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Commercial
Fisheries Newsline by Ronald E. Kinnunen Abstract: Advisory/extension newsletter for keeping Great
Lakes commercial fishing and aquaculture industries informed of relevant regulations,
events, opportunities and workshops. *TABLE OF CONTENTS* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coastwatch surface temperature maps are now available for Lake Huron and Lake Michigan commercial fishermen via Sea Grant Extension. Using the system we've employed successfully on Lake Michigan, maps are being faxed directly to designated sites along the Lake Huron and Michigan shore. These sites in turn will make the maps available to others who need the information. Presently temperature maps are provided on Tuesday and again on Friday, cloud cover permitting. In addition to a whole lake view, regional maps are available. Additionally a series of port maps have been developed which give detailed blowups of the waters. Those with access to the world wide web can contact http://www.msue.msu.edu/cw to observe the current temperature maps on their computer. If you need further information on Coastwatch availability, please contact your District Sea Grant Agent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan Sea Grant is funding a project on the status and sustainability of the Great Lakes salmonid fishery, which involves a multidisciplinary approach to exploring many of the factors believed to affect it. The project has three main components: research, outreach extension and outreach communications. Sea Grant researchers are studying traditional biological factors such as population dynamics, harvest, and habitat destruction, as well as climatic factors such as ice cover and water temperature. One major project objective is to modify and/or develop fishery models that incorporate these factors. The project will also assess the relative importance of these factors regarding salmonid production, yield, recruitment and economic benefit. Two research projects are currently underway at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and Michigan State University (MSU). Stephen Bowen, Ann Maclean, and Thomas Drummer of MTU are concentrating on the variation of salmonids and forage fish of Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan. James Bence and Daniel Hayes of MSU are working on the second research component, which investigates climatic effects on Lake Michigan. Researchers are attempting to clarify how much humans can do to manage the fisheries, and reveal those factors which cannot be manipulated. This project is distinctive in that it employs potential data modeling. Researchers are performing a more rigorous investigation of current modeling, with an emphasis not only on the expected outcome, but also on the uncertainty of the variability in modeling in general. For example, the project is seeking to better understand the uncertainties of fish population numbers in the Great Lakes by developing better modeling practices. "We are working toward better validation of predator-prey models in the fish community and promoting the use of models to improve fishery management. We are also striving towards increasing fishery yields and aiding in lake trout restoration," says Dr. James Bence of MSU. The best models used today fail to predict major swings in salmonid populations. The means by which physical factors such as climate affect the populations are not yet fully comprehended, and these factors could be important influences on fish population dynamics. Since these factors cannot be controlled by fisheries managers, their effects are difficult to incorporate into a management plan. "This project is highly integrated. The timing of events and the developments of each year's production of young fish is critical to the fishery. Unusual weather patterns can result in a failure of food for young, and can result in year class variations," states Dr. Stephen Bowen of MTU. Data collection for both biological and physical factors will result in a truly integrated and comprehensive project, both researchers believe. Charles Pistis and Carol Swinehart of Michigan Sea Grant are heading the outreach portions of the project. They are producing fact sheets explaining important concepts about the Great Lakes fishery to provide all stakeholders with background information on and understanding of the salmonid fishery. Explaining the basic concepts of the salmonid fishery, the fact sheets will combine the research components into reading for stakeholder groups of varied technical backgrounds. By integrating research with public outreach efforts, Michigan Sea Grant's vision is for more stakeholders to effectively aid managers in Great Lakes fishery management. This project will empower managers to better serve the diverse stakeholders who use the Great Lakes salmonid fishery. A better level of understanding amongst all stakeholders regarding factors involved in maintaining a healthy refined system is the means of achieving such a vision. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The terms of the contract require the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe to provide all of the labor and operational costs ro remove salmon from the weirs, under Department of Natural Resources direction. In addition, the tribe will pay the State of Michigan approximately $185,000 for the estimated fall 1996 salmon run at the six sites, located at the Little Manistee River Weir (Manistee), the Lower and Upper Platte River weirs (Honor), Medusa Creek Weir (Charlevoix), the Boardman River Weir (Traverse City) and the Swan River Weir (Rogers City). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Commercial Salmon Fishing Zones.
2. Commercial Salmon Fishing Season. Target fishing for salmon may be conducted in the designated commercial salmon fishing zones only from August 1 through October 15. 3. Gear Restrictions.
4. Lake Michigan Assessment Zone. In addition to the restrictions contained in Section 3, an assessment salmon fishery may be conducted in the zone described in Section 1(B)as follows:
5. Violations. Violation of any provision of these regulations shall subject the alleged violator to the enforcement provision of the regulations of the Chippewa/Ottawa Treaty Fishery Management Authority. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fishery management officials from federal, state, provincial, and tribal agencies recently conducted an essential study to determine the effectiveness of a large-scale lampricide treatment to control sea lampreys in the St. Marys River. The study was designed to simulate the transport of the commonly used lampricide TFM and tracked the movement of a dye applied to the river and helped determine whether lampricides would reach lamprey hotbeds at effective concentration levels. Officials hail the study as a major step toward gaining the upper hand on lampreys in the St. Marys River. The St. Marys River is the largest undercontrolled source of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes due to its tremendous volume and excellent sea lamprey spawning habitat. Because of sea lampreys from the St. Marys River, the Lake Huron and northern Lake Michigan fisheries are seriously threatened. The dye study was part of a comprehensive information-gathering project to develop an effective sea lamprey control program for this large interconnecting channel. Since 1992, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission has supported extensive assessment efforts to locate and map the distributions of lamprey larvae in the river. A previously developed computer flow and transport model has suggested that a lampricide treatment would be effective in the north channel portion of the St. Marys River but may not be effective in the Lake Nicolet portion. The dye study was required to verify and calibrate the flow and transport model results. Water quality and habitat improvements during the past decade have turned the upper St. Marys River into one of the best sea amprey spawning grounds on the Great Lakes, harboring millions of lamprey larvae and producing over 500,000 parasitic-phase lampreys annually--more than all of the other Great Lakes combined. Conventional treatment of the river's tremendous volume has not been attempted because of unresolved questions of effectiveness and cost. Annual damage to important sport and commercial fish species in northern Lake Huron and Lake Michigan is estimated in the millions of dollars. The problem is so serious that fish stocking has been halted in some areas and fishery managers from Ontario, Michigan, and the Chippewa-Ottawa Fishery Treaty Management Authority have identified sea lampreys from the St. Marys River as a critical impediment to reaching fish community objectives and to achieving lake trout restoration in Lake Huron. The data gathered from this study will allow management officials to plan and implement a cost-effective lamprey control program in the St. Marys River. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minister Fred Mifflin, head of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, announced that Canada will contribute $5.145 million (CAN) this year and next year to the joint U.S./Canadian Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which manages the highly successful Great Lakes sea lamprey control program. This announcement means Canada will provide the same level of funding for this program as last year. In making this announcement, Minister Mifflin emphasized the need for and the willingness of his department to develop new partnerships to secure future funding for this program The Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established by treaty between the United States and Canada in 1956 to coordinate fishery research between the two nations and to develop and implement a joint sea lamprey control program on the Great Lakes. Each government appoints four commissioners (the United States, also, has one alternate) and has agreed to a funding mechanism where the United States pays 69% of the lamprey control program and Canada pays 31%. This funding ratio is roughly coincidental with the area of the Great Lakes in each country's boundaries and the value of historical fish harvest prior to the sea lamprey invasion. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The U.S. Coast Guard announced that the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) Initial Operational Capabilityphase for navigation and positioning is expected to begin this winter. The Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) began the pre-operational testing of the DGPS service on November 1. DGPS is the regular Global Positioning System (GPS) with an additional correction signal. DGPS receivers collect navigational signals from all satellites in view, plus differential corrections from a DGPS station in the area. DGPS accuracy and integrity are superior to that of unaugmented GPS. The service will soon consist of 48 DGPS broadcast sites. Currently there are 36 DGPS sites on-air. The following USCG DGPS sites are on air and testing in District 9. Wisconsin Point, WI under construction For information, call NAVCEN at (703)313-5900 Source : Great Lakes Basin Report, May 15, 1996, Vol. 7, No. 05. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network is pleased to announce the First International Symposium on the Biology and Management of the Eurasian Ruffe which will be held at the Sheraton Inn, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 21-23, 1997. The symposium is planned in conjunction with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's Council of Lake Committee Meetings, which will be held the week prior to and after the symposium at the same conference facility. This announcement is the first call for poster abstracts solicited on ruffe research topics such as: biology, ecological effects, control and management, and environmental economics. Special emphasis will be placed on cases where ruffe is an invasive species, applied ruffe management practices, and environmental economic impacts. Although the symposium will be geared toward researchers, ecologists, managers and economists; representatives with technical backgrounds from aquaculture, commercial and bait fish industries, commercial shipping, sport fishing, and charter fishing are urged to attend. The purpose of the symposium is to bring together technical experts from Eurasia and North America to enhance the current understanding of the ruffe infestation and its implications to North America. Information presented at the symposium will help to make cost-effective management decisions, identify research gaps, and to spread this information to concerned agencies, industries, and to the people of the Great Lakes, and beyond. For more information, contact: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HACCP based inspection system It's now federal regulation. Are you confused about HACCP? Unsure of how to start writing your plan? Doubtful of how it will work for you? Whether you're interested in complying with EU directive 493, the NMFS voluntary inspection program, training requirements for the newly published FDA mandatory HACCP regulation, or in improving consumer confidence, this workshop will show you how to incorporate the internationally recognized seven principles of HACCP to ensure food safety and demonstrate how HACCP can be the basis of your total quality systems management program. To register for this intense two and a half day workshop in Greenbay, WI, please contact the National Training Branch at (508)281-9220, or NMFS National Training Branch, 1 Blackburn Dr., Gloucester, MA 01930. Workshop fees are $425 per person or $395 pp for two or more attendees. Company check, Visa or MasterCard accepted. For more information, please call (508)281-9216 or (207)596-0947. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. per capita consumption of fish and shellfish was 15.0 pounds (edible meat) in 1995. This total was 0.2 pounds less than the 15.2 pounds consumed in 1994. Per capita consumption of fresh and frozen products was 10.0 pounds, a decrease of 0.4 pounds from 1994. Fresh and frozen finfish accounted for 6.3 pounds while fresh and frozen shellfish consumption was 3.7 pounds per capita. The fresh and frozen finfish includes approximately 0.8 pounds of farm raised catfish. Consumption of canned fishery products was 4.7 pounds per capita in 1995, an increase of 0.2 pounds from 1994. Imports of edible seafood made up 54 percent of the consumption. U.S. consumers spent an estimated $38.6 billion for fishery products in 1995. The 1995 total includes $26.2 billion in expenditures at food service establishments (restaurants, carry-outs, caterers, etc.); $12.0 billion in retail sales for home consumption; and $324.2 million for industrial fish products. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The North Central Regional Aquaculture Center now has the recently published "Walleye Culture Manual" available for distribution. The manual contains the most recent information on walleye culture and can be obtained by contacting: ISU Extension Distribution Phone: (515)294-5247 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Biologics are important tools for the management of fish health globally and there are several products that are licensed for use in the U.S. A Federal Register notice relating to proposed changes in definitions relating to biological products and development of guidelines was recently released. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)/USDA is proposing to amend the regulations by revising the definition of "biological products." The amendment is necessary in order to reflect current usage and advances in scientific knowledge, and to clarify certain parts of the definition. APHIS is also proposing to add a definition of "guidelines" to the regulations. Guidelines are used to assist manufacturers of veterinary biologics and other interested persons regarding test procedures, methods, and other considerations that would be acceptable to the agency in support of licensure of a veterinary biological product. This action would clarify in the regulations the purpose and intent of guidelines. Consideration will be given only to comments received on or before October 22, 1996. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION contact: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- APHIS is developing, as part of USDA's legislative program, legislation that will authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the movement of aquatic plants and animals in interstate and foreign commerce and enter into cooperative programs to ensure the health of aquatic plants and animals. For USDA to provide a full range of health services to the aquaculture industry, such as those currently afforded to other livestock, poultry, and plant species, amendments to the animal health statutes specifically providing for such authority or new legislation are necessary. During consideration of the 1996 farm bill, aquaculture legislation was included in the Senate version. In that bill, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to treat private aquaculture as agriculture. In other legislative proposals, aquaculture is, at times, defined as "livestock." While APHIS is eager to provide the same services to the aquaculture industry that the Agency currently provides for livestock and poultry, they are not convinced that this can be accomplished simply by broadly redefining aquaculture as part of agriculture. In order to clarify the issue, APHIS has asked the USDA's Office of the General Counsel for an opinion. Rep. Richard Hastings (R-WA) and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR) recently introduced legislation, the Domesticated Salmonid Broodstock and Seedstock Act of 1996 (H.R. 2908), that would--if passed--require the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a comprehensive program of diagnostic and certification services, establish health criteria, and monitor, evaluate, and facilitate the elimination of impediments to the commerce of domesticated salmonid broodstock and seedstock. This legislation relies on the authority under animal quarantine laws to authorize health services in a limited segment of the aquaculture industry. Currently, an aquaculture industry advisory committee can be established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act without the need for a statutory mandate. APHIS believes the U.S. Animal Health Association's Aquaculture Committee provides a venue for the aquaculture industry to express its concerns. APHIS strongly hopes for enhanced communication within the aquaculture industry and encourages the industry to use every opportunity to make them aware of its problems and concerns. To facilitate this, APHIS plans to soon host its second aquaculture industry roundtable. Source: APHIS Aquaculture Industry Report - July 1996. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oregon State University researchers have evaluated the possibility of conditioning fish so that they can tolerate stressful experiences better than typical hatchery fish. An experiment was designed to test psychological and physical conditioning using smolt-age chinook salmon as a means of improving performance during and after the stress of transportation. Conditioning to stress the fish involved lowering the water level twice per day for 10 minutes. At the end of each period, the water level was raised and the fish were fed. In addition to scheduled stress, fish were also subjected to random stresses, including: 1) lowering the water level to 5 cm, 2) flashing a bright light above the water surface in the tanks, 3) drumming on the sides of the tanks, and 4) chasing the fish in the tanks with dipnets. Feeding was not associated with these stimuli. Performance tests including survival of the transportation and capacity for disease resistance were also conducted. Fish were sampled the day before transportation (0 hours), at the end of the transportation (2 hours) and at 4, 12, 26, and 122 hours after the start of transport loading. The fish that were conditioned using either the positive conditioning or the random stress method had significantly lower total cortisol, a hormone secreted to combat stress; lower levels of glucose that acts as a primary energy supply; and lower levels of lactate produced in the active muscles of the fish. All positively conditioned fish survived transportation.However, control groups, those held with no pre-conditioning, experienced significant mortality. The positively conditioned fish were not affected by the secondary stress, low oxygen, applied immediately after unloading while there was significant mortality, between 13 and 46%, amongst fish in other groups. The positively conditioned fish had greater resistance to infection with Aeromonas salmonicida. Conditioning fish prior to stressful events appears to lessen the harmful effects. The conditioned fish also appeared to recover faster from transport than the unconditioned ones. These findings suggest that a positive conditioning regimen in the hatchery, such as a simple lowering of water levels and ending with a food "reward" when the water level is raised again, can help to "stress harden" fish in preparation for stressful events such as handling and transportation. Source: Northern Aquaculture - June 1996. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Research into uses of rainbow trout effluent and manure for plant production and water treatment was conducted by the research staff at the USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV. They have developed plant production systems that are highly productive and effectively remove polluting nutrients from aquaculture waste water. Because greenhouse space is expensive, productivity is critical for a profitable operation. They term their production system the "conveyor production system." In the conveyor system, young plants are positioned near the solution inlet of a hydroponic trough and are moved progressively towards the outlet as they grow. In this thin-film technology, phosphorus is removed to levels less than 10 ppb by lettuce and basil without a reduction in yield or quality. In the conveyor system, luxury consumption of phosphorus by young plants early in their development sustains them at later stages of growth as the phosphorus concentration decreases in the effluent. In a sense, the plant has a nutrient savings account with early deposits, and withdrawals delayed until nutrient levels in the effluent are insufficient to meet daily needs. This concept was expanded to hydroponic production of strawberries using vertically-stacked pots. In this system, containers of vermiculite media were stacked to a six foot height (24 plants/stack). The effluent was delivered to the top container using a pulse irrigation system that dripped through the lower containers, supplying water and nutrients. Plug plants of "Chandler" yielded over 600 g/plant from January to March while reducing effluent phosphorus from 700 ppm to less than 100 ppm. Neither the conveyor or vertical pot system recycle the effluent, the effluent passes through the plant system only once. The aquaculture solids (manure and feed) were composted and the compost used as planting media for lettuce production. It was found that compost fish waste was as good or better than sponge or rock wool due to the nutrients it contained and it provided disease suppression of water-borne pathogens (Pythium species), a trait not found in inert media. Composting the fish waste eliminated a disposal problem and further recycled the by-products of aquaculture into money making uses. For further information contact: |