Great Lakes Salmon Initiative
6 mins ·
Another year is quickly approaching, in fact guys are already out fishing hard. East Chicago to Gary light is on fire on coho, in fact a buddy caught a 9+ lb coho, the Saginaw River is on fire on Walleye---fishing for this year is looking like a great start.
You can read this post as the Presidents Report or Rant, any way you take it is fine. I am taking the privilege to discuss some of the issues that seem to be popping up in support and against the GLSI.
The GLSI from the beginning formed to represent Lake Wide interests for stakeholders---recreational anglers, businesses, communities, manufacturers, tribes and charters. We have been accused of fighting for the interests of charters and money. Guess what? The industry runs on money, and we recognize a couple of simple facts that recreational anglers are the majority of anglers and spend most of the money in fishing and the MDNR needs money to operate and manage the fishery.
WE have been accused of fighting for Chinook to the detriment of other species--not true. We recognize that the Chinook is the economic driver of the entire industry, all species--without chinook the majority of anglers leave the fishery--want proof, look to L. Huron and over 4 million angling hours lost since the collapse of Chinook, yet they plant more Chinook there. We have fought for and worked with the MDNR to increase Chinook in L Michigan from the original planned 200,000 plants in 2017 and had that increased to 553,000 in 2018. We are forced to use Chinook equivalents to balance the predator prey relationship and cuts to Browns and Lake trout were required to get the Chinook increase.
This brings up another factual and interesting point or points! If we are use Chinook equivalencies to manage the predator prey relationship, WHY are lakers being stocked far beyond equivalency ratios. Why has the state been stocking millions? Last year if the bait situation was in such a predicament we should have followed equivalencies and only planted 660,000. The GLFC and USFWS native only agenda has been forcing the MDNR to follow this program. Anglers that want more chinook, steelhead, browns, coho should be fighting to bring laker plants in line with the predator prey equivalencies
The MDNR developed a Zonal Management strategy to move forward in management. The GLSI brought this to their attention and they adopted it. Anglers around the lake asked for a Brown Trout fishery like Wisconsin. Jay Wesley responded by going beyond GLSI plans instituting a Brown Trout Alley from Ludington to Frankfort using zonal management and science to defend this position for the betterment of an all around fishery and better use of our angling dollars. Yet, Jay and the GLSI has been criticized for it???
The GLSI has been pushing for movement of Coho through out the state from the 800,000 planted in Platte Bay. Michigan plants 82% of the coho in L. Mich. and our state anglers harvest only 16-17% of the annual lake wide catch. We are fighting for ports for equal access including the UP to receive coho for better angler access, effort and economic impact. Jay Wesley is having to fight ports, special interests and internal politics to make this happen. How is the GLSI only interested in charters or business or a few ports. Too many special interests groups have that title already---not the GLSI.
The GLSI has been educating the public about the Mussel-Laker conspiracy theory. I ask you to follow the money, who really benefits by overstocking of Lakers because mussels are destroying the lake and our bait or the plan to stock cisco in Lake Michigan---do all anglers, ports, manufacturers, mdnr, tribal commercial anglers--NO! Does the Native Only agenda interests, USFWS, GLFC-- YES. Remember Chinook, alewives, smelt bad! Lakers and believe it or not but gobies good---gobies are invasive and scientists are picking and choosing what we should except. Do you believe that if they win on eradicating alewives, smelt and Chinook they will not go after Coho or even steelhead. Chinook are being overstocked in Lake Huron in only 1 management unit that is so overstocked and full of Lakers that it is beyond the carrying capacity of the lake and Chinook are being stocked there, not for lake wide angler access but acknowledged alewife suppression---where is the science. This "science" is negatively effecting Jay Wesleys and other states dnrs ability to manage L. Michigans fishery and Randy Claramunt the Lake Huron Basin Coordinators ability to manage Lake Huron based on science. If Lake trout were stocked to be in balance with prey and all predators---what would happen to the bait---would it be in low numbers or higher to support a quality diverse fishery? Would the GLSI have to be fighting so hard to save our diverse fishery for all to benefit.
Are you going to buy the snake oil? Remember in a previous post we posted an article in a Wisconsin paper. " Imagine the Great Lakes in the 1800's"--- and the agenda to return it to that status. Number 1 we are a couple of CENTURIES beyond the 1800s and millions more beyond in population along the coasts. Number 2, impossible even if you got rid of alewives, smelt, chinook, coho there are 184 other invasive species that would need to be removed---impossible! There is science and papers written to support the fact that the diverse fishery we have in todays Gr Lakes is biologically better than the native only agenda. Another point again to consider is the FACT that in northern Lake Huron Lake Trout have exceeded rehabilitation efforts and are eating most of the 500,000 lake trout plants that are still being stocked! They are beyond the carrying capacity of the lake but stocking is still occurring. NOW for the real kicker!!! Despite this, sport angler creel limits are being cut from 3 to 2 and tribal commercial and sustenance seasons are being cut short. The current agenda is unarguably creating A FISH BOWL--LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH UNFISHERY. Please don't believe it can't happen where you fish. It has already happened in our fishery and the fact is it will happen again--maybe where you fish.
