Ashland NFWCO Completes Preliminary Fish Passage Surveys on 2006 Projects
The Ashland NFWCO and Ashland-Bayfield-Douglas-Iron Counties Land Conservation Department (ABDI) have completed the preliminary surveys on four fish passage projects.  Road crossings surveyed were: 18 Mile Creek, Town of Grand View; Gin Creek, Town of Marengo,;Wildcat Creek, Town of Lincoln and Little Whittlesey Creek, Town of Barksdale.  The crew used a Nikon Total Survey Station to plot the present location of the culvert to be replaced and this includes a topographic survey of the surrounding area.  This data is then downloaded into an ArcView file and a new design for the culvert is plotted.  Using this program allows the designers to choose the appropriate grade and slope, depth for setting the culvert and designing of the slope around the culvert.  A meeting with the appropriate town boards will be scheduled for January/February of 2007 to evaluate the proposed plans.  Construction will begin after water levels have subsided to summer low flows.  All work performed will use Best Management Practices and will be permitted through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Army Corp of Engineers.

Fall Coaster Brook Trout Assessments Completed at Red Cliff
Ashland NFWCO assisted the Red Cliff Natural Resources Department with their fall assessments of coaster brook trout in Lake Superior.  The Red Cliff tribe has a stocking program where Lake Nipigon strain brook trout are reared in the tribal hatchery and stocked into Lake Superior.  The tribe has collaborated with the Service to use electrofishing to capture fish to assess their stocking program.  Thirteen kilometers of shoreline were sampled as 1 km segments; 4 km in Raspberry Bay, 2 km in Frog Bay, and 7 km in Red Cliff and Buffalo bays.  In each segment, relative abundances of species are recorded as present (1-4 individuals), common (5-25 individuals), and abundant (>25 individuals).  An attempt is made to capture any brook trout encountered. 

Brook trout captured were measured for length and weight, examined for a fin clip (an indication of hatchery origin), tagged with a Floy tag if >208 mm, and then released.  Fish without a fin clip were tissue sampled for later genetic analysis to identify population of origin.  During the October and November 2006 sampling (6 nights of effort), 47 brook trout were captured, more than twice the number that were captured during sampling efforts in 2005.  Only two of the fish captured were unclipped, indicating that at present the population is comprised almost entirely of stocked fish.  Many of the fish captured were sexually mature.  The tribe is encouraged with the results of these surveys and hope these fish will reproduce and some day support a naturalized population. 

Ashland NFWCO Coordinates Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program Circle of Flight Partnerships
The Circle of Flight (CoF) program is a waterfowl restoration program unique to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Midwest Region.  It was initially funded in 1991 and has since distributed over 9 million dollars to 31 reservations and three inter-tribal organizations for waterfowl research and management projects as well as waterfowl habitat restoration and enhancement.  CoF funds have been used as matching funds for tribes to participate in several North American Waterfowl Plan projects.  The reservations and inter-tribal organizations are key partners with federal agencies, state and county governments, and private organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy and the Minnesota Waterfowl Association.
The Ashland Fishery Resources Office (NFWCO) working through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program has worked in partnership with the Circle of Flight program since its inception and has provided financial and technical assistance on tribal projects across the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

This year a new approach is being undertaken to better provide U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assistance on CoF projects.  Instead of the Ashland NFWCO being responsible across three states, they will attend the CoF meetings and coordinate projects with the three individual state Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program offices.  This years CoF meeting was held in March at the Lac du Flambeau Reservation and the majority of the tribes within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Midwest Region were in attendance.

The Ashland NFWCO still directly assists the four tribes and three inter-tribal organizations located within its Wisconsin Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program area of responsibility. The office’s Habitat and Wildlife Operations section is currently working with the Lac du Flambeau tribe to replace the water control structure on the 400 acre Sugarbush Impoundment of the 14,000 acre Powel Marsh.  This highly important emergent marsh wetland system annually supports hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl and songbirds.  A second project is in partnership with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and will restore the 43 acre Jackson Box Flowage in Douglas County Wisconsin.  This emergent marsh wetland is an integral part of a 900 acre wetland system important to migratory waterfowl and songbirds.  Leveraging Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program dollars on these projects will have large scale long term benefits for migratory and local wildlife in northern Wisconsin. 

Lake Sturgeon Study Continues to do well in the White River
Ashland NFWCO staff with the assistance of Bad River Tribal Natural Resources Department members, and area volunteers set gill nets for sturgeon on the White River, Wisconsin.  This is the second year of a study to determine if sturgeon are reaching spawning habitat upriver or are being blocked by four large log jams.  Two 100’ gill nets were set below the potential barrier and one 100’ net was set just upriver of the structures.  After 3 weeks of sets, a total of 44 sturgeon were caught in the lower nets and another 7 were captured in the upstream net. The fish were measured, weighed, sexed, and given a numbered Floy tag and a PIT tag (passive internal transmitter).  Seven of the fish were recaps dating back several years with one being handled initially in 1994.  None of the sturgeon captured were caught in both the downstream and upstream net. 

On May 3rd, 10th and 17th three larval drift nets were set at to collect larval sturgeon.  The nets were set at dusk and lifted twice, approximately once an hour.  Larval fish were counted and sub samples of 50 individuals from each genus were measured.  The catches primarily consisted of suckers and walleye but one larval sturgeon was caught on the last night of sampling.  The larval sturgeon, measuring 18mm and was brought back to the lab for pictures and then released back in the river. 

Fish Relocation at Shacte Creek
Frank Stone and Jessica Krajniak provided technical assistance to the staff of the Iron River National Fish Hatchery during their effort to transfer (via back pack shocking) wild trout from the upper sections of Shacte Creek. This collection effort was targeted primarily for brook trout found within a ¾ mile section of the creek up river of the hatchery. As a result of this effort, 30 brook trout were moved to a lower section of the creek below the dam. Shacte Creek is the primary source of water for the hatchery, thus it’s imperative to maintain wild fish stocks to a minimum to reduce the potential for transferring pathogens to the hatchery’s production fish. 

New Digs for Hatchery Raised Coasters
This May, when water levels were stable and insects beginning to hatch, twenty thousand 1.5 inch long spring fingerlings from Iron River NFH and 50 adult coaster brook trout from Genoa NFH were given new stomping grounds when Service biologists and volunteers from Trout Unlimited, Northland College, and Ashland schools stocked them in the Whittlesey Creek watershed.  The stockings are part of a cooperative experiment between the Service and Wisconsin DNR to determine if a migratory population of brook trout can be established in Whittlesey Creek through stocking several different life stages of Lake Superior strain coasters, protective regulations, and habitat improvements.
 
The stocking crew undertook the annual blood letting ritual and forged clouds of mosquitoes and hatching black flies to transfer the fish safely to suitable stream habitat.  The fingerlings were stocked in upstream reaches which provide suitable rearing habitat for juvenile trout and salmon, while the adults were placed further downstream in areas with deeper pools and larger forage are present.  Biologists are hoping the fish will leave the stream, feed and grow in Chequamegon Bay and Lake Superior, and return to spawn in the creek. 
 

To assess the status of the fish community and estimate abundance of trout and salmon, Wisconsin DNR and Service biologist with help from Trout Unlimited volunteers conduct a survey each September in Whittlesey Creek.  In addition, Ashland Fishery Resources Office has placed underwater video camera in the stream to detect upstream and downstream movement of fish.

Miles and Miles of Shoreline Surveyed for Coaster Brook Trout
A fishery survey was conducted on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation to determine the presence and relative abundance of coaster brook trout. These fish were once abundant throughout the nearshore waters of Lake Superior, but due to overfishing and habitat degradation, there are only a handful of waters around Lake Superior that still have spawning populations of these magnificent fish. 

This two night survey was conducted using an electrofishing boat. The crew started from the mouth of the Pigeon River, moving southward along the north shore. This nearshore survey was part of a Lake Superior restoration plan sponsored by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Biological data collected included species caught, length, numbered Floy tag, and tissue samples (for genetic analysis).  The information obtained will help Grand Portage and Service fishery managers gain a broader understanding of the abundance of coaster brook along the Minnesota north shore.

During the survey, the crew focused on netting only brook trout. Other fish species observed during the study were noted as few in numbers (1-4 fish), common (5-25 fish) or abundant (>26 fish). The second night of the survey was cut short due to adverse weather conditions.  However, of the 25 miles that were covered during the study, eight coaster brook trout were collected.  This is a significant increase compared to three brook trout that were collected in 2006 (167% increase in catch rates).  Additional yearly assessments will be scheduled to help determine if these fish are beginning to re-establish the north shores. 

Ashland NFWCO Completes Electrofishing Survey on Vaughn Creek to Document Fish Passage After Construction
Personnel from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fisheries – Mercer, Wisconsin Department of Transportation – Wisconsin Rapids and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Ashland Fishery Resources Office used backpack electrofishing gear to assess fish passage on Vaughn Creek, Iron County, Wisconsin.  A step pool series was completed in September of 2006 on the Highway 169 crossing in order to raise the water level of the pool below a perched culvert so fish such as native brook trout can pass through the system.
 
A pre-construction fish survey was completed in August of 2006, three weeks before construction began.  Two crews worked marking fish below and above the culvert.  Brook trout were the only salmonid species caught and were given differentiating clips to identify if they were originally collected above or below the barrier.  A total of 21 brook trout were shocked above the culvert, and given a top caudal clip, and 31 brookies below, which were given a lower caudal clip.  The initial plan was to survey the two stretches of Vaughn Creek a month after construction was completed, but low water levels kept the pools very low and not allowing fish passage.  When the fall rains finally did come along with the addition of some early snow melt, the crews were not able to survey this site. 

After a hectic spring for everyone the crews finally made it back to the site in June of 2007.  Again the two crews surveyed the same areas as before, collecting all brook trout seen.   The lower stretch yielded 25 brookies, with three of them having the lower caudal clip.  The upper stretch yielded 40 brook trout, with one fish having an upper caudal clip, and one with a lower caudal clip.  The crews were quite happy to see the modifications were working and at least one brook trout had made it through the step pools and culvert and found its way into the upper stretch. 

Coaster Abundance Climbs
In June 2007, for the second consecutive year, coaster numbers increased in our index survey.  Using data gathered and analyzed by Ashland NFWCO, Michigan DNR and the National Park have implemented various management actions over the years including size, bag limit and seasonal harvest regulations, gear and bait changes, and educational programs.  As a result of low or declining abundance from 2000-2004, both agencies implemented “catch and release only” regulations for brook trout at the island in 2005. 

New Ashland NFWCO project leader, Mark Brouder, and the Glase family (Jay, Cindy and Joe) with the National Park Service were relatively busy netting coasters during recent electrofishing surveys in Tobin Harbor.  The 2007 catch per unit effort of 15 fish per hour was up from last year’s 10/hr, and up significantly from the six-year average from 2000-2005 of 3/hr. Particularly promising were the distribution of coasters throughout Tobin Harbor as they were caught in 13 of 17 stations and the abundance of young fish age 1 and 2 which will mature and spawn in several years.

The work conducted in cooperation with the National Park Service and Michigan DNR, was the eighth consecutive spring coaster index survey in Tobin Harbor.  We also surveyed Siskiwit Bay where a total of 430,000 brook trout reared at Iron River and Genoa National Fish Hatcheries were stocked from 1999-2005.  Four stocked coasters were captured under difficult survey conditions and limitations due to boat presence at docks.  Three fish had left ventral fin clips indicating they were stocked in 2004 and one fish had a right ventral fin clip which was stocked in 2003.  Biologists also observed coasters from the dock and received reports of small schools of coasters being observed by Park Service personnel.  Despite the low catch, abundance in Siskiwit Bay appears to be increasing, primarily as a result of stocking.

The overall goal of the project at Isle Royale is to protect self-sustaining coaster brook trout populations and rehabilitate depleted populations.  Specific objectives of the spring work are to determine the relative abundance of wild and stocked coasters, to describe population demographics, to mark and recapture fish for population estimates, determine of growth and movement, and to collect tissue samples for genetic analysis. 

Fish Relocation at Shacte Creek
Frank Stone and Whittlesey Creek YCC members Scott Stipetich and Sara Fletcher, provided technical assistance to the staff of the Iron River National Fish Hatchery during their effort to transfer (via back pack shocking) wild trout from the upper sections of Shacte Creek. This collection effort was targeted primarily for brook trout found within a ¾ mile section of the creek up river of the hatchery. As a result of this effort, 75 brook trout were moved to a lower section of the creek below the dam. Shacte Creek is the primary source of water for the hatchery, thus it’s imperative to maintain wild fish stocks to a minimum to reduce the potential for transferring pathogens to the hatchery’s production fish. 

Final Schacte Creek Fish Relocation Conducted to Determine the Presence of Bacterial and Viral Pathogens
Frank Stone and Whittlesey Creek YCC crew leader, Scott Stipetich, provided technical assistance to the staff of the Iron River National Fish Hatchery during their effort to transfer (via back pack shocking) wild trout from the upper sections of Schacte Creek. This collection effort was the third (and final) project for the year that targeted brook trout found within a ¾ mile section of the creek up river of the hatchery. As a result of this effort, 60 brook trout were moved to a lower section of the creek and placed in live traps.  These fish will be sampled by staff from the LaCrosse Fish Health Office, to determine the presence of bacterial and viral pathogens.Schacte Creek is the primary source of water for the hatchery, thus it's imperative to maintain wild fish stocks to a minimum to reduce the potential for transferring pathogens to the hatchery’s production fish.