TOPIC:

Great Lakes Salmon Initiative
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Wednesday evening in Traverse City there was a meeting held by the MDNR to discuss the over harvest of Lake Trout in Grand Traverse Bay of management unit MM-4.

In the 2000 Consent Decree allocations of Lake Trout in Decreed waters in Lakes Michigan and Huron are split between the tribes and state licensed anglers. Each management unit has a different percentage of allocation of shared lake trout harvest. If the tribes or state anglers go over the set quota in lbs and a 15 percent cushion a penalty is assessed. The tribes have gone over in the past and have shut down their fishing. In 2018 in Grand Traverse Bay the state went over quota and the 15% cushion and has to reduce harvest in 2019. Much of the problem occurs from catch and release of lakers. Lakers experience a high mortality when hooked fought and released of 41%.

Solutions are partial closure of the Lake Trout season, or reduction in creel limits, or a combination of both.

A vote was put on the table and the strongest position was the season would be open from Jan 1st thru Sept 2nd with a creel limit of 1 lake trout.

Conversation also involved the idea of making it illegal for catch and release. The GLSI spoke up against this idea! The point is that we should be promoting fishing. If you are targeting smallmouth and catch a lake trout you would have to keep it even if you don't want to harvest it. You would have to stop fishing because if you accidentally caught another trout you couldn't keep it but it would also be illegal to release. This would be a management nightmare and in a sense take our right to fish even if targeting other species. It also negatively impacts the economy of this region, definitely something no one wants

Other problems arising from this situation are the MDNR has done a good job in rejuvenating interest in Lake Michigan angling. Bait is increasing, other salmonines are big and healthy but the increased fishing pressure is impacting harvest limits set in decrees to encourage rehabilitation and restoration of lake trout. This has to be addressed in the 2020 consent decree and is very complicated! Focus should change to Whitefish restoration? The State, Tribes, United States should agree that rehabilitation and a self sustaining lake trout population is impossible to achieve with the combination of commercial and angling efforts! Trout are slow growing and have to be at least 6-7yrs old to reach sexual maturity and the ridiculous point of the current situation is as the population gets larger and ave size of trout gets larger we are not able to harvest.

Current fish community objectives have created a "Look don't touch Fishery"

Interesting information. I'm not going to get into the treaty negotiations and actually, I would hope significant remedies will be worked out prior to the 2020 treaty renewal. I'm fearful in today's society and with the money the tribes have these days from casino revenues, the tribes will be the big winners in the treaty talks. They'll probably own GT Bay.

Still, the troubling figure is the 41% mortality for released lake trout. Totally unacceptable! I've posted here about using "descenders" trollers can use to return lakers to the depths. It's easy to use, but relatively expensive. However, maybe I'm wrong but I have the idea that most of the high catch of trout in GT Bay is by jigging. A simple, bent wire descender is cheap and easy to use and would cut this release mortality significantly.

I totally hate "government" regulations, in the Pacific Northwest I believe having (and using) descendier devises is required by regulation when bottom fishing for rock cod and others. In the Gulf, descenders aren't legally mandated, but there's a fairly successful grassroots effort for recreational anglers to use descenders to release undersized/out of season catches.

I don't know if there's any discussion about this on a grassroots level or by regulators. It's much simpler for the regulators to set seasons, restrictive catch limits and ridiculous "stop fishing" rules - neither is going to help sportsmen, tourism or likely have much affect on the resource.

Are these proposed changes in seasons and creels strictly for the bays..or all of lake michigan??

This is on just two areas, MM-1 and MM-4 Lake Michigan and Huron. Tribal areas with quotas on how much Lake Trout can be harvested yearly.. I thought I saw were Jay Wesley is asking for input from fellas that fish these spots. Is there another fish that can be stocked in both spots that recreational sports fishermen can fish for. Possibly walleyes being looked at. Low amounts of silver fish have forced more charter and recreational fishermen to fish for Lake Trout in these areas.

Here you go Ed, caught these in the bay last weekend. Tell me now that Lake Trout do not eat Alewife. Also note the size of the Ale's, that is some good news for silver fish this year.

That meeting has been all over the news up here. The business and fishing communities are both very interested in what is going on in Northern Michigan.