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RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN LAKE SUPERIOR. Don Schreiner, MNDNR Steve Schram, WIDNR Shawn Sitar, MIDNR Mike Petzold, OMNR. History of Recreational Fishing. Native Americans – first anglers – subsistence Commercial fishing began - fur trade subsidized
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RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN LAKE SUPERIOR Don Schreiner, MNDNR Steve Schram, WIDNR Shawn Sitar, MIDNR Mike Petzold, OMNR
History of Recreational Fishing • Native Americans – first anglers – subsistence • Commercial fishing began - fur trade subsidized • Commercial families started resorts began sport fishing
History of Recreational Fishing • Much of first angling experience was from shore/stream • Fly fishing • Elite class of anglers • Superior Fishing-Robert Barnwell Roosevelt-1865 • First charter captains were commercial fisherman
History • Increased access roads • New harbors/marinas • WW II • Sea Lamprey
History • Sea lamprey control • Introduced Pacific salmon • Larger/safer boats • New electronics/technique
Characteristics of Fishery • Stream fishery in spring and fall • Targeted at introduced salmonids • Lake fishery relatively near shore - summer • Bottom bouncing and jigging for lake trout • Planner boards for salmon • Bays and estuaries - seasonal • Cool water species, splake, brown trout
Waters of Lake Superior Bays 0-240 ft (0-80 meters) > 240 ft (> 80 meters)
Creel or Angler Surveys • Pressure – angler hours • Number of fish harvested or caught • CPUE – catch per effort or no. of fish/angler hr
Status – Creel Surveys • Wisconsin – 1972 – 2000 May 1 – Sept. 30 • Minnesota – 1972 – 2000 Memorial W.E. – Sept. 30 • Michigan – 1987 – 2000 Standard sites May 1 – Sept. 30 • Ontario – Intermittent – selected sites - diaries
Percent Pressure Among States in Lake Superior 1972-2000 *Michigan estimate is from 1987-00
Trends in Catch of Major Salmonids in U.S. Waters of Lake Superior *
Distribution of Major Salmonids in Catch from U.S. Waters of Lake Superior 1990-2000
Distribution of Major Salmonids in Ontario Waters of Lake Superior 1987-1999
Pressure and CPUE for All Salmonids in the U.S. Waters of Lake Superior
Comparison Between Overall Sport and Charter CPUE for U.S. Waters of Lake Superior
Estimates of Fishing Pressure in Days Among Upper Great Lakes ****From Bence and Smith (1999)
Comparison of Salmonid CPUE Among Upper Great Lakes for Salmonids
Mean Size of Major Salmonids Caught Among Upper Great Lakes **Estimates for L. Huron from 1990-1998, L. Michigan from 1995-1997, L. Superior from 1990-2000. For each lake, data were from lake-wide creels
Mean Catch Composition Among Upper Great Lakes ****L.Huron Estimates from 1986-1998, L.Michigan Estimates from 1991-2000, L. Superior Estimates from 1990-2000
Summary – Upper Lakes Recreational Fishery • Fishing pressure much lower on Lake Superior • CPUE of sport and charter fishery for Lake Superior equal to or greater than in Lakes Michigan and Huron • Catch composition dominated by lake trout in L. Superior, chinook salmon in L. Huron and rainbow trout in L. Michigan • Average size of all fish smaller in L. Superior
Summary– Lake Superior Recreational Fishery • Fishing pressure has decreased since late 1980s, while catch rate has increased • Annual catch of all salmonids averaged approximately 70,000 fish from 1990 - 2000 • Average CPUE is 0.15 for all salmonids from 1990-2000 • Approximately 67% of catch composed of lake trout, 17% coho and 8% chinook salmon