Research on Lake Eries fish populations will get a powerful boost into the electronic age when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources research vessel Explorer acquires its first state-of-the-art portable computer. Funds for the purchase became available as a result of a 1999 international legal case, investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, involving illegal commercial fishing. A Canadian fisherman convicted of using gill nets to illegally harvest fish in U.S. waters was ordered to pay $15,000 to enhance and protect fishery resources on the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Fisheries Conservation Fund, administered by the non-profit National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The computer will be used for advanced data analysis on fish species such as walleye and yellow perch that were negatively impacted by the illegal activity.
We feel extremely fortunate to have these monies made available to us. said Roger Knight, Supervisor of the Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit. We are just starting to use hydro-acoustics to assess fish populations and habitat in western Lake Erie. And this computer will give us the ability to analyze the data instantly while still on-board.
The Explorer traverses the waters of western Lake Erie from April to October to collect and analyze walleye and yellow perch populations. State of-the-art hydro-acoustic technology and equipment will allow information on fish populations to be gathered without the direct disturbance caused by trawling or gill netting fish. Those traditional methods will be used primarily when additional data, such as specific species and their distribution patterns, need to be collected. The on-board computer will facilitate analysis and electronic transport of data.
It will be great to easily download information needed for our research and electronically ship data back to the mainland while we are still out on the lake, Knight explained. A computer workstation was built into a crew area below the main deck that will shield the electronics of this marine-grade computer from the impact of heavy seas and lake water.
The data collected each year is Ohios contribution to interagency fisheries programs that annually develop Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for economically important walleye and yellow perch stocks in the western end of the lake. Understanding how the fish are distributed and relate to the physical aspects of their underwater world is important to developing sustainable harvest strategies in a dynamic system like Lake Erie. Information from trawl sites will be incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) to create maps of abundance and distribution of walleye, yellow perch and forage fishes, and provide a means to identify important habitat requirements for these fish. Because collection of both spatial and abundance information is memory intensive, a powerful computer is necessary.
We are pleased that monies collected from a case involving actions that negatively impacted the fisheries of Lake Erie are being spent on work that will benefit them. said Daniel LeClair, the special agent who investigated and prosecuted the case against the Canadian fisherman. Service law enforcement agents will continue to work with the law enforcement arms of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, U.S. Coast Guard and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Attorney in Cleveland, Ohio, to prosecute those who violate United States wildlife law. I hope that the outcome of this case sends a clear message that such illegal activity will not be tolerated.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Services manages the 93 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System of more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance offices, 64 Fishery Resource Offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
