Fisheries Task Group Plans Survey on St. Marys River in August
Member agencies of the St. Marys River Fisheries Task Group will be
conducting a fish community survey of the entire St. Marys River during
the month of August.
Fisheries biologists and technicians will be setting survey nets at
predetermined sites in the river and capturing a variety of species of
fish to collect information on abundance, growth, mortality, and size
structure. These data will be compared to data collected in earlier
surveys.
This survey is an important component of the St. Marys River Fisheries
Assessment Plan and is necessary to assist in managing healthy
sustainable fish communities and fisheries. The information collected
by this and other surveys will assist fisheries managers in Ontario and
Michigan in making critical decisions related to sport fish regulations,
fish stocking, shared fisheries, and future management goals and
actions.
The St. Marys River Fisheries Assessment Plan and the 2006 survey
report can be found online at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission website
(http://www.glfc.org/lakecom/lhc/lhchome.php).
Boaters are asked not to interfere with the nets or their floating
markers. Nets will be set overnight and lifted the following day. The
well-marked nets should not obstruct normal navigation routes for
recreational vessels.
This is the seventh such survey since 1975, but only the fourth done in
a cooperative manner by local fisheries management agencies. The
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) conducted the earlier
surveys in 1975, 1979 and 1987 in Michigan’s waters only. In 1995,
2002, and 2006, surveys were done cooperatively covering all waters.
This year the MDNR is joined by the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources, Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, Department of Fisheries
and Oceans Canada, Bay Mills Indian Community, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, and Lake Superior State University-Aquatic Research Laboratory
to survey the river from Whitefish Bay to Detour, Michigan, and south
and east of St. Joseph Island, Ontario.
Contacts: David Fielder (Michigan DNR) 989-356-3232, Neal Godby
(Michigan DNR) 989-732-3541 or Susan Greenwood (Ontario) 705-253-8288