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(Provided by GLFC)
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) honored Indiana's Chief of Fisheries William James last week for his dedicated service as a member of the Commission. James, who served as a member of the bi-national agency for six years, recently retired from the Commission. His fellow Commissioners, Commission secretariat staff, and colleagues from throughout the Great Lakes basin joined together to recognize career-long commitment to the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is an international organization established by the United States and Canada through the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries. The Commission has the responsibility to coordinate fisheries research, control the invasive sea lamprey, and facilitate implementation of A Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, a provincial, state, and tribal fisheries management agreement for the Great Lakes. Members from the United States are appointed by the President and members from Canada are appointed by Privy Council.
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Indiana DNR fisheries biologists will conduct standard fish surveys at 16 northern Indiana natural lakes this month as part of an annual project to monitor the long-term status and trends of fish populations in the regionís lakes.
Lakes to be surveyed are: Indiana Lake in Elkhart County; Hill, McClure, and Waubee lakes in Kosciusko County; Adams and Royer lakes in LaGrange County; Crooked, Gordy and Miller lakes in Noble County; Flint Lake in Porter County; Riddles Lake in St. Joseph County; Arrowhead, Hamilton, Little Lime, and Silver lakes in Steuben County, and Little Cedar Lake in Whitley County.
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(Provided by Indiana DNR)
When Jack Sutton noticed a dense cloud of tiny black specks along his frontage at Yellow Creek Lake in mid-May, he thought it was the start of another algae bloom on the surface of the 151-acre natural lake in southern Kosciusko County.
But these specks were different. Turns out they werenít even plants.
They were daphnia eggs, what biologists call ephippia.
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(Provided by Indiana DNR)
Although last winter's prolonged cold weather killed thousands of gizzard shad in several northeast Indiana lakes, DNR fisheries biologists hoped even more of the nuisance fish would have died.
Gizzard shad, a silver-colored forage fish, can over-populate a lake and compete with popular sport fish. Where abundant, shad can also indirectly reduce water clarity by feeding on microscopic animals that normally eat algae.
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This year's late winter thaw and cool spring weather have slowed the growth of aquatic plants in northeast Indiana lakes. This should, according to DNR officials, delay and may even reduce the need to use chemical herbicides to control vegetation in lakes where there are such issues.
Each year residents at more than 125 area lakes hire commercial pesticide applicators to spray aquatic weeds where they interfere with boating and swimming. To legally do so, applicators must first obtain a permit from the DNR.
"The amount of weed control done each year has a lot to do with the weather," said Jed Pearson, a DNR fisheries biologist. "Water temperature, the number of sunny days, and rainfall can have a big effect on aquatic plant growth."