Whitefish rule changes must not be rushed
As the Lake Michigan ecosystem has been buffeted by change over the last several decades, most of it negative and linked to invasive aquatic species, the story of lake whitefish in Green Bay has been an uplifting exception.
To the surprise of virtually everyone, whitefish re-established spawning runs in several of the bay's tributaries.
And over the last decade, the native fish, long a staple of fish boils and commercial catches but historically not a hook-and-line attraction, have become the primary draw for sport anglers in a thriving winter fishery.
Each year, many thousands of ice fishermen travel to Sturgeon Bay and other spots in Door County with one species on their mind — whitefish.
The new opportunity is part of the $264 million annual economic impact provided to the region by recreational fishing, according to a 2019
study by the University of WisconsinWhitewater.
But the tale of whitefish is not all good news. As the whitefish stocks are up in Green Bay, they are down in the nearby Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan.
Whitefish are managed in three zones in northeastern Wisconsin: Zone 1 in southern Green Bay, Zone 2 in northern Green Bay and northern Lake Michigan; and Zone 3 in the lake from about Algoma south to the Illinois border.
The commercial fishers have an annual whitefish quota of 2.88 million pounds, with 82% allocated to Zone 2 and 9% each to Zones 1 and 3, according to the DNR.
Zone 2 historically held the strongest whitefish stocks, including a breeding population at Moonlight Bay. But the Moonlight Bay stock has declined substantially in recent decades and commercial fishermen caught only 24% of their Zone 2 quota in 2015.
And even in Green Bay, the growth rate of whitefish is much slower than it used to be, according to Scott Hansen, fisheries biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.
So when it comes to whitefish management, it would be prudent to proceed carefully and cautiously, right?
Yet some commercial fishermen are pushing the DNR to make changes in its whitefish harvest rules, presumably to increase the quota and allow more netting in Zone 1.
The DNR held a preliminary scope statement hearing last week — a required procedural step in rule-making — and the Natural Resources Board next week will review a request to continue the process.
The scope statement has no specifics about potential changes, which would be forthcoming in future versions of the rule.
But it's not too early to ask: Are changes warranted? Should the southern Green Bay whitefish stocks be subjected to more commercial fishing pressure? Or protected from it? And what would be the potential impact on the sport fishery?
There is no definitive answer on any of those questions at this point.
With several partners, including UWGreen
Bay, Wisconsin Sea Grant and commercial fishers, the DNR is conducting a "catch composition" study to monitor the whitefish harvest and other fish caught in both trap nets and gill nets in Green Bay.
A graduate student will be collecting information on this work for at least one and possible two years, said Brad Eggold, DNR fisheries supervisor.
One of the key findings will be the amount of "bycatch," or non-target species such as walleye, smallmouth bass and muskellunge, caught in the commercial nets.
So it's not known at this point how much additional commercial harvest the Zone 1 whitefish population can — or should — handle.
From a fisheries management standpoint, it's also questionable whether more nets should be added to an area of high sport fishing activity.
In a similar run-up to potential whitefish rule changes in 2015 and 2016, strong opposition caused the DNR to shelve its plans.
At the time the DNR proposed to allow commercial fishers to use unfilled Lake Michigan (Zones 2 and 3) whitefish quotas in the waters of southern Green Bay (Zone 1).
And some commercial fishermen also expressed a desire to keep and sell walleyes and other "by-catch" landed in the bay.
Following a May 2016 meeting, 147 of 163 comments received by the DNR were against expansion of commercial fishing activity in southern Green Bay, according to records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Most of the opposition came from people who self-identified as sport anglers, but some commercial fishermen also were against the proposed change.
The same dynamic appears to be setting up this year. In comments sent to the DNR for last week's scope statement hearing, a number of commercial fishermen, including those who fish in Zones 2 and 3, were against any change.
Although the DNR originally intended to hold public hearings on a proposed rule change in July, they won't likely take place until 2021, according to the agency.
That's good to hear. But even next year might be too early.
Before making any proposal to increase whitefish harvest and commercial fishing activity in southern Green Bay, the agency must make sure it has the best possible science, including certainty it won't harm sport fishing, to guide its plan.
Senate passes Great American Outdoors Act: The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed the Great American Outdoors Act, a bill that would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and invest in maintenance on crumbling infrastructure on federal public land.
The proposed legislation has enjoyed strong bipartisan support; the vote was 73-25. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) voted for the bill, while Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) voted against it.
The proposal would provide $900 million annually for the LWCF as well as invest $1.9 billion annually for the next five years to address the maintenance backlog on National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management lands.
To become law, it must also be passed by the House of Representatives and be signed by Pres. Donald Trump.