Drastic reduction in salmon stocking levels proposed to avert collapse in Lake Huron fishery

The economic impact of the decreasing salmon population has been a major concern to local communities for the past few years and it looks like it?s going to get worse before it gets better. A proposal before the Natural Resources Commission calls for a 50 percent reduction in the Chinook salmon stocking plan for Lake Huron over the next five years to allow the food-web in the lake to stabilize. State Rep. Matt Gillard organized a town hall-style meeting in Rogers City Saturday to coincide with the Last Chance Salmon Tournament so that local and downstate anglers could participate. As it turns out it may be the last chance to see current stocking levels of Chinook salmon for at least five years. The proposal before the NRC is a last-ditch effort to maintain sustainable levels of Chinook salmon in Lake Huron and shore up a struggling tourist industry besieged by high gas prices and low fish catches.

THERE ARE a number of theories as to why the Lake Huron salmon are not achieving the size and weight figures of just a few years ago. The primary cause appears to be the lack of sufficient forage fish for these voracious predators. The schools of alewives that once were so common along the shores of Lake Huron are virtually non-existent today and the smelt population is not doing much better, therefore the answer to one question leads to another: why aren?t the forage fish doing better than they are? Some experts believe other invasive species such as the zebra and quagga mussels are gleaning vital nutrients out of the water while another invasive fish, the gobi, may be snapping up the larval bait fish before they can mature. The fact is, nobody is really sure what is going on out in Lake Huron but whatever it is, it doesn?t bode well for sport fishing in the region.

?THE ABUNDANCE of prey fish that are eaten by game fish is at very low levels, similar to 1998. The scientists are uncertain if this large reduction in prey fish is due to a major change in the food web of the lake as a result of an aquatic invasive species or if it is a temporary imbalance between predators and prey,? said Tammy Newcombe, Acting Assistant Chief of the DNR Fisheries Division. The economic impact of the situation was driven home by a comment made by Jay Smith of Dearborn Heights. ?I have $45,000 wrapped up in my boat and accessories and another $4,000 in fishing equipment and, you know what, I have only bought a couple new lures this year. What?s that going to do to the bait shops and marine supply stores??

Smith, a sport fisherman since 1980, went on to cite high fuel prices for hauling up and down state to catch a few small salmon mean that many potential boat sales are going to be put on hold, hitting another crucial sector of the economy. Another comment heard from someone in the crowd is that this side of the state has been neglected for quite a few years. The unprecedented decline in the forage fish populations can also be traced back to the geographical differences between the east side and the west side of the state.

FOR EXAMPLE, Lake Michigan waters are warmer and are fed by nutrient-rich streams whereas Lake Huron receives mainly cold, sterile water from Lake Superior. Jim Johnson, manager of the DNR Alpena Fisheries Research Station, put it succinctly. ?Lake Huron has always been right on the edge. Then, along come invasive species and some very hard winters right together. That means there are too many salmon in the lake for the amount of food,? Johnson said. Research by the DNR has shown that the extra salmon are not coming from the state?s stocking programs but from natural breeding grounds that have been established in streams along the Canadian shoreline. Johnson noted that the alewives that are being examined by DNR technicians are not surviving beyond four years. He said that nine-year-old fish are needed to maintain a sustainable population of forage fish to survive the winters and the feeding frenzy by so many predators in the lake.

SOME PEOPLE in the audience suggested that the state should try to stock forage fish but this is not practical, according to Newcombe. ?If you took all the fish hatchery capacity of the state and applied it to forage fish stocking it would not amount to much more than a few minutes of feeding time out in the lake,? she said. While the current situation may seem bleak, it is by no means unrecoverable, according to Johnson. He pointed out that researchers have seen that, while the salmon are small in Lake Huron, they are healthy. A previous collapse in the salmon fishery in Lake Michigan was due to bacterial kidney disease, or BKD. ?I have been through a collapse and, believe me, you don?t want to go through that,? he said, noting that it took more than 10 years for the fishery to recover from the BKD collapse in Lake Michigan.

Another question was how the salmon in Lake Huron could be moving over to Lake Michigan. Johnson said free-ranging salmon in the ocean easily swim more than 50 miles per day and will go where the forage fish are schooling. Also discussed was the issue of predation of young salmon and brown trout fingerlings by cormorant fowl in the lake. ?In the last few years we have finally gotten some cooperation from the federal government regarding the control of the cormorant population in the lake. We have been successful in that, first around the Les Cheneaux Islands and then in the Alpena area. We are going to do everything we can to expand that program,? Gillard said. Gillard also said it was important to hear from the fishing community as well as the economic interests so that different views would be considered by the NRC in maki

ng its recommendation. Some questions were directed at the number of lake trout in the lake and whether they are included in the stocking reductions. Irv Dedow of Ocqueoc wanted to know what to expect from the DNR. ?What are your recommendations and what do you see in your crystal ball?? Newcombe replied that this could very well be a major shift in the food web of the lake and that there would have to be a lot more research before we know how to deal with that situation. Gillard pointed out that the lake trout plants are determined by a long-standing consent decree between the federal government and the state.

?We need to have a sustainable sport fishery throughout Lake Huron for economic interests as well as for environmental reasons. I honestly believe the DNR has that as their long term goal and the underlying basis for the decision they will take on this issue,? Gillard said. Newcomb said written comments can be submitted by email to DNR-LakeHuron@michigan.gov by September 20 or mailed to Tammy Newcomb, MDNR Fisheries Division P.O. Box 30446, Lansing, MI 48909. Her phone number is (517) 373-1280. A final recommendation will be presented at the Natural Resources Commission on October 6.