Great Lakes research vessels begin annual fish surveys
As the ice on the Great Lakes begins to clear, research vessels from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries division have begun their annual fish surveys.
The overall goal of the surveys is to find out how many fish are in the lakes, how they are growing and identifying what is impacting the population. Each lake has individual goals and focuses for the survey.
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On Lake Michigan, the SV Steelhead, stationed at the Charlevoix Research Station, will focus on adult yellow perch, lake whitefish, lake trout, Chinook salmon and forage fish populations. The vessel began operation this week in Saugatuck and will likely work until the first week of December.
According to Dave Clapp, Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station manager, they will be looking at the health of the fish population — including diseases, growth rates and survival rates. They will also be measuring wounds left by sea lamprey, an invasive species that attacks fish.
The data gathered during the fish survey is shared with other agencies and helps determine how the commercial and recreational fishing industries will be managed.
“Whitefish (populations) are down and that's primarily a commercial species," Clapp said. "So we're trying to figure out reasons for the decline in those whitefish populations. And hopefully figuring that out will help improve the commercial fishing industry and similarly for recreational fisheries."
Clapp added that “We monitor the forage fish, food availability for fish like salmon and lake trout."
"That helps us determine stocking levels for those fish where we do stock them or helps us to set regulations for fish where the mortality rates might be higher than we'd like," he said. "So we're able to measure those from the survey and then adjust our management actions to help either the recreational or the commercial industry.”
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On Lake Superior, the R/V Lake Char, stationed at the Marquette Fisheries Research Station, will assess the lake trout and lake whitefish populations, as well as other cold-water fish populations. This year, the survey will include a trip to Isle Royale to assess deep-water lake trout spawning habitat.
The vessel will also go to Superior Shoals to tag lake trout populations at Big Reef, as well as assisting with lake trout tagging in the ongoing assessment of the Buffalo Reef stamp sands evaluation.
The research vessel for Lake Huron is the R/V Tanner, stationed at the Alpena Fisheries Research Station. It will focus on the lake trout, walleye, yellow perch and forage fish populations, which includes time in Saginaw Bay and the Les Cheneaux Islands in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
In August, the vessel will visit the St. Marys River, as it does every five years, to evaluate fish communities in collaboration with several partner agencies represented by the St. Marys River Fisheries Task Group.
According to Todd Wills, area research manager for Lake Huron and Lake Erie, the vessel will also be taking part in a cooperative fish survey with Ontario, Canada and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“One of the new things that we're doing there this year is a Cooperative Fish Survey with the province of Ontario. So, Lake St. Clair, about a third of it is in Michigan waters, two thirds of that is in Canadian waters,” Wills said.
“So, for the first time in our history, (we) have started partnering with Ontario, Canada as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete lake-wide fish community assessments in Lake St. Clair using the same type of gear so that we can compare results and look at the fish community at a broader scale across the whole lake.”
These annual fish surveys help determine regulations and maintenance in the lakes for the next year, as well as identify threats to the fish communities like disease and invasive species.
Clapp said people are encouraged to speak to the vessel crews and ask about their work.
“We're happy to have them on our big research vessel, we do take people out occasionally. We really encourage people to come up and ask questions,” Clapp said. “If they see us at a bowl ramp or something we're happy to explain what we're doing and if it worked out, to take people out actually with us too, but definitely, we're really happy to explain what we're doing and talk to people about the fishery.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Great Lakes research vessels begin annual fish surveys
