Category Archives: Inland Fisheries
Door County fish companies pledge for more sustainability
Three Door County fishing companies are working to make sure no fish they catch goes to waste. Henriksen Fisheries, Baileys Harbor Fish Company, and J & M Fisheries have all signed the “100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge.” The pledge is part of an initiative created by the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers. It aims to productively use 100% of each fish caught on the Great Lakes by 2025. According to the initiative, in most cases, less than half of a fish is actually used. Henriksen says they already use their fish for more than just filets. Photos. >>click to read<< 08:48
Staff at Irish Aquarium Baffled as Rare Albino Lobster Turns Blue!
The rare albino lobster has been living at the community-run Achill Experience Aquarium in Co Mayo since he was discovered off the nearby coast six years ago and has become a huge attraction for tourists. He is affectionately called Charlie after the fisherman Charlie O’Malley who caught him off the Achill coast in 2017. It is estimated that only one in 100 million lobsters are white or albino. “Every time he moults (changes shell) in order to grow, which is every 12 to 14 months, we see the blue colour which is gradually getting stronger. >>click to read<< 07:34<<
Soo Tribe says it will appeal Great Lakes commercial fishing deal
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians says it will appeal an agreement struck between four other tribes, federal regulators and state of Michigan to govern Great Lakes commercial and sport fishing. The tribe said Monday, Oct. 9 that it would appeal the agreement, which was approved by a federal judge on Aug. 24, with the U.S. Sixth Circuit court of appeals by Oct. 23. The tribe did not join the agreement, which was reached in December between the state and federal governments, and the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, the Little River Band of Ottawa and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa. The agreement divvies up fishing rights in parts of lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior; extending until 2047 a longstanding regulatory framework which has been under negotiation since it expired in 2020. The deal covers Great Lakes that fall within Michigan waters in which the tribes reserve fishing rights per the 1836 Treaty of Washington. >>click to read<< 18:29
Commercial Fishing on the Great Lakes is a Family Affair
Although the number of fishermen who make a living on the waters of the Great Lakes is much diminished from a half century ago, the region’s commercial whitefish fishery continues to be viable and profitable. Henriksen Fisheries is one of about a dozen commercial entities in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan, focused on trap netting whitefish in Green Bay and the waters surrounding the Door Peninsula. Charlie Henriksen started his family-owned fishing business in Door County in 1987. Originally from Illinois, the Henriksen family enjoyed vacations in Door County, and eventually bought a hotel on the peninsula and became year-round residents. Charlie was enticed into joining friends fishing on the water, and it eventually became his full-time vocation. In 1989 he purchased his first boat. Photos, >click to read< 18:55
Natural Connections: The Lake Superior Fishery in Wisconsin Waters
The boat engine rumbled and machinery whirred as a gillnet rose from the depths of Lake Superior. Captain Ross Lind managed the throttle so that the 55-foot-long gillnet-tug-turned-research-vessel named Hack Noyes moved toward the net at the same speed the net lifter reeled it in. A group of interested adults on this Museum-sponsored field trip gathered around the equipment. We were mesmerized by the clicking of the metal teeth on the spinning drum as they gripped and then released the line, and by the lengths of delicate nylon net attached to the line. Capable hands guided the net down a long, stainless-steel worktable and into the storage tub. (Check 
out the Museum’s Reels on Instagram and Facebook if you want to see a video of this operation.) Gillnets look like a long tennis net, anchored by weights along the lake bottom and held vertical by floats. Small fish swim right through, but bigger fish get caught. Whether a DNR biologist or a commercial fisherman is setting the net, they can choose the fish they target by the size of the mesh and the depth of set. >click to read< 19:28
“Largest bighead carp we’ve caught:” Commercial fisherman snags massive fish in Illinois
A commercial fisherman scouring the backwaters of the Illinois River last week may have caught more than he bargained for when a massive bighead carp lodged itself in his net. What’s more surprising, it was the second fish in as many days with a weight hovering around the 100-pound mark that Charlie Gilpin Jr. hauled in while fishing the same waters. Gilpin reportedly caught the gigantic bighead carp on Thursday, June 15 — one day after he caught a 90-pounder in the same area, said Jason DeBoer, a larger river fisheries ecologist with the Illinois River Biological Station, a monitoring and research facility. >click to read< 11:50
Historic boom in Lake Superior’s herring population could be best in 40 years
Potentially record numbers of lake herring, also called cisco born last spring seem to have survived their first year of life, according to state and federal biologists. At a year old, they should be just large enough that few predators in Lake Superior will now eat them. The stunning boom, not seen since at least 1984, will help sustain both the ecosystem and Minnesota’s commercial fishing industry in one of the world’s greatest lakes for years to come, said Cory Goldsworthy, Lake Superior fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Goldsworthy said. “It’s something we’ve never seen before in our careers and may not see again.” >click to read< 09:46
Bay Port Fish Company part of first Fresh Fish Expo in Lansing
Legislators and residents were gathered on the lawn of the capitol building in Lansing for the first Fresh Fish Expo, where the commercial fishing companies in Michigan provided education on the freshwater resource and were cooking up fish for those in attendance on June 13. The Bay Port Fish Company was present and brought over plenty of fish for the occasion. The company is one of eight commercial fishing license holders in the state. “A lot of people came that didn’t know about commercial fishing,” said Lakon Williams, co-owner of Bay Port Fish Company. “They were able to meet the people who provide the fish in the state and have conversations with them.” 9 photos, >click to read< 17:55
From Wheatley: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Part 2)
Cec Balkwell is at the helm of the Lake Erie gillnetter, Everett H, owned at the time by Omstead Foods of Wheatley. Doug Johnston, his twin brother Don, Jim Whitesell and Gary Hickson are working the deck. Setting net in about 10 metres of water, just off Hen Island – 25 kilometres due south of Kingsville. Doug Johnston continues his story. “The anchor was on the rail at the stern. Cec gunned the engine; nothing unusual about that. There was a knot in the anchor line; it caught on my wedding ring. Before I knew it, I was over the stern going to the bottom.” >click to read< 08:09
Master of the Leanic: Tim McCormack continues a tradition going back five generations
For Tim McCormack, life doesn’t get any better than being out on the lake in his fishing boat, the Leanic. He says that it’s his “happy place”. “I’ve been doing this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper,” he said. “My father was a fisherman and on my mother’s side my grandfather Mel McIntosh was a fisherman, and his grandfather David McIntosh was one of the first commercial fishermen in this area.” Tim learned the trade and the secrets of the lake from his father and grandfather, and he provided an analogy for his knowledge of the lake that is a little too colourful to print in a family newspaper. Now, he is passing that generational knowledge along to his son, Jordan, who is just a couple of exams away from obtaining his Captain’s licence. >click to read< 11:16
From Wheatley: Voyage to the bottom of the sea (Part 1)
I came to be speaking with Doug Johnston in the net repair room of Johnston Net and Twine, the shop, on County Road 3 on the east side of Wheatley, that Doug co-owns with his son, Rob. Doug has been in the Lake Erie commercial fishing industry for 67 of his 79 years. Of those, Doug was on Lake Erie for 34 years, and for about four years on Lake Huron, as a deckhand, and then captain and boat owner. To this day, he co-owns, with his son Rob, the Dorothy J – a 68-foot, 300-horsepower Lake Erie fish tug built in 1957 at Dunnville on the Grand River.Like most people who make their living in the commercial fishing industry, Doug has seen a lot of things: years when fish were plentiful, years when it seemed they had vanished; spectacular sunrises on smooth-as-glass water; and terrifying storms and fellow-fishermen lost and rescued. >click to read< 10:06
Retired Nanticoke commercial fisherman catches a $2 million ace
The wildly popular Catch the Ace draw resulted in a big win on Thursday evening for Richard Marshall of Nanticoke. “I just got lucky, that’s all,” Marshall said on Friday after going to the legion with his wife Lorna to pick up a cheque for $2,035,295. It’s likely the biggest catch of his life. Marshall, age 83, is a retired commercial fisherman who worked on fishing boats on Lake Superior, as well as out of Nanticoke, Port Dover and Port Burwell on Lake Erie. “My wife’s got relatives in Switzerland,” said Marshall when asked about his plans after the big win. “I think we’ll go back over there and visit them for a while.” >click to read< 11:07
‘There’s no future in it’: Parry Sound commercial fishers given ever-decreasing catch limits
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry announced it was “modernizing” the commercial fishery, including a move toward fishers digitally reporting their daily catch. “They just keep taking (our quota) away,” said Sandra LePage of Nobel, who owns B. LePage Fishery with her husband, Bernie, (whose father founded the famous fish restaurant Henry’s). In 2018, the LePage Fishery was allowed to harvest 34,559 pounds of whitefish; that has dropped annually. Now, for 2023, they are allowed to harvest 20,470 pounds. For lake trout, the max was 8,128 pounds in 2018, and for 2023, it is 4,894 pounds. Commercial fisher Bill Kalwaski, who is based out of Byng Inlet, said that when the lake trout population is high, the whitefish population is down, and “without the whitefish, there is no commercial fishery in the upper great lakes,” >click to read< 18:30
‘The season where hope comes back:’ Praying for a good catch on Lake Erie
George Gibbons understands that saying a prayer over his fishing nets may not guarantee a good catch or keep him and his fellow commercial fishermen safe on Lake Erie’s choppy waters. But it can’t hurt, either. “We’re a superstitious lot,” said Gibbons, who has been a regular at the blessing of the nets ceremony at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Port Dover since the early 1970s. The annual church service is dedicated to the fishing families of Port Dover, which was once a bustling freshwater port and still retains a small fleet of commercial tugs that will return to the water in March. >click to read< 13:37
The Bugaled Breizh, sunk in 2004, will leave the Brest arsenal to be dismantled
On January 15, 2023, it will be nineteen years since the trawler Bugaled Breizh of Loctudy (Finistère), sank in less than a minute off Cape Lizard (United Kingdom), a shipwreck that had resulted in the death of the five sailors on board. Since July 2004 and the refloating of the ship for the purposes of the investigation, the wreck is stored out of sight on the naval military base of Brest. Legal proceedings are extinguished on both sides of the Channel. In France, a dismissal order was issued and confirmed in 2016. In Great Britain, the justice concluded in 2021 to a fishing accident to explain the sinking. A thesis firmly refuted by relatives of the victims, who maintain that a submarine would be at the origin of this fatal shipwreck. photos, external links, >click to read< 15:46
Christmas at Sea
Robert Louis Stevenson telescopes the distance between a cozy Christmas scene and a life-and-death struggle on the high seas Snowstorm. While Queen Victoria’s reign saw the steady rise of steam-powered ships, sailing vessels only slowly became obsolete, and ships often used a combination of steam and sail. Stevenson had very likely experienced first-hand, if only as a passenger, the drama of “Christmas at Sea.” The poem first appeared in the Scots Observer in 1888,,, The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee. >click to read< 12:33
The Great Lakes-Iceland connection through the 100% Whitefish effort
While Great Lakes fish populations are constantly in a state of flux, one species has declined precipitously in the last decade: lake whitefish. But Great Lakes leaders and fisheries managers are looking ahead in planning to do more with less. And in the case of whitefish, a lot more. The search for a way to preserve an industry with a shrinking natural resource brought the Iceland Ocean Cluster (IOC) into focus. IOC was founded by Thor Sigfusson in 2012 with a dozen companies on-site. There are now 70. So, what is it? And could it work as a model for the Great Lakes’ new whitefish initiative? >click to read< 17:09
Commercial fishermen issue demand to start netting lake trout on Lake Michigan
Commercial fishermen have intensified their push to establish a commercial harvest of lake trout on the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. Though the idea has been discussed since 2016 and in February a formal request was made by commercial interests, Department of Natural Resources fisheries managers have not introduced a proposal to allow netting for the species. As a result the Lake Michigan Commercial Fishing Board at two meetings this year reemphasized its strong desire for action on the topic. “It’s absolutely time (for a commercial lake trout rule to be implemented),” said Charlie Henriksen, a commercial fisherman from Sturgeon Bay and chairman of the board. “I mean there’s just no reason that this isn’t happening.” >click to read< 12:13
‘This is the death rattle for Irish fishing’: dozens of trawlers to be decommissioned in State scheme
Up to 80 trawlers from the country’s 180-strong offshore fishing fleet could be destroyed if all their owners are accepted onto the Brexit Voluntary Decommissioning Scheme. “People don’t seem to realise what is happening here. “This is the death rattle of the Irish fishing industry. “If all those 82 ships are taken out of the fleet, that will leave just 78. Alan Carleton, who has applied to decommission his family’s trawler Syracuse, said he could no longer afford to be a fisherman.“Two years ago, I would spend around €2,360 for fuel for an eight-day fishing trip. “That cost is now €13,200 for the same trip.” >click to read< 17:54
‘Follow the Fish’ to learn about tugs at GLMHC on Thursday
“Follow the Fish” to learn about the evolution of commercial fishing vessels in the Great Lakes. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Maritime Archaeologist Cassandra Sadler will examine the historical development of the traditional Great Lakes commercial fish tug. “Fish tugs and fishing vessels were immensely important to the Great Lakes fishing industry,” Sadler said. “There aren’t many of the fish tugs left … there’s only a handful of active commercial fish tugs, and many are in museums. So, we’re just trying to document them before they all disappear.” Photos, >click to read< 08:28
Everett’s Fisheries adds to fleet; Avis J comes aboard for 70th anniversary
For the past 70 years, the crews of the Everett’s Fisheries of Port Wing have plied the frigid waters of Lake Superior, wresting nets full of cisco chubs, lake trout, herring and whitefish from the big lake. A third generation of the Port Wing fishing clan established by Everett Johnson continues to fish and produce the smoked fish and Jeff Johnson intends to keep that tradition alive. To back up that determination, he recently purchased a new fishing boat, the Avis J, to add to Everett’s two-vessel fleet. Well, new to them at least. Photos, >click to read< 18:15
Four Generations at Hickey Brothers Fishery
When Hickey’s grandfather, Martin Hickey, sold land to build the town hall, he moved the Kilgore house, built in 1860, to a site across from The Ridges Sanctuary. The Hickey family still owns it. The Hickey family’s history of fishing in Baileys Harbor goes back to the mid-1800s. Martin Hickey Sr. began fishing hooks for lake trout using a 20-foot, wooden, flat-bottomed boat. He later purchased a Burger-built, gill-net boat named the Pathfinder. His son, William, continued in the business, and William’s sons, Dennis and Jeffrey, are the third generation of fishers in Baileys Harbor. They began working with Winegar, fishing alewives during the 1960s after duty in the U.S. Navy. Dennis’ daughter and son-in-law, Carin and Todd Stuth, joined the business after graduating from college in 2000. Photos, >click to read< 15:23
Fishermen sentenced for poaching paddlefish in MS lake
Two commercial fishermen from Kentucky illegally harvested paddlefish and paddlefish roe from a Mississippi lake, and it cost them their livelihood for five years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi announced. James Lawrence “Lance” Freeman, 27, of Eddyville, Kentucky, and Marcus Harrell, 34, of Murray, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act,,, According to prosecutors, Freeman or Harrell would take roe they harvested from paddlefish in Moon Lake back to Kentucky to sell to commercial processors, falsely claiming that the paddlefish had been caught in the Ohio River,,, >click to read< 17:34
Inland Fisheries: Michigan Fish Producers Association says it’s settled lawsuit with DNR
The Michigan Fish Producers association has said its class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Natural Resources has reached a settlement. Details of the settlement have yet to be made public. The fish producers association sued the DNR over regulations that producers claimed interfered with their livelihoods. Michael Perry is an attorney who represents the association. Although the settlement amount is still undisclosed, Perry said commercial fishers are satisfied with it. “The association’s board of directors, members who participated in that were pleased with the result of the mediation,” said Perry. >click to read< 16:23
Inland Fisheries: Can Illinois turn Asian carp into Chilean sea bass? State to announce new name
A new name for the much-maligned fish will be announced Wednesday by state officials who hope the rebrand will shed the negative image of a muddy tasting bottom-feeder and inject the truth — they’re top-feeding plankton eaters that taste quite good. The “Big Reveal” will be hosted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources,,, State officials hope the rebrand will lead to more people eating the fish, which would lead to more commercial fishing operations to pull them from the Illinois River and, ultimately, decrease their numbers and the risk that Asian carp could eventually make their way into the Great Lakes. >click to read< 17:37
Inland Fisheries: Meet the Last Commercial Fisherman of Washington Island
My dad asked me one day if I wanted to go fishing. I thought he meant sport fishing, so I headed for the fishing pole. He says, ‘No, not that kind, commercial fishing,’” Ken Koyen says of his start as a fourth-generation fisherman. “I said, ‘Commercial? Can I do it?’ He says, ‘Hold out your hands.’ So I held them out. He says, ‘They’re big enough!’ And that’s exactly how I got started.” That was when he was 17. Now, about to turn 70, Koyen is the last of his kind on Door County’s Washington Island. Most mornings, Koyen wakes up around 6 a.m. and makes his way to his fishing tug, the Sea Diver, docked in Jackson Harbor by 8 a.m. The 48-by-13-foot tug, built in 1950, is his daily companion. Though he fishes solo, he says he never feels alone because he senses the presence of his father with him. >click to read< 13:12
Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office continues search for fuel theft suspects
The Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department thinks high fuel costs may have motivated someone to siphon gas from a commercial fishing operation last week. On Thursday, a gas spill occurred on the eastern shore of Lac La Belle. Deputies from the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene. “When we got there we discovered approximately 20 to 30 gallons of fuel had spilled into Lac La Belle,” Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala said. Pennala said suspects snipped the fuel lines of a mostly empty 275-gallon fuel tank attached to a parked commercial fishing boat. According to Pennala, they managed to escape from the scene with some fuel, while the rest leaked into the lake. Pennala said he suspects a potential motive may be related to continued high gas prices. >click to read< 21:41 stolen fuel
Inland Fisheries: ‘It’s in the blood’ for Lake Erie commercial fishermen
It’s about 6:25 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29 on the pitch-black calm of Lake Erie. The Lady Anna II is pointed due south, about 10 miles due south of Kingsville and five miles northwest of the north shore of Pelee Island. In the wheelhouse, Captain Mike Mummery has slowed the Lady Anna II to a one-knot crawl. Craig Adamson and Josh Mummery are at the starboard midship “picking” station, removing 2,000 pounds of pickerel from the more 
than one-third of a mile of net hauled aboard just 35 minutes ago. James “Marty” Martin and Curtis Mummery stand by at the open sliding doors of the port stern hatch. “Marty” is facing the stern, just forward of the “roller”; a metal spool mounted vertically on a metal pole. At his feet are boxes loaded-up with 160-yard-long sections of empty, clean net. The end of one of those boxes of net is draped over the roller, towards the stern. > Click to read < 10:53
Aboard the Lake Erie fishing tug Lady Anna II (Part 1)
It’s 4:35 a.m. in the early-morning pitch-black of Tuesday, March 29, at the edge of Kingsville harbour on the north shore of Lake Erie. The wind whistles in from the north. The thermometer in my truck reads -5°C. It feels more like -20°C. Tied to the dock on the glassy-calm waters of the harbour is the Lady Anna II. I already feel cold. Gazing at the Lady Anna II makes me feel even colder. I imagine that inside must feel like being in a tin can in a freezer turned to maximum cold. I’m supposed to meet Captain Mike Mummery and his crew at 5 a.m. for a day of fishing – to see what the Lake Erie commercial fishery is really like. And then, at 5:05 a.m., a white pickup truck roars up to dock-side and out pour the captain and his crew: Craig Adamson of Leamington, and James “Marty” Martin, Curtis Mummery and Josh Mummery, all of Wheatley. They all are all business. >click to read< 09:46
