Lake Erie species given clean bill of health

Spiel · May 10, 2009

Lake Erie species given clean bill of health

May 5, 2009

As a belated present, outdoors enthusiasts might consider taking mom fishing on Lake Erie.

Expert fisheries professionals gathered at Armor Fire Hall in Hamburg on April 30 for an annual State of Lake Erie Meeting to offer updates and status reports on Erie’s popular fish species.

Sponsored by New York State Assemblyman Jack Quinn, R-Hamburg, with coordination from New York Sea Grant and Southtowns Walleye Association, this meeting gives anglers and all others interested in how the fish are swimming some direction and insight on the lake’s layout.

Helen Domske served as host and presenter, introducing Quinn, who, like many of the 110 in attendance, simply enjoyed being there. “This is fun,” Quinn said, “because I can just sit back with friends and find out what’s going on out there on our lake.”

The first speaker, Don Einhouse, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Lake Erie Unit leader, spends countless hours on the water and in data studies, and has spent more than 25 years looking at this lake. He began with a most candid and forthright observation: “Every year the state of this lake changes in some ways.”

Economic concerns affect things all across the state, but Einhouse noted that all features of the Lake Erie Unit Base program are in place for the coming year. Projects include angler surveys, netting surveys, tagging studies, plankton sampling, and extensive reporting on all data gathered.

While numbers of anglers have generally declined during the past two decades, Einhouse attributes that involvement more to social than to actual fishery facts.

He cited increased successes in the three species that have made Erie a major fishing destination: yellow perch, walleye, and smallmouth bass.

Angler surveys have begun and first reports have fair catches of big perch from waters east of Cattaraugus Creek. Increased water clarity and a slew of exotic invaders caused a decline in perch populations through the 1990s, but good hatches starting in 2000 have restored perch numbers throughout the lake’s eastern basin.

Walleye, like perch populations, peaked just after a record hatch in 1984. More recently, the 2003 year class of ’eyes came close to the top production and survival rate of ’84.

Actually, the ’03 class has already reached its max numbers; anglers in 2009 should expect to see fewer but bigger fish from that year’s class.

Smallmouth bass have been the most stable in both spawning and catch rates. Einhouse noted an early-season bass program begun in 1994 has not negatively affected the bass fishery. “Most early-season anglers release the fish they catch and in the total season-long catch of 100,000 we’re seeing about 6,000 of those fish caught,” he said.

Trout fishing has been spectacular on Lake Erie, he noted. Lake trout, though not a major fishery, has seen an increase with the introduction of a Klondike strain that has a large growth rate and better spawning capabilities in cold water. Also, sea lamprey, a major lake trout predator, has declined in numbers.

Rainbow/steelhead trout have been great in New York State waters and ranks as the No. 1 fish anglers seek lake-wide.

Einhouse answered a question about bait restrictions with the comment, “The 2008 incidents of Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) were low, but we have much to be learned about VHS.”

He concluded with reference to the number of upwellings or rapid water-temperature changes seen recently in Erie’s New York State waters. Sudden changes, sometimes just three degrees, can be injurious or fatal to some fish species.

In total, all warm-and cold-water fish species Lake Erie has to offer received Einhouse’s good to great ratings. For detailed studies of the lake’s fish species, he suggests going to glfc.org.

Senior aquatic biologist Mike Wilkinson keyed on the one popular game-fish species that has suffered in recent years, muskellunge. Until about 15 years ago, Buffalo Harbor and the upper Niagara River had been sources for many a 50- inch trophy catch of muskie.

Wilkinson reported that recent years have seen numbers reduced in the harbor and the upper river, with the remaining larger fish foraging in open waters of Lake Erie.

Young-of-the-year (y-o-y) muskies have been rare in the harbor, but nursery sites in the river have produced y-o-y that reach 9-10 inches by September, he noted.

Wilkinson cited Kevin Kapusinski, a graduate student doing his doctoral studies on St. Lawrence fish, which will include habitat and dietary studies of area muskellunge.

Dr. William Edwards of Niagara University reported on the “Dead Zone” phenomenon often seen in the central basin of Lake Erie. Algae formations and oxygen depletion may be a problem more critical at the central and western areas of the lake.

Domske finished discussions with an announcement that all the electrical barriers against Asian carp have been installed to prevent this exotic species from invading.

Domske also noted that Lake Erie is home to lake sturgeon, an exotic-looking resident species that has been around since prehistoric times and is being observed more often in recent years. She asked anglers who happen to see these protected fish to report their location and other data to the New York Sea Grant/U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lower Great Lakes office at 691-5456.