Great Lakes fishermen can collect five dollars for every tagged whitefish they catch. Biologists are collecting data for two studies on whitefish. If they prove the fish are in danger… that could reduce the number of animals fisherman can reel in. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:
Transcript
Great Lakes fishermen can collect five dollars for every tagged whitefish they catch. Biologists are collecting data for two studies on whitefish. If they prove the fish are in danger – that could reduce the number of animals fisherman can reel in. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:
Fish biologist Mark Ebener says zebra mussels in the Great Lakes have caused a severe reduction in the primary food source for whitefish – a tiny crustacean known as diporeia. He says many of the whitefish he’s seen have been emaciated.
The first study will determine the distribution of the fish throughout the Great Lakes Basin. The second will study the natural mortality rate of whitefish and how it affects the Total Allowable Catch, or TAC, for commercial fishermen.
“One of the things we need to really quantify well is the natural mortality rate because it also has a big effect on your estimates of TACs, and we’re sure that their natural mortality rate has changed since zebra mussels came into the lakes and diporeia abundance declined.”
The two studies will continue until 2006. Fishermen who catch tagged fish can collect a five-dollar reward for calling in the tag number. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.