Fish and Fisheries of the Detroit River

Tim Johnson, Don MacLennan, Stan PowellOntario Ministry of Natural Resources

Bob HaasMichigan Department of Natural Resources

Fisheries Management

• Fishery resources of Detroit River are jointly managed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

• Collaborative assessment and research with many other agencies: municipalities, ERCA, MOEE / MDEQ, DFO, EC, USGS, US-EPA, IJC, universities, etc.

Assessment and Monitoring

• Fishery independent surveys– Index fishing (gillnets, trawls, seines,

electrofishing)– Research (SARA, habitat utilisation, etc.)

• Fishery dependent surveys– Creel surveys (effort, catch, harvest, targeted

species)– Angler diary and angler attitude surveys

Fishery Independent Surveys-Traditional methods include gillnets, trawls, seines, trap nets, electrofishing

- Difficult habitat to work in- strong flows- high vessel traffic / narrow channel- proximity to vessel base

Composition & Abundance(COA electrofishing)

2003

Total species: 52Mean # sp. 12.51Richness 1.48

1989

Total species: 29Mean # sp. 10.83Richness 1.06

AlewifeGizzard shad

Emeraldshiner

Spottailshiner

YellowperchOther

species

Bluntnoseminnow

Species at Risk & Habitat

- Mandrak / Lapointe (COA)- 1989 – no species at risk sampled- 2003 – 4 species of “special concern”

(warmouth (3), spotted suckers (10), bigmouth buffalo (1), black buffalo (1))- no fish-habitat association (2003 preliminary result)

Walleye Movement(Interagency tagging)

Walleye tagged in / near the Detroit River stay near the River but they are caught throughout the system

#Y

#Y#Y

#Y

#Y

#Y

#Y

#Y

#Y

Chickenand Hen Islands

Sandusky RiverSandusky Bay

Bono

MaumeeRiver

Cedar PointSugar Rock

RaisinRiver

Huron River

Lake Erie

Nine tag sites used toestimate northward movement

Walleye Movement(Interagency tagging)

Walleye tags recovered 3,280

Recovered in Lake Erie 2,785

Recovered north of Lake Erie 495

Avg Lake Erie walleye pop’n 34,722,603

Annual number moving North 5,208,390

Walleye tagged (1990-2004) 114,987

Fisheries

Michigan Fishing EffortSuperior

Michigan

Huron

St. Clair-Detroit River System

Erie

10,051,655 acres

8,432,520 acres

5,809,815 acres

150,170 acres

84,446 acres

The Detroit River and St. Clair connecting waters h ave 0.6% of Michigan Great Lakes Waters and 34% of Michigan’s Great Lake s Fishing Effort

Superior 2%

Huron 24%

Michigan 32%

St. Clair-DetroitRiver System 34%

Erie 8%Scaled to geographic area

Scaled to sport fishing effort

Detroit River Boat Fishery(MDNR creel)

0.3450.4971.0771.530CPUE

158,270433,874616,4581,213,840Catch

459,221873,388572,234793,405Effort

2003200219841983

Western Lake Erie (2002-2003):

Avg. Effort 3,616,797 million angler hours

(56% walleye, 33% yellow perch, 11% other spp.)

Avg. Catch 5,384,870 fish

(15% walleye, 82% yellow perch, 3% other spp.)

Shore & Boat Fishing Effort(OMNR creel)

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

75 76 77 78 79 80 ~ 92 ~ 02

Year

Effo

rt (

angl

er h

ours

)

Targetted Effort(OMNR creel)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

75 76 77 78 79 80 ~ 92 ~ 02

Year

otherwhite basswalleye

Historic Fishery Data(OMNR creel)

White bass

Walleye

Yellow perch

Other species

1965 1975 1985 1995

Year

Cat

ch r

ate

(no.

/ hr

)

1.20.80.4

0.4

0.10.20.3

0.20.4

0.80.6

0.4

0.10.20.3

MuskyNorthernSmallmouth bassRockbassFreshwater drum

Detroit River Boat Fishery(MDNR creel)

0.00060.00160.00570.0012CPUE

2981,4343,258930Harvest

Smallmouth bass

0.04350.04390.01770.0751CPUE

19,97338,35310,10259,556Harvest

Yellow perch

0.11710.16460.90761.4989CPUE

53,755215,476378,902964,030Harvest

White bass

0.12010.18230.30280.1402CPUE

55,147159,211173,246111,245Harvest

Walleye

2003200219841983

Detroit River Walleye(OMNR Sport Diary Program)

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

Year

Wal

leye

per

ang

ler

hour

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Effort (hours)

Catch

Harvest

Effort

Walleye Catch Rates(2003 OMNR Sport Diary Program)

2 3 4 5 6 10+7 8 9

Age

CP

UE

(N

o. w

alle

ye /

rod

hour

) 0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

St. Clair River

Lake St. Clair

Detroit River

Western Lake Erie

0.441

0.315

0.845

0.546

Catch rate

Walleye Age Composition(OMNR Sport Diary Program)

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

99

9496

2 3 4 5 6 10+7 8 9

Age

CP

UE

(N

o. w

alle

ye /

rod

hour

)

0.30

0.15

0.30

0.15

0.30

0.15

0.30

0.15

0.30

0.15

Management Actions

• Fishery assessment (creels, diary program, tagging)

• Enhance population– Bag reductions and ↑ size for walleye

• Fish consumption advisories• Partnering in research & assessment

WalleyeWhite bassWhite perchFreshwater drumYellow perchChannel catfishRockbassCarp

Detroit River

WalleyeWhite bassChannel catfishSmallmouth bassWhite perchLake whitefishYellow perchCarpFreshwater drum

Western Basin

Walleye Northern pikeWhite bass Smallmouth bassLargemouth bass PumpkinseedRockbass BluegillChannel catfish White perchBlack crappie Yellow perchCarp Freshwater drum

Lake St. Clair

Fish Contaminant Monitoring(MOEE Guide to Eating Sport Fish)

Research & Mgmt Needs

• Must balance wants against fiscal realities (i.e. finite $$, large jurisdictions, multiple user groups)

• Regular community based assessment• Species-at-risk and habitat assessment• Expanded spatial and temporal surveys (fishery

dep. & fishery indep. surveys)• Coordination among agencies and partners

• We are doing a pretty good job given other demands

Conclusions

• Limited fishery independent surveys– Current focus is species-at-risk assessment

• Walleye and white bass dominate fishery– Effort (# anglers) is variable– Catch rates track abundance; good relative to

neighbouring waters– Many fish transient; contaminants comparable

throughout system