June 4, 2001

 Minnesota Sets New Perch Limits 

The MN DNR Commission has notified lawmakers that the DNR is proposing to protect yellow perch from over harvest by lowering the possession bag limit from 50 to 40, while retaining the daily bag limit at 20.
    DNR data show that the number of large perch is declining on several major lakes. The agency has been proposing lower limits, especially on Lake Winnibigoshish, in response to intense fishing pressure that threatens to harm the long-term health of perch populations - and undermine the resorts, businesses and recreation that depend on them. In recent years on Lake Winnibigoshish, two out of three yellow perch 9" or larger (67%) are harvested 

by anglers each year - a rate that can't be sustained 

without harming the fishery. Biologists say large perch harvest rate should not exceed 38%.     

    Last year the Legislature approved, for just one year, a reduction in the daily perch bag limits from 100 to 20 and in the possession bag limit from 100 to

50. According to Ron Payer, DNR Fisheries Division director, "That reduction, along with other factors, has decreased angling hours and harvest numbers on Lake Winnibigoshish, but the harvest of large perch is still too high. At the rate it's going, the average size of perch will continue to decline, and we don't want that to happen on Winni or on any lake."
The DNR's proposal would go into effect Dec. 1, 2001. The daily limit would remain unchanged.

WINDSOR, Ont. - Greater outbreaks of toxic algae are predicted for Lake Erie’s western basin as zebra mussels continue to colonize the lake bottom and water temperatures continue to rise. Boating will become more difficult, if predictions about the region’s climate are true. And the sport fishing industry could be in danger unless walleye declines are reversed.
    Those issues were among many that experts discussed last month at the University of Windsor during the first day of a conference called "Lake Erie in the Millennium." The event, attended by 130 researchers from the US and Canada, is a follow-up to a binational symposium in 1999.
     Dr. David Culver, Ohio State U. zoology professor, said western Lake Erie - the warmest and shallowest part of the Great Lakes - is likely to see 

annual outbreaks of a blue-green toxic algae known

as microcystis for many summers. The ammonia and phosphorus that zebra mussels excrete into the water column cause the problem. "The nutrients are embedded in lake sediment. Zebra mussels dominate the lake bottom, covering 21% of the surface and gaining ground each year," Dr. Culver said. But he said the lake probably has seen all the benefit it will from them in terms of clarifying the water. There are so many mussels, they seem to be the main reason the lake’s phosphorus level increased each year since 1995. Algal blooms are expected to get worse as the mussel population expands and the region’s climate continues to warm.
    Warmer air, especially during winter, will nudge up the water temperature, increasing the evaporation rate and competition for food among fish.

New  technology may allow for a ruffe study utilizing tiny radio transmitters. These transmitters weighing just 0.8 grams (that's .03 oz.) that have a life expectancy of 14 days could be carried by a ruffe weighing as little as 40 grams. Although the transmitter life is short, the study could provide some movement information during spring spawning, summer activity, fall migration, and hypothesized migration between tributary estuaries and Lake Superior.
    To test the ability of a ruffe to survive following implantation, USFWS scientist Gary Czypinski plans to implant dummy transmitters into several ruffe specimens and place them in a trap or aquarium for at least 24 hours. If survival is adequate, Ashland Fisheries office (FRO) may plan a ruffe telemetry study for 2002.

Fisheries experts from a wide variety of backgrounds agree significant changes and clarifications about funding, focus and management are needed to strengthen the USFWS National Fish Hatchery System. This unprecedented consensus within the fisheries community was reached after a year-long effort by the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council (SFBPC).
    The Council's recently released report, "Saving A System in Peril," was created by a 23-person steering committee comprised of fisheries professionals from diverse organizations as BASS, Pure Fishing, American Sportfishing Association,
Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, and state and federal agencies.
    "Although there have been previous efforts to coalesce stakeholders' views about the National Fish Hatchery System, none has been as inclusive nor as consensus-driven as this effort by the Council," said FWS Acting Director Marshall Jones.  "The report is a critical document that will be used as the Service creates a strategic plan for the system."
    The Council's involvement in the project stemmed from a May 1999 letter from 10 members of the U.S. Congress who asked the Service to "convene a diverse committee that includes a broad spectrum of views regarding the hatchery system's future role...." In August 1999, the Service requested that the Council "build consensus among natural resource stakeholders to provide recommendations to assist in the development of the Service's National Fish Hatchery System strategic plan." Jones said the Council will be invited to continue to advise the Service as the strategic plan is developed.
    The National Fish Hatchery System, comprised of 70 national fish hatcheries, seven fish technology centers, and nine fish health centers, has serious problems. Funding for hatchery maintenance and operations dropped 15 percent in constant dollars since 1992; the system has more than a $280-million maintenance backlog; and one  in four hatchery personnel  positions is vacant. This erosion of support has left the system incapable of keeping pace with rapid evolutionary changes in fisheries science and technology.

    In its report, the Council acknowledges the National Fish Hatchery System's roles in meeting federal mitigation obligations, restoring and maintaining native fisheries, and participating in the recovery of threatened and endangered aquatic species.  The report also states that the system is uniquely positioned to influence and benefit state and tribal fishery programs, fulfill tribal trust responsibilities, and provide technical assistance to private aquaculture.  The report notes that the overriding considerations for fisheries conservation and management are:

*   Maintenance of healthy, wild fish populations through habitat
conservation and improved harvest management.

*   Maintenance of genetic diversity.

*   Proper use of hatchery stocks in achieving fishery management
objectives.

In addition, the report emphasizes the need for the Service to create a national strategy not only for the hatchery system but for its entire fisheries program. "It is essential that the FWS move aggressively to ensure that the National Fish Hatchery System and the products it produces fit within a publicly reviewed national strategy developed with state and tribal partners and stakeholders," the report states. "The FWS must commit to implementing the plan it produces, and the FWS, the  administration and Congress must be prepared to fund adequately the activities outlined by this plan."
        To obtain a copy of "Saving A System in Peril: A Special Report on the National Fish Hatchery System by the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council's National Fish Hatchery Project Steering Committee" go to  SFBPC's Website at  http://sfbpc.fws.gov  or call 703-358-1711.

Commercial Fishermen pressuring Ontario's Resources Minister

Commercial fishermen are up to their old trick of putting political pressure on the Ontario Government to change to new walleye and perch quotas.  Ontario's commercials  plying the Lake Erie fishery have convinced Mr. John Snobelen,  Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources to review unreasonable catch limits, established earlier this year by the Lake Erie Committee.

    The committee operates by consensus under the jurisdiction of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, 

which was formed by treaty between the United States and Canada.  Ontario and the Great Lakes States are signatory to the treaty.   

    Commercials say the new quotas will put financial strains on them, resulting in the loss of business and jobs. Lake Erie's commercial fishing industry has convinced Ontario Natural Resources Minister John Snobelen to review the cuts to this year's harvest quotas. If the province doesn't reconsider the science that led to this year's cuts and move to ease them, some commercials are threatening to go to court.
    "It's been discussed -- it's not out of the realm of possibility. Right now, we're taking the political avenue," says Steve Getty, president of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association. Getty and other representatives met last month with Snobelen, who has promised to report back before the end of May.