TOPIC:

Great Lakes Salmon Initiative

Yesterday 10/9/2018 the LHCFAC, Lake Huron Citizens Fishery Advisory Committee met at Jays Sporting Goods in Clare. These meetings are open to the public and are very informative and the minutes from both lakes committees are posted on the mdnr website.

The meeting started out with fishing reports from advisors and public. The fishing around Lake Huron sounds solid from the record setting catches of walleye on Saginaw Bay and the increased perch catches. The spring fishing for salmon, mainly coho and atlantics in southern Huron into Lake St, Clair and the North Channel. The atlantic fishery off of Presque Isle, Oscoda and Lexington. Huge Chinook returning to Cheboygan, Rogers City and the fantastic Lake Trout throughout the system. Like Lake Michigan reports the amount of bait that was seen especially in the northern management units.

The need to implement a daily limit of 2 lake trout limit in MH-1, down from 3 starting April 2019. This is not a science based decision but has to be implemented based on quotas---allocations set in the 2000 consent decree. The trout population in Huron has met rehabilitation goals, cuts to planting have been made outside of decreed waters but 540,000 trout continue to be planted in units MH-1&2. Quotas were set based on lbs years ago when trout populations and ave size were smaller, anglers went over the allocation set and limits had to be reestablished. Same thing happened in L. Michigan in units MM1,2,3.

Report was made on the progress of the Salmon and Trout sub committee. 30K Chinook will be cut at Swan River and 90 to 100K coho will be stocked in 2019 based on Chinook Equivalencies. No decision has been made where these fish will be stocked, this decision will be made by the end of January. The Coho should provide a spring fishery in southern Huron like it does in L. Michigan and a return fishery to the planted port or ports in 2020. In 2017 coho were planted in Ludington for the 1st time and this year provided a fishery on the bank this year as they returned!!

Paul Sullivan from Canada provided a Lamprey treatment presentation of the Garden and Mississagi Rivers in northern Georgian Bay. A couple of the Canadian First Nations (tribes) are refusing treatments of lampricide in some of the rivers for the past couple of years. This will potentially undo all the progress made in Lamprey reduction and control in both L. Huron and Michigan since these animals migrate for hundreds of miles! Canadian, USFWS, MDNR and CORA (Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority) have met with First Nations and spoke out against---in support of treatment. Because of the lack of treatment the estimated predation on fish is as high as 7.2mil lbs of fish mortality this year. What are the implications on our sport fishery and decisions that will have to be made by our fisheries managers??

The fishing reports on Huron at the meeting sound so positive yet comments were made about lack of participation, even though some ports saw an increase. The state, ports, chambers of commerce need to do a better job of getting the word out. There is work being done to adjust and improve the fishery, Lake Huron like Lake Michigan is moving forward