![]() “They get the biggest, they’re a very strong fish and they offer a helluva fight. The king salmon brought the alewives under control and quickly became a favorite of sport fishermen. In the 1960s, coastal managers introduced two species of Pacific salmon to contain the alewives and boost fishing: coho and king. Though they were abundant, the saltwater fish, already weakened from living in freshwater, befouled local beaches in spring die-offs after being exposed to higher temperature fluctuations when they came close to shore to spawn. Without predators, the population of alewives, another nonnative species that came through the canals around the same time, went unchecked. “They pretty much devastated native lake trout, lake whitefish and other native species that were already suffering from overfishing,” Bunnell said. Sea lampreys latched onto large fish and drained their blood, leading to a collapse in populations of native predators like lake trout. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center. The mussels may be the worst Lake Michigan has seen since the sea lamprey, an eel-like parasitic fish that slithered into the Upper Great Lakes in the 1940s through the Erie and Welland canals, according to David “Bo” Bunnell, a research fishery biologist at the U.S. Over the years, the Great Lakes have endured numerous encounters with invasive species. “Generally, fish are more likely to keep their distance because they can see the boat and gear now,” he said. Still, remaining undetected is a challenge. The clearer waters have made flashers and dodgers, devices that reflect light and attract fish, more effective tools, Bentley said. He’s found fishing at dawn and sundown provides the best chance to catch salmon. King salmon are low-light-feeding fish, so with sunlight reaching into lower depths, it’s become increasingly difficult to catch them during midday hours, Bentley said. Some of them stayed in their old ways, and their catches tended to suffer.” “When I came back 10 years ago, many of the captains I knew were winding down their careers, ready to hang it up. “As a captain, fisherman and a businessman who wants to put out a good product, I know the lake is adapting, and we need to adapt with it,” Bentley said. The passion from his fishing days brought him back, but to survive, Bentley said, fishermen have to alter their age-old techniques. In recent years, fishermen are managing to nab only about 3 million pounds.ĭespite the drop, Bentley, who had fond memories of fishing’s heyday, returned to the lake in 2007 with his own charter company, Windy City Salmon. Fish and Wildlife Service and agencies from four states. Russell / AP)Īt the height of king salmon fishing in the mid- to late-80s, around 10 million pounds of the fish were harvested from the lake each year, according to research by the U.S. Upon completion of the dives, the location and density of the zebra mussels were recorded on the sketches of the shipwrecks, and surveyįorms and field notes were completed for review by the Oakland University researchers.In this photo, Inland Seas Education Association instructor Conrad Heins holds a cluster of zebra mussels that were taken from Lake Michigan off Suttons Bay, Mich. The cadets also checked the orientation of the wreck, direction of the current, and the types of surfaces the mussels clung to.Ĭadets aboard ship recorded the diving activity using an underwater robotic video camera, and prepared sketches of the wrecks based on the video images. ![]() The cadets counted the mussels visually in most cases, but visibility conditionsĪt some wrecks made it necessary to count by using their fingers to feel for the mussels. ![]() Each pair of cadets counted four quadrants. Goby, is a foreign species introduced to the Great Lakes throughĭensity of the mussels on the outer surfaces of the wrecks was determined by SCUBA-certified cadets who counted mussels in a quadrant of one-quarter square meter. During the summer of 1998, the Great Lakes Division worked in cooperation with the Department of Biological Sciences at Oakland University to document the density of zebra mussels on shipwrecks in Green Bay, the Mackinaw Straits, and northern Lake Michigan. ![]()
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