re-evaluated and altered whenever the research suggests significant
changes," Smith says. "We will continue to monitor, assess and adapt using the best science
available."
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| Extensive studies show cormorants impacting smallmouth bass in Lake Ontario
The series continues.
ALBANY - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Comm. John P.
Cahill announced Dec. 18, 1998 that a group of studies has demonstrated cormorants are
significantly affecting smallmouth bass populations in Lake Ontario's eastern basin.
"These studies show that cormorants are having a significant impact on warm-water fish
populations, particularly smallmouth bass," Commissioner Cahill said. "It is now clear that
some type of management action will be needed to reduce the cormorants impact on fish
populations. DEC now will work with the federal government to determine what size the
optimal cormorant population is, and the best method for reaching that goal."
In response to public concern about the declining smallmouth bass fishery, DEC undertook 11
different studies in 1998 to determine the influence cormorants may have had on fish
populations in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. The studies were conducted jointly by DEC
staff and scientists from the USGS Biological Resources Division.
The studies sought to evaluate the status of the smallmouth bass population and examine issues
such as general ecosystem changes, the effects of walleye predation on smallmouth bass, and
the size, age and type of fish eaten by cormorants. The studies analyzed the stomach contents
of cormorants, the age structure of fish populations, and related aspects of the ecosystem that
may influence smallmouth bass populations.
Important findings of the studies include:
- Double-crested cormorants consumed an estimated 87.5 million fish from eastern Lake
Ontario in 1998, including 23,6 million alewives, 25.8 million three-spine stickle-backs, 15.8
million yellow perch and 1.3 million smallmouth bass.
- There has been a significant decline in warmwater fish populations in the eastern Lake
Ontario basin over the last two decades.
- During the last four years, the smallmouth bass population in the eastern basin of Lake
Ontario has fallen to an historic low.
The studies are an obvious embarrassment to USFWS - both the Washington and regional
offices - who has long maintained the cormorant does not represent a significant threat to the
recreational fish populations of this country.
The average total length of smallmouth bass consumed by cormorants in 1993-1994 was 10.1
inches and the average age was 4.4 years. In 1998, the average length of smallmouth bass
consumed was 7.9 inches and the average age was 3.3 years. These changes reflect the
proportional distribution of sizes and ages in the smallmouth bass population during those
periods. Yellow perch ages 2 to 4 were preyed upon by cormorants in 1998.
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- Smallmouth bass make up only 1 1/2 percent of cormorants' diet, but cormorants do eat
bass as large as 12 inches in length.
- Throughout the Great Lakes, nutrient input has declined as a result of pollution controls,
water clarity has improved and overall biological productivity has declined. Although other
areas of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie have been subject to the same environmental factors,
small-mouth bass stocks are thriving in areas not subject to intense cormorant predation.
- Beginning in 1989, mortality of smallmouth bass ages 3 - 6 in eastern Lake Ontario increased
significantly as cormorant populations grew. The relationship between the relative mortality of
smallmouth bass ages 3 to 6 and the numbers of nesting pairs of cormorants on Little Galloo
island during the period 1976 to 1994 is highly significant.
- Cormorants are opportunistic feeders. As the lake's alewife populations declined,
cormorants were forced to concentrate on warmwater fish such as smallmouth bass.
As a result of these findings, DEC now will seek to determine the optimal cormorant
population level and the best means of reaching that goal. DEC hopes to identify an
appropriate course of action by spring 1999.
"It is important for this process to continue to be guided by science," Cahill said. "We need to
find an ecologically and economically sound balance in the cormorant and fish populations.
The warmwater fishery of eastern Lake Ontario is an important part of the local economy. We
can find an appropriate balance that best serves the fish, the fishing community, and the
cormorants."
In the near future, DEC will meet with the OMNR, the USFWS and the USDA to review the
findings and discuss possible management options. In addition, DEC will hold a series of
public meetings before recommending a particular course of action.
Double-crested cormorants began nesting on Lake Ontario around 1945. Their population
level fell dramatically as a result of organochlorine pesticides such as DDT. After DDT was
banned, their populations began to rebound in the 1970s. Today, there are approximately
12,000 breeding pairs in New York State, of which 7,500 nest on Little Galloo Island in the
eastern basin of Lake Ontario.
A summary of the 11 studies is available from DEC's Bureau of Fisheries at 518-
457-5690. The full report of the studies is being reviewed and will be available to the public in
the near future.
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A Chicago lakefront reef by spring?
If all goes according to plans, Chicago could have its first artificial reef in Lake Michigan by
next spring.
Enough clean rubble is in storage, and a contractor has promised to loan heavy equipment. All
that is now needed is public or private funding to haul the rubble a mile and a half off 57th
Street on barges. Fish Chief Mike Conlin said "4,500 tons of rubble is being donated by
Beckstein Construction Co., far more than the 3,000 tons needed for the first reef."
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Conlin says this rubble will pass federal inspection, permitting it to be dumped into the lake.
"If we could get it moved and dumped for us, this whole thing could happen by next spring,"
Conlin said. Conlin also is confident Pilot Reef, as it will be called, will produce such good
results that a network of reefs will result off Chicago.
Conlin said the DNR has obtained a 225,000 dollar federal Dingell-Johnson grant to study
fisheries enhancement on the new reef and its environs for three years. "We'll learn a lot
from this reef," Conlin said. "And then we'll go from there."
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Minn. to scale back derbies
The Minnesota DNR is considering scaling back the number of fishing contests in the state,
responding to complaints about hordes of boats and anglers descending upon some popular
lakes.
Last year, the DNR issued 278 permits for contests, and dozens of other contests were held
that didn't require permits. A decade ago, half as many permits were issued. Contests
take place on some popular lakes, such as Lake Minnetonka, nearly every weekend.
"We've gotten literally hundreds of comments just in our central office in the past couple
of years," said Steve Hirsh, of the DNR's fisheries division.
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The agency has been talking to anglers, fishing groups and tournament officials for months and
plans to ask the Legislature to restrict the number of tournaments. The DNR proposal would
require more tournaments to have permits and limit the number of permits available. Permits
are now necessary only if the entry fee is more than $10 or prizes total more than 2,000
dollars.
Contests would also be restricted based on the size of the lake and the size of the tournament.
That means that some tournaments could be forced to go to lesser-used lakes, Hirsh said.
"You will decrease tournaments on heavily used lakes, which is our concern," he said.
The proposal would have to be approved by Governor Jesse Ventura before being pitched to
the Legislature.
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