| WEEK OF MAY 31, 1998 ----------------------> |
Orders preliminary injunction to end "assessment" |
| Kalamazoo
judge Dick Enslen has ordered an abrupt halt to expanded gill netting in
the Rogers City-Alpena area in northern Lake Huron. Based on testimony
from Michigan DNR biologists, he found the netting a violation of the 1985
agreement with the tribes and a threat to lake trout and whitefish stocks..
It is believed this is the first time the federal court has decided a tribal netting issue based on the resource. The Bay Mills tribe issued "assessment" (research) permits to six members to set 6,000 feet of gill net (36,000 feet) a day up to 55 miles south of the tribal netting zone in northern Lake Huron set by the 1985 agreement. Those six commercials were Timothy and Patrick Kinney, David and Roland Menominee, Kenneth Teeple and Gerald Jesse. The State of Michigan was able to show that it would suffer irreparable harm if an injunction forbidding a proposed assessment fishery in Lake Huron was not issued. The Court will review the issues on Aug. 7 as to whether it should continue as a permanent injunction. Enslen ruled May 11 in Kalamazoo that the tribal commercials who were placing gill nets in Lake Huron from the Hammond Bay area to Alpena in order to ?assess? the outcome, had to pull the nets and “cease and desist fishing activities pursuant to said permits." "What they were doing was beyond the '85 Agreement," said Frank Krist of the Lake Huron Task Force. "Judge Enslen felt the agreement was a good one, and that until the year 2000, it will remain the agreement." According to Krist, to make negotiations for a new agreement in 2000 even more difficult, the tribes have expressed their desire to move into Lake Huron waters from Hammond Bay to Alpena. |
Lake Huron fisheries
research chief Jim Johnson, Alpena, estimated they were killing about 1,800
lake trout daily and as much as six tons of whitefish in the nine days
they fished. The seven miles of net being set daily, Johnson pointed out,
equated to nine million feet a year.
The expanded netting was supported by USFWS biologists, who testified in court that it was research, not commercial fishing, and would not harm the fishery. They helped tribal biologists write the permits. State fisheries managers have always viewed federal sponsorship of tribal netting as a strategy to reclaim control of the Great Lakes fishery. Until the state exerted its claim to manage the fishery, by banning gill nets and introducing salmon in the ‘60s, it was controlled by the US Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. That agency was dismantled., and State courts upheld the ban on gill nets. Federal courts upheld treaty rights advocated by federal attorneys and biologists to return tribal gill nets to the lakes. State biologists were evidently able to discredit claims by federal and tribal biologists that the fishery was for assessment, not commercial, purposes. USFWS Fisheries biologist Jerry
McClain said he had concerns about the size of the Lake Huron Study, but
it wasn't up to him to notify the state. "This was not my study - a Fish
and Wildlife Service study. I was in on the design of the sampling protocol,
just in terms of what data would be collected, the scheduling and monitoring
on the boat," McClain said.
Dan Thomas |
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| Over 100 concerned people showed up at the public hearing held on May 11 in
Benzonia, for a Michigan DNR Platte River Hatchery discharge permit
proposal. Most of them were anglers in support of the permit proposal, by
some estimates the ratio was as high as 90% . Initially, about 33 statements were taken for/against the permit proposal, but according to Depart of Environmental Quality (DEQ) personnel , an additional 24 wanted to submit comments, so they held the comment period open until May 28. While a decision on the permit application by DEQ won’t be made for 1 – 2 weeks, those present felt the comments favoring the application were overwhelming. DEQ spokesmen said, as is often the case in such hearings, most of the pro/con comments offered were more of an emotional nature and little factual information was offered.. |
Even so, DNR spokesmen are confident the permit will be issued. They add,
Judge Brown knows DNR plans are now to go ahead with the proposed hatchery
renovations, which will make environmental and management improvements. The
judge has given nodding approval to those renovations. Even though Court Master Joe Fuss has resigned his position with the court effective July 1, Judge Brown has notified DNR Fish Chief Kelley Smith of court intentions to hire a new master and has asked both sides to submit new names to him. The DNR is hoping for greater input into the next master appointment.
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| The Toronto
Star reports two television fishing stars have been fined after pleading
guilty to snagging fish in the Trent River.
Henry Waszczuk and Italo Labignan, hosts of Canadian Sportfishing; broadcast weekly on TSN, were fined a total of $1,800 and will be meeting with network executives about the consequences of the convictions. The 13-year television fishing experts were each ordered to pay $800 on one count of using a hook to snag whitefish in body parts other than the mouth. Waszczuk, 47, and Labignan, 41, snagged as many as 30 fish Nov. 6, 1995, hooking them in the body so they could re-hook them in the mouth and film their retrieval, court heard. Labignan also pleaded guilty to another charge of failing to release a lake trout and was fined an additional $200.
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Rick Brace,
president of TSN, admitted the fines could hurt the integrity of fishing
shows.
Crown Attorney George Archer dropped five remaining charges against them. Another TV fishing host, Karen Monaghan, 37, of The Natural Angler (which used to air on WTN) was found guilty of snagging whitefish, then re-hooking them for camera purposes. She was also fined $800. Waszczuk, a former CFL center for the Hamilton Tiger Cats, faces two more court appearances in Burlington and in Peterborough on charges of fishing in a sanctuary and taking bass during a closed season.
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| USFWS recently
followed up on potential Ruffe sightings in Ontario waters of Lake Erie.
An experienced angler reported the sighting near Wheatley but did not keep
the fish, and the sighting could not be verified.
Fisheries managers have expressed concern as this is usually how other exotics have been found in the past. |
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| SANDUSKY, OH
- The Ohio DNR's Lake Erie fishing report is available by calling toll-free
1-888-HOOK FISH (1-888-466-5347) 24 hours a day. Callers in the local Sandusky
exchange can access the report by calling 625-3187.
The report is updated every Thursday and includes fishing information from the previous few days. |
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| The US Coast
Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) is interested in hearing from users of
the DGPS concerning any and all discrepancies or problems
encountered with the system. The NAVCEN cannot correct what they don't know. Please report all discrepancies. SUMMER 1998 DGPS SITE MAINTENANCE
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In most areas
of the Great Lakes,
DGPS coverage overlap should limit the negative impact of these necessary maintenance and equipment upgrades. Site Dates:
Downtime will commence at 0730 on respective date for 48 hours. |
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| SANDUSKY, OH
- Last year sport anglers spent an estimated 5.5 million anglers hours
fishing the Ohio waters of Lake Erie and reeled in more than 7 million
fish. Of the total catch, 1.25 million were walleyes, and over 5.5 million
were yellow perch.
This and other important information about the lake's fishery is determined from angler interviews conducted by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
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The Division
is asking the cooperation of Lake Erie sport anglers in providing catch
information again to creel survey clerks working along the lakeshore from
now through October. Interviews are conducted at public launch ramps and
private marinas.
Survey questions include location fished, and the species and numbers of fish caught. Fish from some angler catches are measured and a scale sample is collected to determine sizes and ages of fish harvested. The information is used to determine harvest information and in managing the lake's sport fishery.. |
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| Fishing participation
rates are stable to declining nationwide, and in some states, declines
have been severe.
Also, the number of anglers decreased by almost half a million between 1990 and 1996. Many reasons have been put forth as to why fishing participation has not kept up with the growth in the U.S. population and is declining in many states. At the top of many people's list: single-parent, female-headed households.. |
There's only one problem; it's not true. It's been an assumption. Four recent separate studies, in fact, indicate the opposite: that there are no statistically significant differences with regard to fishing participation between those who grew up in a single-parent household and those who grew up in a two-parent household. |
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| U. of Minn.. Sea
Grant has reprinted two popular wallet-sized cards to aid anglers in identifying
two exotic fish found in the Great Lakes, the round goby and the Eurasian
ruffe. These free cards describe why these fish are considered a problem,
how to identify them, and what anglers should do if they find them. The
water-resistant cards are small enough to fit in a tackle box, wallet,
or pocket.
"We designed these cards especially for anglers because they are often the first to find exotic fish," said Doug Jensen, Sea Grant Information Coordinator. "Wild baitfish harvesters, researchers and fishery managers should also be on the look-out." Anyone who catches a round goby or a ruffe is urged not to throw it back alive. They should kill the fish by freezing and, if they are in a location of concern indicated on the card, contact Sea Grant, a state or provincial resource mgmt. agency, or the USFWS. |
Customized cards
were printed for OH, NY, Ill, IN, MI, MN, WI, Vermont (Lake Champlain)
and Ontario. Because regulations vary, each contains a different message
on possession or transport of these exotics. Cards will be distributed
through bait shops, marinas, public events, associations, environmental
education organizations, and DNR offices.
Single cards are free. Individuals or
organizations wanting cards contact their state Sea Grant office, or DNR
agency. For more info contact :
Doug Jensen
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| The public has
until June 20, 1998, to comment on the USFWS's proposal to create the Grand
Kankakee Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in the Kankakee River watershed
in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois.
Available for comment is the Service's
draft environmental assessment , which outlines possibilities for establishing
a 30,000-acre refuge in the
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The document
provides information on impacts and benefits of such a refuge, as well
as an economic analysis of the proposed refuge.
Comments may be submitted to: USFWS, Ascertainment and Planning
For more information, contact the Service at 812-334-4261 |
 USFWS
Press Releases
Gene Bucks Fisheries SummariesSea
Grant News |
