Bad apples could cost Erie its commercial fishing industry

[Steve Arend]

The fate of commercial fishing in Ohio waters of Lake Erie is at a tipping point in the wake of a yellow perch rackteering scandal in which 10 individuals and five businesses have paid fines totaling $356,000 for their part.

Yellow perch are a superb food dish, prized by both sport and commercial fishermen. They accounted for three of every four dollars in the $4 million in Ohio commercial fish landings in 2005. So their importance and high profile are a lock.

The outcome of the following series of recent developments could change the way the state's commercial lake fishery - with its 18 licenses and 12 license-holders - is managed, or how it ends:

Bad apples could cost Erie its commercial fishing industry