TOPIC:

I'm a journalist writing about lake health on the South End and would love to hear perspectives from the people who fish there. A few questions:
- How, if at all, does industrial pollution impact your fishing?
- Are there some fish which are more susceptible to pollution?
- Do you monitor water quality to decide how and when to fish? Which resources are most useful for determining lake health?

Please comment if you have thoughts or want to share your story.

Hey Guys - please chime in if you can. Becca contacted us on FB and I suggested she put a post up here so she could get a wealth of responses and diverse information.

Thanks!

There have been no responses, so I will speak my opinion, which I believe is the majority opinion. Feel free to object - that is the purpose and will be useful.

1) I dont believe industrial pollution effects our fishing. (less the USS Hexavalant Chrome issues which localized impacts are currently unknown)
2) While I am sure there are some fish that are more susceptible to pollution than others, it does not seem to be an issue. LM has less pollution now versus the past.
3) There are currently no pollution / water quality issues that ever affect our fishing.

It would be difficult to quantify the effects of pullution on the catch rates of Lake Michigan fish. Would the fishery change in the abscense of industrial pollution?

I do not know, but what can be quantified is the effect of pollution on our health. Following the general consumption advisories for salmon for healthy individuals, we are limited to one 8 ounce meal a month. That’s only 6 pounds of fish fillets a year. For individuals that fall into the “sensitive” category, that State of Indiana categorizes all salmonoids into the Do Not Eat category.

Albeit heavy concentrations of PCB’s do not necessarily effect the ability to catch fish, it is still a fact that pollution does impact this fishery in specific ways.