GLSI report from The Lake Huron Citizens Fishery Advisory Council

[EdB]

Here is the GLSI's President report from LHCFAC, the lack of a solid lakewide management plan and Lk Trout management is very concerning, especially if you fish the south end of the lake. 

Thursday 2/1 at Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare was the (LHCFAC) Lake Huron Citizen Fishery Advisory Council meeting. The main topics of the Agenda as follows:
*Lake trout overharvest in Northern L. Huron L. trout management zone MH-1
*Potential changes in L. trout stocks in Central and Southern L. Huron
*Discuss of forming a subcommittee to compile a draft Lake Huron salmon and trout management plan
*Review of the Saginaw Bay walleye and yellow perch regulations
*Status and moving fwd with the experimental whitefish fishery in southern lake Huron

Randy Claramunt L Huron Basin Coordinator 231-347-4689

The zone MH-1 from Rogers City to Drummond Island sport angling catch of Lake trout has exceeded the quota agreed upon in the 2000 consent decree.  Due to this the council had basically 2 choices cut the season length or cut the creel limit to get back to quota allowances and stay within the law.  The council voted to reduce the sport angling creel limit from 3 to 2 Lake trout.  That being said the population of LT in northern L Huron has increased by 7 times since 2000 to 3,000,000Kg or roughly 6.6 million pounds. Yet half a million LT are still stocked in this zone and survival of stocked fish is decreasing because of predation by big LT.

The catch rate of LT in this zone in the last 4yrs has gone up by over 7 times from 20 LT per 1000hrs of effort to over 140 LT in the same amount of time----in just 4yrs, but now you can only catch 2 per person.  There are so many LT in L Huron that growth rates are slower, rehabilitation efforts have been achieved.  Why are growth rates slow? At the meeting the MDNR said that they have exceeded the carrying capacity of the Lake. Why have catch rates gone up so much? It's not only due to increased populations it is due to (here is a quote from the meeting) "The salmon fishery is gone" et al Randy Claramunt Lake Huron Basin Coordinator

That quote brings up another question the GLSI has asked over and over and anglers should demand an honest answer!! If Lake trout in Lake Huron have exceeded the carrying capacity why does Lake Huron continue to stock more Chinook than Michigan does in Lake Michigan? 85-90% of those fish go to Lake Michigan to live out their lives because of lack of food in Huron until they return at spawning time. As anglers are we going to let the MDNR destroy both salmon fisheries in both lakes??  The Michigan Basin team has worked hard to prevent this from happening but the Huron Basin team has been a failure in this on all accounts.

Anglers of the Great Lakes pay close attention to what we are going to tell you.  The GLSI is plural Great Lakes Salmon Initiative, we have members that fish in all of the great Lakes and are representing the angler in these Lakes--NOT just L Michigan!! Welcome to reality---AS THE GLSI WARNED EVERYONE SEVERAL TIMES THIS NATIVE SPECIES ONLY AGENDA IS CREATING A "LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH; FISH BOWL"---not a fishery for recreational angling. How much more proof do you need??

That brings to attention the native only CISCO agenda on Lakes Michigan, Huron and Ontario . Randy Claramunt fibbed in the meeting yesterday when the subject of cisco came up and he said that they are eating Sea Fleas and Gobies- in Lake Michigan; they are but they are also eating alewives and smelt and he damned well knows it!  Are they going to compete with smelt and perch for food in Huron and then when big enough eat fleas, gobies, smelt---what about perch??  Remember that lake trout are eating smelt and are over the carrying capacity of L Huron--now they are going to have to compete with cisco for food and perch and young walleye are going to have to compete with CISCO for food and then potentially get fed on by cisco---all in the name of NATIVE ONLY AGENDAS!! We can not afford more mouths in these systems!!    

Randy's office phone number is posted above. Time anglers stand up and tell the DNR what type of fishery they want in Lake Huron. It is impractical to develop a plan then present it to the public. Do what Lake Michigan Basin team did, have focus groups, public input and develop a plan to accomplish goals based on science, economic and social factors. Unless we want to continue to see empty parking lots at boat launches outside of Saginaw Bay.

Another major change is the current advisory team needs some modification.  Virtually no questions or output were put forth by these people.  They are supposed to represent the whole lake not just the north zone and Saginaw Bay.  One person that attended the meeting told us, this committee should be renamed the NORTHERN Lake Huron Citizens Advisory Council. Thought that just about summed it up