Category Archives: Inland Fisheries
Inland Fisheries: DNR proposes a study on the effect of commercial gill nets on Lake Michigan
The Department of Natural Resources has proposed a study of the impacts of commercial gill netting on non-target sport fish such as chinook salmon and brown trout in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. Commercial fishers in Zone 3 have lobbied the agency for the ability to use large mesh gill nets to catch lake whitefish. The gear has been prohibited in the zone, which covers the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan south of Bailey’s Harbor, to prevent bycatch and mortality of sport fish as well as user conflicts. However, large mesh gill nets are allowed for commercial fishing in northern Lake Michigan and part of Green Bay. Commercial fishers have requested the same opportunity in Zone 3. click here to read the story 15:11
$300 million Asian Carp control plan needs study, says Lt. Gov.
Another proposed step to prevent Asian carp in the Illinois River from invading the Great Lakes needs a careful look, Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti said Monday morning aboard the twin-screw tugboat “Windy City” while it plied the Illinois River at Ottawa. In July, the Army Corps of Engineers released a new carp control system that would be installed at the Brandon Roads Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River in Joliet. Of the $300 million cost of the installation the state is being asked to put up $90 million, she said, and then pay $10 million annually in maintenance expenses,, “The actual (Asian carp) population has decreased 68 percent because of commercial fishing and other nonstructural solutions that are working,” said Del Wilkins. click here to read the story 15:43
Premiering Saturday – ‘Dead in the Water’ showing in Rockport to benefit Fisherman’s Fund
When he embarked on his documentary “Dead in the Water” in 2013 as a cinematic army of one, David Wittkower operated with the sense that he was capturing, if not the final act, then certainly the denouement of the Gloucester fishing crisis. He had, on visits to his native Rockport from his home in Los Angeles, seen the atrophying of the once-proud commercial fishing fleet and decided it was a Gloucester story worth telling. Little did the veteran filmmaker know of the national and global nature of what he was witnessing along the waterfront of America’s oldest commercial fishing seaport. click here to read the story Watch the trailer click here 08:06
Chinese business brings prosperity to fishermen on Mississippi
After less than 10-minute cruising on the Mississippi River in west Kentucky, Mark Buttler stopped his boat near a shoal and began to cast nets. He harvested 400 pounds of fish from two fishnets on this bright autumn morning. For the 62-year-old fisherman, who joined his father for fishing soon after high school graduation in the westernmost part of the U.S. state of Kentucky, the daily routine also includes selling his catch to a local business run by a Chinese entrepreneur. Before 2013, he sold his fish either to a market up north or to a seafood restaurant in Ledbetter, Kentucky. Then Angie Yu came to the City of Wickliffe in west Kentucky and opened the Two Rivers Fisheries to process fish from the Mississippi. Yu’s efforts also coincide with the U.S. government’s eagerness to remove some of the Asian carp from the river. click here to read the story 17:53
Lake Erie commercial fishermen sell catch right off their boat
Whatever Jim Shaffer and Brian Sontag are doing, they’d rather be fishing. “We’ve been friends since second grade,” Sontag said. “We have pictures of us fishing in creeks.” They have “real” jobs. Shaffer, 46, sells furniture; Sontag, 45, does computer wiring for Viscom Systems. Slowly but surely, though, they’re making a go of commercial fishing with their boat, Real Glory, and Sontag’s trap net license, both of which they landed six years ago. “Originally, I had my captain’s license,” Sontag said. “I was going to run charters and open a bait-and-tackle shop.” But he had put in for a Lake Erie trap net license, which is drawn by lottery, and got one. They decided to try to make a go of that instead. click here to read the story 11:21
Scientists concerned over health of fish species as wastewater treatment plants fail to remove drugs
Human antidepressants are building up in the brains of bass, walleye and several other fish common to the Great Lakes region, scientists say. In a new study, researchers detected high concentrations of these drugs and their metabolized remnants in the brain tissue of 10 fish species found in the Niagara River. The discovery of antidepressants in aquatic life in the river raises serious environmental concerns, says lead scientist Diana Aga, PhD, the Henry M. Woodburn Professor of chemistry in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences. “These active ingredients from antidepressants, which are coming out from wastewater treatment plants, are accumulating in fish brains,” Aga says. “It is a threat to biodiversity, and we should be very concerned. click here to read the story 16:57
Hickeys Launch New Commercial Fishing Vessel
The Gunnar J is the new 46-foot aluminum trap net boat powered by a Cummins QSC 660 engine, built by Hickey Bros. Research. The construction was supervised by Todd Stuth at Hickey Bros. Research, with help from Dennis and Jeff Hickey, Steve Warwick and John Tong. The boat will fish Lake Michigan for the Hickey Bros. Fishery. It is named after Gunnar Stuth, son of Todd Stuth and the youngest grandson of Dennis Hickey. link 08:41
NOAA seeks jurisdiction of Lake Michigan waters next to Wisconsin – Protecting shipwrecks or shipwrecking the economy?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is preparing to designate the waters of Lake Michigan next to Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Ozaukee counties as a national marine sanctuary, and that has set off a howl of protest that the state is surrendering its jurisdictional authority to the federal government, which critics say could threaten commercial fishing and coastal recreational activities, among other things. Meanwhile, both the Trump administration and Congress are looking into the national marine sanctuary program and into what some say are its overreaching and unilateral power to impose restrictions in the sanctuary areas. click here to read the story 09:41
Kentucky State Fish and Wildlife Department seeking input on entrepreneurial solutions for Asian carp problem
Asian carp swim by the millions in Kentucky’s waterways, threatening to crowd out native fish in some of the state’s most cherished fishing destinations – including Kentucky and Barkley lakes in the west. With an absence of predators and little natural controls available for these invasive species, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the state Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are seeking public input on a plan to limit the explosive growth of Asian carp populations while providing a valuable protein source for people. State officials will evaluate a potential public/private partnership to boost the emerging Asian carp fish processing business in Kentucky. State support of entrepreneurs could include hiring commercial anglers and rental of necessary equipment; supplying freezer space in warehouses; purchasing catches during low demand times; and cash incentives, among other potential solutions. click here to read the story 08:30
Fisherman Charged in Wife’s Lake Killing Despite No Body
A commercial fisherman’s story about his wife disappearing into the depths of Lake Erie on a boating trip isn’t adding up, and Pennsylvania authorities believe they know why. They say he’s the one who put her there. Christopher Leclair, 48, is jailed on a charge of criminal homicide in the presumed death of his wife of nearly 26 years, Karen, whose body has not been found. Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri, “If you don’t have a body, you’re going to have to have a strong circumstantial case,” he said. The prosecutor and Kline believe they do, including other statements from Christopher Leclair that also don’t jibe, according to police affidavits filed with search warrants and criminal complaints. click here to read the story 11:50
Lake harvests are likely more fruitful than we knew
Harvests from freshwater fisheries such as the Great Lakes could total more than 12 million tons a year globally and contribute more to global food supplies and economies than previous estimates indicate, according to a study published today by Michigan State University and the U.S. Geological Survey.,, Freshwater ecosystems across the planet provide valuable services, such as drinking water, hydropower, irrigation for agriculture and economically important recreation and tourism. The USGS, Michigan State University and partners estimated the 2011 fish harvest from over 246,000 lakes worldwide. They found that the harvest was 18.5 billion pounds, or the weight of more than a million large African elephants. click here to read the story 15:31
Updated: Husband Charged with Homicide After Reporting Wife Missing in Lake
Pennsylvania State Police have filed charges against the husband of an Albion woman who reportedly went missing in Lake Erie over the weekend. Erie News Now has learned Christopher Leclair, 48, has been charged with criminal homicide in the death of his wife Karen. Karen Leclair, 51, was reported missing Sunday afternoon. Christopher Leclair told the U.S. Coast Guard she had fallen off their commercial fishing vessel on Lake Erie Sunday afternoon. State Police tell us surveillance video catches Christopher Leclair and his wife heading onto the lake on Saturday and Christoper returning alone. Investigators say the video shows Christopher Leclair heading out on the water again Sunday. click here to read the story and related articles 0
Surveillance Video Helps Police Charge Husband in Wife’s Murder – When questioned by police, the other woman said Leclair spent the night at her house Saturday and the two discussed moving in together. click here to read the story 12:51
Woman Reported Missing in Lake Erie After Falling From a Fishing Boat
Pennsylvania State Police have issued search warrants as they are called in to assist in the case of a woman missing in Lake erie, after her husband reported she fell off a boat Sunday afternoon. She is identified as 51-year-old Karen LeClair of Albion. Her husband 48-year-old Christopher Leclair says it was the commercial fishing vessel he operates, the “Doris M.” that she fell from. According to Sgt. Brook Tolbert of the PA Fish and Boat Commission, Mrs. Leclair, a partner with her husband in a commercial fishing enterprise called, Lake Erie Fishing was not wearing a life vest. . “Mr. Leclair indicated that she was not wearing a life vest, there were plenty of life vests on board the vessel at the time, but she was not wearing it and she’s not required to wear it,” Video, click here to read the story 20:43
Last Man Standing: A Man and the River
Slicing across the tranquil Tennessee River, Leon Bivens looked across the dark blue expanse ahead — at the lights of the factories reflecting off the water and the steel and concrete bridges connecting the River City to destinations north. The 73-year-old’s calloused hands shrouded in yellow rubber gloves reached into the water and pulled on a line. A smattering of catfish and buffalo danced along the 100 hooks. “I love the river. The river is my life. I enjoy going to the river, putting down my lines, pulling them and catching fish, too. I really need to catch them, but I enjoy catching them anyhow. Ain’t I lucky,” Bivens said. For the past 59 years, Bivens has watched the changing world of the fishing industry from his boat’s wooden perch. He saw the rise in popularity of game fishing tournaments, the closing of mom-and-pop fish markets and the fall of independent commercial fishermen. click here to read the story 13:08
Cutting Deep – Commercial Fishermen killing one trout to save another in Yellowstone National Park
“Everything in Yellowstone National Park is a controversy,” says Dan Wenk, Yellowstone National Park superintendent. “And I’m glad it is because it means people care.” One of the things they care about is what’s going on in Yellowstone Lake. That’s where a commercial fishing crew from the Great Lakes region is catching lake trout with up to 40 miles of netting. This is the epicenter of the angry visitor’s angst. Lake trout are not native to the park. An angler caught the first one in 1994. By mid 2000s, lake trout had eaten 90 to 95 percent of the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the lake. Commercial gillnetting to kill lake trout went gangbusters in 2009. “The problem is lake trout are like large wolves on the landscape, only in the lake,” Koel says. “Large, highly predatory, fish-eating machines essentially.” Click here to read the story 12:01
Federal agents raid home of southern Indiana fisherman
The stillness in the air off Zoo Road in English on Monday sounded like a stark contrast to the chaos David Cox described at his nearby home. “They was hollering, ‘David! David!'” Cox recalled. “And there was as many as you could possibly put on my stairway with assault rifles and down here on the ground pointing them at me.”Last Wednesday, a raid from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife brought roughly 50 agents to his front door. They came after an illegal fish. “I said, ‘You serve all your warrants like this for an illegal fish?'” Cox said. Cox is a commercial fisherman who owns Midwest Caviar and combs the Ohio River for paddlefish. He says he recently found out an informant or undercover agent was on his boat last season in Troy, Indiana, when a fish came into question. Video, click here to read the story 19:27
The Fisherman Who Saved Fishtown
Fishtown looks as it did a half-century ago, when it was simply a fishing port. The commercial fishing boats, the Janice Sue and the Joy, bob slightly on gentle wakes left by charter boats heading out of the river. And smoke drifting from the crooked-arm chimneys of a smokehouse beside the white clapboard Carlson’s Fisheries is a sign that the business of fish mongering is well underway. Inside, a second pot of coffee is brewing in the big Bunn coffeemaker, and a hundred pounds of whitefish have just lost their pinbones to the deft hands of four Carlsons: Bill Carlson, owner of the fishery and of Fishtown, his wife Jennifer, his son Clay, and his great nephew, Chris Herman. Clad in suspenderes foul-weather pants, streaked now in blood, the foursome has worked shoulder-to-shoulder for over an hour. They banter as they work—Bill quips that his white hair is really blonde, turned from eating too much fish. Good read, click here to read the story 08:00
Progress made on invasive Asian carp in Kentucky thanks to Commercial Fishermen
Asian carp have been a big problem in our state. For years now, the KDFWR has worked with commercial fisherman, private fish processors and others in efforts to remove the Asian carp from our waters. Since 2015, three processors have been established, and their facilities have led to the harvest of more than 1.2 million pounds of Asian carp in 2015; more than 800,000 pounds from Kentucky and Barkley lakes. These processors are putting a big dent into this large population and are taking a fish that is unwanted in our waterways and putting them to use by processing them into food to ship overseas. In March, Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe announced it was expanding. The plant doubled production in the past year, processing more than four million Asian carp to ship the fillets overseas and to use in fertilizers. click here to read the story 10:32
Historic Great Lakes fishing tug Palmer dismantled at former Azarian Marina
A crew from Vassh Excavating and Grading began work Friday to dismantle the historic Palmer, a 90-year-old commercial fishing boat. The Great Lakes fishing tug was carved out of the ice on the Root River in January after the boat sank at its slip at the Pugh Marina in late December near the State Street Bridge. The crew began work to demolish the 47-foot long, 13-foot-wide Palmer by hauling debris out of the boat. After they complete their work, only the metal shell of the Palmer will remain. Once all the boat’s debris has been removed, the shell will be hauled from the former Azarian Marina site off Water Street. When demolishing the boat, Vassh’s crew began to uncover a treasure trove of historic items, including three steering wheels in nearly perfect condition, eight porthole windows, a lamp from 1896, various old wood carvings and books from the 1920s. They also located the original 1926 lights, a Case motor and Twin Disc transmission. click here to see images, video, and read the story 13:24
Telling it like it is! NOAA has done enough already and has failed in spectacular fashion
One wonders why a Marine Sanctuary is needed to protect shipwrecks. Sanctuaries are usually established to protect ecosystems. The typical reason for establishing a Sanctuary off our shores is inapplicable because our native ecosystem has been destroyed. After the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 NOAA was assigned the responsibility of protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species, essentially making the entire region a sanctuary. NOAA has failed in spectacular fashion.,, NOAA allowed the Lamprey Eel and Alewife into our native waters shortly after the Seaway opened. These and other foreigners decimated our native fishery. Smelt survived until the 1980’s but now they too have been displaced by some other invasive species that NOAA failed to protect us from, was it the Quagga Mussel or the Round Gobi? (must read) Click here to read the letter. 10:04
TAC increase brings optimistic times for Lake Erie commercial fishery
The Canada-U.S. committee that manages the fishery likes the recent research data it has seen. As a result, the Lake Erie Committee has increased the amount of yellow perch and walleye commercial fishermen are allowed to catch this year. The total allowable catch for yellow perch has been pegged at 10.4 million pounds. This is a 13 percent increase over 2016. The numbers are even better for walleye, which is commonly served in lakeshore restaurants as pickerel. As a top predator in the lake, walleye are managed as individuals and not by weight. The Lake Erie Committee will allow 5.924 million walleye to be harvested this year. That’s a 20 percent increase over 2016. click here to read the story 09:38
Commercial fishermen catch carp and more in the cold waters at Point Douglas.
It was cold and windy on March 21 when Jim Shiely went down to the beach across from his home in Prescott. Waves washed against the sand. The commercial fishermen were out in their big broad-beamed boats and chest waders, hauling in nets full of rough fish: a writhing mass of suckers, sheepshead, and assorted bottom-feeders. “No paddlefish that I saw,” Jim wrote. “Saw one good sized musky which the MN DNR weighed and measured around 44 inches and one small sturgeon. A lot of quillback, all of which they threw back. Saw a nice number of huge walleyes, which of course are thrown back along with all other game fish.” view the photo gallery, read the rest here 08:38
Bill would prohibit fish farming in US Great Lakes waters
A member of Congress is sponsoring a bill to prohibit fish farming in waters of the Great Lakes within the United States. Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan says poorly operated aquaculture facilities can increase pollution, destroy fish habitat, spread disease and introduce non-native species. Michigan has received proposals for net-like commercial fishing enclosures in the Great Lakes. There are none in U.S. Great Lakes waters at present, although Canada has allowed them. Kildee’s bill also would ban aquaculture on rivers designated as wild and scenic, unless the facilities are shown not to discharge pollutants into the rivers. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recently granted a permit to expand a fish farm on the Au Sable River in Grayling. The Au Sable is a wild and scenic river. Link 10:30
Commercial ice fishermen in Rice County Minnesota remove carp by the truckload
February fishing in Faribault is nothing new. Ice fishing houses routinely dot Rice County’s lakes in this frigid month as intrepid outdoorsmen continue their Minnesotan search for the perfect fish. Unusual in this deeply-rooted ice fishing culture is a semi-truck, left idling next to Cannon Lake in the parking lot of Shager Park outside Faribault. On its side, the trailer reads simply, “FISH,” which is all one needs to know about the contents of its load. While Faribault’s anglers are surely prolific with a line and a lure, nobody who takes their pickup on Cannon Lake on a Friday afternoon could fill this semi. Bruce Geyer, a commercial fisherman from Waterville, can. On Friday, Geyer took away an enormous load of carp, sheepshead and ictiobus, which are more commonly known as buffalo. Earlier in the week, Geyer lifted 20,000 pounds of carp, 5,000 pounds of sheepshead and nearly 500 pounds of buffalo. On Friday, he estimated that the day’s load dwarfed that of earlier in the week. Photos, continue reading the story here 10:16
All 12 crew members of sunken longliner rescued
Three helicopters and three lifeboats were launched after a distress signal of the “Gure Uxua” from Cariño (A Coruña), was received on Feb 3, 2017, at 3:26 p.m. upon returning home from fishing grounds off France. An SAR operation startedoff the coast of Luarca extending to Navia. All seven Galician and five Portuguese crew members of the fishing vessel that sank in the afternoon off the northern coast of Spain have been rescued alive by 5.30 p.m. The “Gure Uxua” went down 50 miles off the coast of Navia in Asturias. The crew abandoned ship into a raft. Read the story here 12:53
REWARD!! Michigan DNR Offers Big Reward For Plan To Block Invasive Fish
If the fishing world had a most-wanted list, Asian carp surely top it. There are plenty of despised invasives plaguing U.S. waters, but how many of them have a $1 million dollar bounty on their heads? That’s what the Michigan Department of Natural Resources just dropped on the table. Show the agency a viable plan for stopping those silver and big head carp from reaching the Great Lakes and you could be eligible for a sweet payday. In case you haven’t already heard the tale, Asian carp are prolific breeders that can reach 50-pounds. The filter-feeding invasives consume massive amounts of the tiny plants (phytoplankton) and animals (zooplankton) that feed native forage species, along with juvenile sport fish such as walleye and yellow perch. Disrupting the food web can wreak havoc on local fisheries. Read the story here with link to DNR 12:21
In photos: Historic Great Lakes fishing tug Palmer is removed from the Root River
The Palmer, a Great Lakes fishing tug, is removed from the Root River Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, after the boat sank in late December near the State Street Bridge. The boat is a wood-hulled commercial fishing boat built by Sturgeon Bay Boat Works in 1926. According to the website Fishing Vessels of the Great Lakes, it was built for Alfred Shellswick of Waukegan, Ill., who fished with it until 1935. Click here to view 22 more photo’s 08:44
Concerns linger over Lake Superior’s historic herring fishery
Minnesota fisheries managers are concerned about the long term health of the lake herring fishery in Lake Superior. Biologists worry not enough young herring are surviving to sustain the fishery, while at the same time demand for the fish has spiked. Minnesota’s 25 or so commercial fishermen who ply the waters off the North Shore have caught a lot fewer cisco in recent years. The herring, or cisco, fishery is always unpredictable, said Steve Dahl, a commercial fisherman who works out of the Knife River marina on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The last few falls have been tough for Dahl, whose nets have yielded fewer herring at a crucial time of year. This year was different, though. “November was really good, one of the better ones I’ve had,” he said. “Towards the end I sort of got overwhelmed, it was just too much.” Read the story here 11:21
Invasive Asian carp less than 50 miles from Lake Michigan
The news is mixed as Great Lake states and the federal government continue to devote money and brainpower to stopping a potential Great Lakes ecological disaster — invasive Asian carp species making their way from the Mississippi River into Lake Michigan. First the good news: The leading edge of the mass of bighead and silver carp hasn’t made much progress lately up the Mississippi and connected rivers toward Lake Michigan. Now the bad news: The younger fish — juveniles — are moving closer, the evidence shows. And they can do more damage. “The bottom line is that the juvenile front is advancing, and made a big jump last year,” said Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. “And we still don’t have a permanent solution in place that’s going to solve this problem.” Read the story here 08:59
Floating factory vessel to process Invasive Asian Carp in Tennessee
Leaping from rivers and lakes like aquatic projectiles and ravaging the food base of native fish, Asian carp are loathed by outdoors enthusiasts and state wildlife officials alike for being not just a nuisance, but a threat to boating and fishing industries worth $2.9 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively, in Tennessee. Enter Joe Gillas. He sees the invasive fish as an opportunity. Gillas’ company, Riverine Fisheries International, plans to moor a factory fishing vessel at the Port of Cates Landing, located on the Mississippi River near Tiptonville, Tennessee, about 100 miles north of Memphis. The nearly 350-foot-long boat would process Asian carp caught in the Mississippi and other rivers and lakes into food products to be exported to some 20 countries, including China and Russia. “I think there’s a good business model here,” said Gillas, 53, who was born and raised in Alaska and has fished all over the world. “I think we can do something good and make money at the same time.” Read the story here 08:35
