Lake Superior State University's Aquatic Research Laboratory has started the task of tracking movements of returning Atlantic salmon in the St. Mary's River--and they will have a little help accomplishing their goal thanks to four area fishing guides.
The study, which has the guides tagging and releasing the Atlantic salmon that their clients have been catching in the St. Mary's River, is being done in the only area in the upper Great Lakes were the salmon are stocked and return in good numbers. The purpose is to discover the size of the salmon population returning to the river, the extent to which the salmon move around the river and how long they stay in the river, whether individual fish are caught multiple times, how much the fish grow through the summer, and more. There is very little information on Atlantic salmon in the upper Great Lakes, so it is hoped that this study will provide insight into a fishery that has been growing in popularity since the LSSU lab started stocking Atlantics in 1987.
Guides that have been trained and given permission by LSSU through the state and Canada to tag Atlantic salmon are John Giuliani of Northern Fishing Adventures, Sault, Ont.; Travis and Dennis White of St. Mary's Guide Company, Sault, Mich. and Brad Petzke of Rivers North Guide Service, Marquette. In addition, funding for the study has been provided by the Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association, Ocqueoc, Mich., and the Soo Area Sportsmen's Club.
"Although all Atlantic salmon stocked in the St. Mary's River receive a fin clip to help determine the age and origin of returning fish, this method of marking does not allow us to do any type of studies on movement of individual adult fish within the river," says Roger Greil, manger of the lab. "We proposed this study of Atlantic movement in the river using Floy t-bar tags (also known as spaghetti tags) with unique tag numbers. Our staff are monitoring the movement of returning Atlantics within the river this summer and we'll continue working this fall with these four guides who practice catch and release."
Area anglers who catch a tagged Atlantic salmon are encouraged to report the tag number and location caught to the LSSU lab staff. Each tag will have the lab's phone number on it: 906-635-1949.
"We are extremely grateful for the help in this study, both from the fishing guides and from the sportsmen's clubs, and from fishermen who are providing information," he says.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Roger Greil, LSSU
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