State of Lake Huron Percids

David G. Fielder & James P. BakerMichigan DNR

Lloyd C. MohrOntario MNR

Sport Harvest numbers and yield in Michigan waters of Lake Huron, 1999

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

Nu

mb

er &

yie

ld (

kg)

Percids Salmonines Coregonids Centrarchids &Percichthyids

Esocids other

Species

Numbers Yield

Notable historic walleye populations & fisheries in Lake Huron.

Schneider and Leach 1977Schneider and Leach 1979Reckahn and Thurstan 1991

St. JosephChannel Mississagi

RiverSpanishRiver McGregor

Bay Chikanishing River

French River & Lake Nipissing

Magnetawan River

Shawanaga River

Shebeshekong River

Moon River

Severn River

Nottawasaga River

St. MarysRiver

St. Ignace

Cheboygan River

Straits

OcqueocRiver

Thunder Bay

Au Sable River

Saginaw Bay

Saginaw RiverSystem

Lower lake Sources

Thessalon River

Fish Community Objectivesfor Walleye

• Reestablish and/or maintain walleye as the dominant cool-water predator over its traditional range with populations capable of sustaining a harvest of 0.7 million kg.

0200400600800

1,0001,2001,4001,6001,800

1885 1898 1908 1918 1928 1938 1948 1958 1968 1978 1988 1998

Year

Yie

ld (

thou

sand

s of

kg.

)Walleye Yield from Lake Huron 1885 - 1999

FCO

Walleye yield in Lake Huron

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Year

Yie

ld (k

g)

MI Yield CORA Yield ON Yield

FCO Objective

Michigan Sport, CORA commercial, Ontario sport, Ontario commercial.There is no Michigan commercial fishery for walleye, No data available for Ontario First Nation extractions. Data does not include tributary harvest which can be substantial.

1987 -1992 average yield

100% sport

99.7% commercial 0.3% sport

Lake Erie walleye tag returns

Lake Huron walleye mixed stock composition

60-70% Lake Erie fish10-20% Tittabawassee River fish10-20% Thames River fish

8 Georgian Bay river sources; reduced genetic diversity attributed to human influences

Commercial or subsistence harvest of walleye in Lake Huron

Walleye Stocking in Lake Huron

St. MarysRiver

Thunder Bay

Au Sable River

Saginaw Bay

Saginaw RiverSystem

St. Martins Bay

Spanish River Whitefish falls

MacGregor Bay

Sheguindah

Little Current Key River

Magnetawan River

Naiscoot RiverShawanaga RiverShebeshekong River

Sequin RiverBoyne River

Port Rawson Bay & Moon River

Severn & North Rivers

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1880 1901 1922 1932 1945 1962 1972 1982 1992

Year

Yie

ld (

met

ric

tons

)

Pre 1945 commercial ave ~453.6 Tonnes or about 1 million lbs.

Walleye Yield from Saginaw Bay

Since 1983, sport ave ~165 Tonnes or about 363,724 lbs.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Per

cen

t

Estimate Source

OTC marking Alternate year

Fish Community Objectivesfor Yellow Perch

• Maintain yellow perch as the dominant nearshore omnivore while sustaining a harvestable annual surplus of 0.5 million kg.

Notable historic or current yellow perch populations & fisheries in Lake Huron.

Saginaw Bay

Tawas Bay

Port Austin

Harbor Beach

Oscoda

Harrisville

Thunder Bay

Les Cheneaux Islands

St. Marys River

Whales Back

Georgian Bay

Bay of Islands

Gore Bay

LaCloche Islands

Stokes Bay

Chantry Island

Baie Du Dore

Point Clark

Port Albert

Goderich

Bayfield

Grand Bend

Kettle Point

Blue Point

Severn Sound

0200400600800

1,0001,2001,4001,6001,8002,000

1894 1904 1914 1924 1934 1944 1954 1964 1974 1984 1994

Year

Yie

ld (

thou

sand

s of

kg.

)Yellow Perch Yield from Lake Huron 1894 - 1999

FCO

Yellow Perch yield in Lake Huron

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Year

Yiel

d (k

g)

MI Yield CORA Yield ON Yield

FCO Objective

Michigan sport, Michigan commercial, CORA commercial, Ontario sport, Ontario commercial.No data available for Ontario First Nation extractions. 1998 & 1999 Ontario sport harvest estimated on 92 -97 average.

23% commercial 77% sport

87% commercial 13% sport

Commercial and subsistence fishing for yellow perch in Lake Huron

Outer Bay Ports

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

Year

Har

vest

Northern Ports

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Year

Har

vest

Saginaw Bay

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

Year

Har

vest

Southern Port

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

Year

Har

vest

Mean length at ages 3 and 4 for Saginaw Bay Yellow Perch

Sta

te a

vg.

87 89 91 93 95 97 99

0

50

100

150

200

250T

ota

l le

ng

th (

mm

)

Age 3 Age 4

Year

Yellow perch CPUE (abundance) in survey nets, sport fishery harvest (estimates in thousands), and angler CPUE (perch/hr.)

for Les Cheneaux Islands for 1969 - 2000

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 OO

Year

CP

UE

of

Yel

low

Per

ch in

Sur

vey

Net

s an

d nu

mbe

r ha

rves

ted

in K

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

An

gler

CP

UE

perch CPUE Harvest angler CPUE

Emerging Issues

• Eastern Georgian Bay / North Channel Stewardship Council

• Strategic assessment plan for nearshore populations

• New harvest regulations anticipated.

• Walleye recovery research concluding on Saginaw Bay

• OTC marking of walleye

• Walleye mixed stocks in Lake Huron

• St. Marys River assessment plan

Ontario waters:

Michigan waters:

Issues in common:

Advances needed to achieve walleye FCOs

• Saginaw Bay walleye fishery needs to reach potential

• Improved fish passage or dam removal is needed basin wide

• Reduced harvest in some areas

Advances needed to achieve yellow perch FCOs

• Main basin near shore habitat needs restoration.