A New Generation of Fishery Managers

People who fish the Great Lakes for a living are getting a chance for some training in fisheries management. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

People who fish the Great Lakes for a living are getting a chance for some training in
fisheries management. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network has put together a program for commercial fishers,
charter boat captains, tribal fishers, sport-fishing groups and others. The program is
called the Great Lakes Fisheries Leadership Institute. The Institute’s goal is to better
inform those people through science training and leadership training. Brian Miller is with
the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. He says they hope to train a new generation of people in
the fisheries:


“In a lot of the organizations the leadership is aging and there is a need for new leaders to
emerge that have a good biology and scientific background that helps them understand a
lot of the complex issues they’re dealing with in the lake.”


The Sea Grant Network has found too often individual interests are so wrapped up in
their one issue, they lose sight of the bigger picture – the overall environmental health of
the Great Lakes. It’s hoped that the training will give them a greater perspective.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Sturgeon Restrictions Threatens Tradition

Sturgeon numbers have been steadily declining around the Great Lakes
for years. In order to rehabilitate sturgeon populations, some states
are adopting new restrictions on harvesting the fish. In Wisconsin, the
sturgeon spearing season was shut down this year after just three days,
when the quota of fish had been caught. It was the state’s shortest
season on record. In Michigan, new restrictions will start next year.
But the new rules endanger something else: a way of life for
communities where the tradition of sturgeon spearing spans generations.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports: