1. Status of Coregonines in Lake Huron, 1999 Mark Ebener Chippewa/Ottawa Resource Authority Lloyd Mohr Upper Lakes Management Unit, Lake Huron, OMNR

2. Fish Community Objectives i) Maintain diversity ii) Sustainable Annual Harvest = 3.8 million kg iii) Restore lake herring iv) Protect rare deepwater ciscoes

3. i) Maintain Diversity

4. ii) Sustainable Annual Harvest - 3.8 x10 6 kg Fish Community Objectives FCO

5. iii) Restore Lake Herring % Coregonine Harvest 1912 = 69% 1930 = 18% 1970 = 1% 1999 = 0.4% 1999 Harvest = 15,000 kg

6. iv) Protect Rare Deepwater Ciscoes Extinct Extinct ? Abundant

7. Lake Whitefish - Historical development of the fishery Spangler and Peters (1995): Native people harvesting whitefish 2,500 B.C. European settlers harvesting whitefish by 1760 Commercial fishing began in earnst about 1820 Canadian seine fishery for whitefish along Fishing Islands gill nets fished near Alpena about 1835 Peak whitefish harvest about 1890 mesh sizes declining from 5-6 inch stretch to 4 1/2 inch

8. Lake Whitefish - present day commercial harvests 1999 harvest = 4.1 million kg North Channel Georgian Bay Canadian main basin U. S. waters

9. Lake Whitefish - Great Lakes Harvest, 1867-1999

10. Lake Whitefish - Stock Identification U. S. waters 8 stocks 8 stocks modeled Canada Stocks under review in Canada WFH-01 4-4 4-5 5-8 6-1

11. Lake Whitefish - Abundance, i.e. Trap net CPUE U. S waters Canadian waters

12. Lake Whitefish - Recruitment Good to Excellent - 19771986-19911998-1999 Fair to Poor -1983-19851992-1995

13. Lake Whitefish - Growth Changes OH-4/5 Mean weight @ age

14. Lake Whitefish - Growth Changes MH-1

15. Lake Whitefish - Condition Changes MH-1 198219841986198819901992199419961998 Year 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 Weight in Kilograms 540 mm 500 mm 460 mm Mean Weight @ Length

16. Lake Whitefish - Maturity Canadian Waters 1989 50% Maturity

17. Lake Whitefish - Maturity Canadian Waters 1999 50% maturity

18. Lake Whitefish - Total Mortality Age 5 WFH-01 6-1 4-2

19. Lake Whitefish - Total Mortality Age 9 WFH-01 6-1 4-3

20. Lake Whitefish - Synopsis Harvest targeted at lake whitefish - not normal Abundance peaked in mid 1990’s Strong year classes 1986 to 1991 Growth slowed significantly in past several years Condition declining Maturation has been curtailed Mortality decreasing over several years

21. Lake Herring - Current Harvest 1957-1999 North Channel Georgian Bay Canadian main basin U.S. main basin

22. Lake Herring - Stable/Increasing Populations Severn Sound NE Georgian Bay Fraser Bay North Channel St. Mary’s River Northshore

23. Lake Herring - Recruitment Drummond Island Refuge

24. Lake Herring - Synopsis Little or no information Historical Saginaw Bay harvest non existent Strong year class 1994 Increasing abundance in northern regions Re-newed exploitation interests

25. Deepwater Cisco - Commercial Harvest 1900-1999 North Channel Georgian Bay Canadian main basin U. S. main basin 1999 Harvest = 330,000 kg

26. Deepwater Cisco - Recruitment Canadian Units Year class Inconsistent among units 1988 excellent all units 1991-1996 poor main basin Increasing Georgian Bay

27. Deepwater Cisco - Condition MH-1

28. Deepwater Cisco - Stress to Population uWater Belly Syndrome 1998 & 1999 Üranged 0-11% uHigh Incidence of Parasites Üacanthocephalan worms 40-83% of fish Üswimbladder nematode 20-92% of fish uPresence of “BKD” Ü27% of fish Feb. 1998 Ü0% 1999

29. Deepwater Cisco - Abundance Canada - comml fishery

30. Deepwater Chub - Synopsis Harvest typical of historic Saginaw Bay replaced by Georgian Bay Strong year classes in 1988-1990 Decreasing abundance in all regions Decreasing condition “Water belly condition” prevalent Concerns regarding above plus other diseases/parasites

31. Round Whitefish - Commercial Harvest 1900-1999 U. S. main basin Canadian main basin Georgian Bay North Channel

32. Round Whitefish - Synopsis Populations are Stable Underexploited Little Knowledge of Populations

33. Coregonine Summary - FCO Objectives uDiversity objective - met for 3 of 4 species unot being met for lake herring uHarvest objective - being exceeded uchub about right uwhitefish too much of total uround whitefish about right  lake herring too little uLake herring objective - not being met in Saginaw Bay uDeepwater Cisco objective - not being met, probably can’t