by Ronald E. Kinnunen
Michigan State University Sea Grant Program

Abstract: Advisory/extension newsletter for keeping Great Lakes commercial fishing and aquaculture industries informed of relevant regulations, events, opportunities and workshops.

* HACCP Training Course scheduled for January in Baraga, Michigan
* Lake Herring and Fat Lake Trout Workshop
* Michigan Fish Producers Convention
* MUCC addresses increasing siscowet population
* Sea Lamprey commercial fishery opposed
* US seafood consumption
* Ruffe population status
* St. Louis River ruffe population
* Round Goby containment
* Double-crested cormorant predation on yellow perch
* Hormone could make suckers the baitfish of choice
* Yellow Perch study
* Aquaculture bibliography
* BC Salmon aquaculture report
* MI Agriculture statistics
* Whirling disease detected
* MI Aquaculture Association meeting

HACCP Training Course scheduled for January in Baraga, Michigan

The Seafood Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation will be mandatory on December 18, 1997. The regulation requires that certain enumerated HACCP functions be performed by an individual who has been trained in HACCP.

The enumerated functions are:

• Developing/adopting the HACCP plan to fit the specific needs of a processor. The HACCP plan can be of a generic type.

• Reassessing/modifying the HACCP plan as a result of verification activities and any corrective actions that occur.

• Reviewing the HACCP records for adequacy.

Processors may either obtain training for one or more of their own employees or they may hire trained independent contractors to perform the above functions.

To assist in the implementation of the mandatory HACCP regulation, Sally Eberhard (FDA), Ron Kinnunen (Michigan Sea Grant Extension), Mike Erdman (MSU Extension), and a Michigan Department of Agriculture representative will conduct a three-day AFDO/Seafood Alliance HACCP training course:

With assistance from Mike Donofrio (Keweenaw Bay Tribal Fish Biologist) and the Keweenaw Bay Tribal Council, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community will host this meeting to help us keep the course fee down.

The training will be given to individuals that can influence seafood and/or aquacultured product safety. It includes a standardized course, training materials, and trained instructors. Persons that complete the AFDO/Seafood Alliance basic course will receive a Certificate of HACCP Course Completion from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO). This certificate denotes completion of the standard HACCP training program for fish and fishery products as required in the regulation. A course fee of $90 will be charged and those that plan to attend the training, should contact Ron Kinnunen at 906/228-4830 before the December 31, 1997 registration deadline.

HACCP consists of identifying safety hazards, figuring out where they occur, monitoring those points and recording the results. For most seafood processors there will be fewer than six such points. The mandatory regulation is based on the belief that every processor can understand the food safety hazards of their products and take reasonable steps to keep them from happening.

HACCP involves day-to-day monitoring of critical control points. Production employees operate the equipment at the critical control points. HACCP can give them an enhanced sense of participation and responsibility and a better understanding of what it takes to make a safe product. HACCP is about prevention, not having to throw product away or recondition it or recall it.

One of the first questions that people ask is, "Does this regulation affect me?" Essentially the General Provisions, Subpart A, apply to all processors, both domestic and foreign processors that export to the United States. Specific provisions for importers are also found in Subpart A. Subparts B and C are comprised of special provisions that apply to all types of processors, those that process smoked fish and fish products and those that process raw molluscan shellfish.

There are some key exclusions:

# Fishing vessels are not included, including those that head, gut and freeze, if they do not store the fish on the way back to port.
# Common carriers are not included.
# Retail establishments, including restaurants, are not included.

However, FDA expects that the regulations will affect many of these entities indirectly.
Those needing lodging can contact the Ojibway Casino Resort in Baraga at 906/353-7611.

A workshop focusing on Lake Superior lake herring and deep water fat lake trout (siscowet) has been scheduled for January 20, 1998 at the Holiday Inn in Marquette, Michigan. Fishermen or processors who handle lake herring and or siscowet from Lake Superior will find this workshop of interest as you will learn about the realities of marketing these fish. Both the Michigan and Wisconsin Sea Grant Programs have been involved with product and market development studies of lake herring and details of these studies will be presented.

Presentations will be made on the status of lake herring and siscowet populations in Lake Superior, the viability of these fish as a commercial product, and the potential and requirements for value-added processing including processing requirements. Specific topics will be discussed by a number of speakers as it relates to each the lake herring and siscowet fishery.

This workshop is being sponsored by the Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Sea Grant Programs, Michigan State University Extension, and the Michigan Fish Producers Association. Those wanting more information or an agenda of this conference should contact Ron Kinnunen with Michigan Sea Grant at 906/228-4830, Harvey Hoven with Wisconsin Sea Grant at 715/394-8472, or Jeff Gunderson with Minnesota Sea Grant at 218/726-8715.

Holiday Inn of Marquette, Michigan has been selected as the site for the Michigan Fish Producers Association Annual Convention. The dates for the convention are January 18-20, 1998. A block of rooms at the Holiday Inn has been reserved at a special rate. When calling for room reservations, please inform them you are attending the MFPA Convention. For room reservations call 906/225-1351.

For more information on the convention, you can contact Mike Casey at 906/341-5279 or Pete Hermes at 906/644-2433.

* Dec. 31 HAACP Registration deadline
* Jan. 13-15 HAACP training - Baraga
* Jan. 18-20 MI Fish Producers - Mqt
* Jan. 20 Herring/ Siscowet Workshop Mqt

Despite progress made by the Minnesota Sea Grant Program to develop markets for sea lamprey, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission will not sell them. Further, the Commission does not support the establishment of a commercial fishery for sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. Their rationale is that the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries directs the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to "eradicate or minimize the populations of sea lamprey." The sale of sea lamprey surplus for the control needs of the Commission, even to fund ongoing control efforts, could create or be seen to create a conflict of interest situation for the Commission.

The approval for establishing a commercial fishery for sea lamprey is clearly the responsibility of the individual states, the province, and some tribes. Throughout the Great Lakes Basin, the states, the tribes, the province, and the federal governments are committed to minimizing the sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes, consistent with established fish community objectives.

In contrast, however, a commercial fishery for sea lamprey would create an industry striving to maintain or to establish a continuing harvestable surplus of sea lamprey—perforce given that start-up investment would be high, with the need to develop new fishing gear and fishing techniques, as well as develop new markets and infrastructure. Also, because of the success of the control program, the number of sea lamprey currently in the Great Lakes is likely insufficient to support a viable commercial fishery. The implementation of new control technologies in the St. Marys River will effect a further significant reduction in the sea lamprey populations. An additional constraint to a commercial fishery is that the potential European market is based on live sea lamprey and it is illegal to transport live exotic species including sea lamprey in many states. But Minnesota Sea Grant has shown that frozen sea lamprey could be acceptable for the European market. Moreover, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is increasing sea lamprey trapping in an effort to capture the additional adult sea lamprey required for the full implementation of the Sterile Male Release Technique. This effort is critical to achieving the Commission’s vision of increasing the use of non-chemical control. A commercial fishery for sea lamprey would clearly conflict with this effort.

A commercial fishery for sea lamprey in the Great Lakes is not sustainable. Further, a commercial fishery for sea lamprey would conflict with sea lamprey control efforts and runs contrary to the achievement of fish community objectives. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission, therefore, does not support a commercial fishery for sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.

National Marine Fisheries Service officials announced that U.S. seafood consumption declined modestly to 14.8 pounds per person during 1996 from 15.0 pounds per person in 1995. The 0.2 pound-per-person decline was reported to be accounted for entirely by declines in canned tuna consumption. Imported seafood comprised 57% of U.S. consumption during 1996, a 3% increase from 1995.

The good news this past year has been that no range expansion of ruffe has been detected. The current range in Lake Superior is from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada to Ontonagon River, Michigan. In the west shore of Lake Huron no ruffe have been detected outside the Thunder Bay River area of Alpena, Michigan.

The bad news is that ruffe abundance has increased in one peripheral colony and colonies within the known range. One new discovery was made in Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, which is within the known range.

Ruffe numbers have increased in Ontonagon River, Michigan, and in Saxon Harbor, Bad River, Kakagon River, and Chequamegon Bay which are all in Wisconsin.

Although additional bottom trawling effort continues in an attempt to reduce ruffe populations in some interior colonies as well as peripheral colonies, all colonies are likely to increase in abundance and range expansion is likely to continue especially in Lake Huron. It is hoped that population reduction efforts with bottom trawling will help slow anticipated expansion until research can identify more effective environmentally safe control methods.

Michael Hoff (U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division) reported on the status and dynamics of the largest populations of ruffe in North America at the recent Ruffe Control Committee meeting in October.

The ruffe was introduced into the Great Lakes in the St. Louis River estuary (Duluth, MN/ Superior, WI) apparently in the mid-1980s. The presence of ruffe was reported to the Lake Superior Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in March 1988. Ruffe population densities have been estimated by personnel from the Lake Superior Biological Station since 1989.

Population estimates of spawning ruffe showed that they increased rapidly from 1989 to 1992. Estimates increased 753%, 31%, and 187% for the intervals 1989-1990, 1990-1991, and 1991-1992, respectively. Spawning populations then declined somewhat from 1992 to 1996, and then increased 378% from 1996 to 1997. The population density increased 7,545% from 1989 to 1997.

Densities of young-of-the-year (YOY) ruffe that were measured in fall have fluctuated by a maximum of 3,316% during 1989 to 1996. The largest year classes were formed in 1990, 1995, and 1994 when densities of YOY ruffe were 109, 97, and 52/hectare, respectively. The weakest year classes were formed in 1991, 1989, and 1993 when densities of YOY ruffe were 3, 4, and 6/hectare, respectively.

Annual mean densities of ruffe from pooled spring, summer, and fall sampling periods showed that the greatest percentage increases in abundance occurred during 1989-1990, 1993-1994, and 1991 - 1992, when the population increased 1,422%, 91 %, and 49%, respectively. Declines in annual densities occurred during 1990-1991, 1995-1996, and 1994-1995, when the population declined 23%, 14%, and 1%, respectively. The three-year period with the highest mean density was 1995-1997, when the density averaged 187/hectare. Thus, the recent size of the population has been at the zenith of measured densities.

Scientists are planning a shocking surprise for the round goby, a destructive little fish that seems determined to follow the zebra mussel into Midwestern waterways.

In an attempt to contain the goby in the Great Lakes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to set up an underwater electric barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal — the only link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

If the goby makes it to the Mississippi, it could invade the entire river drainage basin and threaten native species. They are in the same gateway that the zebra mussel used to get to the Mississippi River, and the zebra mussel is now found from Minnesota to New Orleans and as far west as Oklahoma.

The 5- to 6-inch, pug-nosed European fish made its way into the country about seven years ago in the ballast tanks of oceangoing vessels, much like the zebra mussel before it. Some scientists thought the goby arrival would solve the problem of the zebra mussels because the fish eats the mussels. But the two species are thriving together, and the aggressive goby has turned on native species in the Great Lakes.

Thus the last-ditch effort by scientists to create an underwater electric barrier. They've been employed for decades to pen in fish, but not to fend off an invasion.

The corps plans to install a grid of wires and electrodes about 165 feet wide and 23 feet deep on the canal bottom. When power is pumped into the grid, the water above it would come alive with current. The jolts are not lethal to fish and people, according to a manufacturer of the device. Scientists will conduct laboratory tests to see how gobies respond to electric fields. The hoped-for result is that many fish would swim above the grid, but the goby and other bottom-dwellers would be turned back by it. Construction on the project could begin next year.

The food habits of cormorants in the Les Cheneaux Islands, Michigan, were estimated in 1995 by shooting 373 birds and analyzing their stomach contents. The stomach analysis indicated that yellow perch were a large component of the cormorant diet during the early spring (47% by weight), decreased in the diet in late spring and early summer (less than 2% by weight), and increased slightly in the late summer and fall (14% by weight). Cormorants ate predominantly small to medium sized yellow perch in the range of 75 to 150 mm, even during perch spawning in early spring.

The best estimate of weight of perch eaten by cormorants was 11,400 kg, with a range of 6,600 to 17,500 kg. The number of perch eaten ranged from 270,000 to 720,000, with a best estimate of 470,000. The number of perch larger than 175 mm eaten ranged from 14,000 to 37,000, with a best estimate of 24,000.

Mortality of legal-size perch due to cormorant predation in 1995 was not significant, when compared with all other sources combined. With 2.76 million fish in the yellow perch fishery of Les Cheneaux Islands, a take of 24,000 by cormorants is a removal of only 0.9% of the population by number. Most of the diet of cormorants consisted of alewife.

It was concluded that reasonable year-to-year variation in cormorant predation of perch during perch spawning will not drastically alter age-specific mortality rates, provided perch and cormorant population sizes are comparable to 1995 estimates. However, over the long term, changes in predatory behavior of cormorants, ecological plasticity regarding the timing or location of perch spawning, and population fluctuations for either cormorants or perch may influence the importance of yearly variation in predation.

Source: MDNR Fisheries Division Special Report No. 17 - August 1997.

An experimental hormone could turn white (Catostomus commersoni) or spotted suckers (Minytrema melanops) into the finny crop of choice for many baitfish farmers. Today, 7-in golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas) are the staple baitfish for very large sport fish, but they take 2 years to mature. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service say that white or spotted suckers reach maturity in a year, increasing profits through speedier reproduction. The problem is that suckers prefer to lay eggs in running water such as rivers. Scientists say dosing the fish with an artificial copy of the hormone called human chorionic gonadatropin (HCG) encourages the fish to spawn regardless of the setting, allowing farmers to raise the fish in ponds.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the hormone's use in fish only for experimental purposes and would require more studies before considering its approval for use on food or brood fish. For information contact Gerald Ludwig, 870/673-4483.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking fishermen to be on the lookout for Lake Michigan perch with a yellow, tube-like tag on the dorsal fin. Information from these tags is needed as part of an ongoing research project.

Fishermen who catch Lake Michigan perch with the yellow dorsal (largest back fin) tag can help with the study whether they keep or release their catch. Those who keep their catch are asked to send the yellow tag along with the fish length, weight, and data and location of capture to the Illinois Natural History Survey at the Lake Michigan Biological Station, 400 17^th St., Zion, IL 60099.

Fishermen who release their catch are asked to record the tag number and send it with the other information as described above.

Over 30,000 yellow perch will be tagged by members of the Lake Michigan Yellow Perch Task Group during 1997 and 1998.

A Comprehensive Bibliography of Aquaculture Publications Funded by the National Sea Grant College Program is now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/ NSGO/research/aquaculture/. The bibliography of National-Sea-Grant-College-sponsored literature is current and is intended for anyone interested in aquaculture, mariculture, or polyculture. Printed versions are available from Sea Grant programs around the United States.

The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office released its 1,800-page Salmon Aquaculture Review, concluding after 12 months’ study that salmon aquaculture presents a low overall risk to the environment and could proceed with caution. The report also concluded that much needs to be done before more salmon farms are permitted. A total of 49 report recommendations would streamline the regulatory environment to make the BC industry more competitive in the world market, and call for studies of how escaped netpen salmon interact with wild salmon, how to control disease, and the effects of netpen waste on water and the seafloor.

Michigan's 45 commercial trout operations reported 828,000 pounds of trout sold during the year ending August 31, 1996. This was an increase of 15 percent from last season. Sales were valued at $2.06 million, and included sales of food size trout (usually 12 inches or longer), stockers (usually 6 to 12 inches) and fingerlings (2 to 6 inches). Michigan ranked ninth in the nation in trout production. Idaho's 33 trout operations produced 70 percent of the nation's trout, making it number one in the country.

Operations contributing to the sales total include recreational operations that open their waters for fee fishing, fish farms that sell dressed fish to restaurants and markets, and fish farms that sell eggs and live fish to other operations for stocking purposes. The most common trout species in Michigan are rainbow, brown, and brook trout which are raised both in earthen ponds and cement runways.

Trout losses, in Michigan, amounted to 237,000 fish, weighing 66,000 pounds. Predators and disease were the leading causes of death, accounting for 53 and 13 percent of all fish lost, respectively.

A confirmed case of whirling disease has been detected at a private fish farm in Michigan. Currently the Michigan Aquaculture Association is working with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to set up diagnostic screening for whirling disease.

At this time there is no known cure for whirling disease and prevention is the only protection. Whirling disease is believed to only affect trout and salmon. Rainbow trout appear to be most susceptible to whirling disease infection, followed by sockeye salmon, cutthroat trout, brook trout, chinook salmon, Atlantic salmon, brown trout, and coho salmon. Lake trout may be immune to the disease. Whirling disease occurs in much of Europe where it most likely originated. It was first detected in the U.S. in the mid-1950's and the disease has subsequently been found in 20 states including Michigan.

Whirling disease primarily affects young trout smaller than 4 inches in length and an infected fish exhibits erratic tail-chasing and skeletal deformities like bent backs and sunken heads. The disease is caused by a microscopic, waterborne, protozoan parasite that attacks the cartilage of young trout or salmon. The spores favor the head and spinal column of fish. Whirling disease spores (Myxobolus cerebralis) are released into the water when infected fish die and decompose, or are consumed and excreted by predators and scavengers.

The parasite has a complex, two-host life cycle that involves the fish and the bottom-dwelling tubifex worm, which is found in streams, rivers, and lakes. Whirling disease can be prevented at hatcheries by rearing fish in concrete-lined raceways where tubifex worms cannot live. It is important not to transport any live fish from an infected area to another area. Also do not dispose of any infected fish entrails, skeletal parts or other by-products in any water. If you are in an infected area, you can help prevent the spread of the disease by making sure you wash your boots and equipment if you have been wading where it is muddy. The tubificid worm stage of whirling disease likes mud, thus using chlorine to wash boots and equipment can help prevent the transfer of spores.

Fish that are infected with whirling disease pose no risk for human consumption. If you would like further information regarding whirling disease and its implications for Michigan's aquaculture industry, contact Bob Baldwin (President-Michigan Aquaculture Association) at 616/796-2284 or Mike Vanderklok (Michigan Department of Agriculture) at 517/373-8205.

The Annual Meeting of the Michigan Aquaculture Association will be the last half of January 1998. For information, call Bob Baldwin 616/796-2284 or Ron Kinnunen 906/228-4830.