Contacting the Office:
Julie Morin, Acting Native American Specialist
e-mail: Julie_Morin@fws.gov
BHW Federal Building
One Federal Drive
Fort Snelling, MN 55111
Phone: 612-713-5108
Fax: 612-713-5280
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to Tribal Grants Main Page
2004 Tribal
Wildlife Grants
$197,128.00
Wildlife and Plant Habitat Inventory and Management on the L'Anse Indian Reservation
Mike Donofrio, 906-524-5757ext.13
2003 Tribal
Wildlife Grant
$120,000
Native Fish Species Projects on the L'Anse Indian Reservation and Adjacent Waters
Michael Donofrio, 906-524-5757 ext.13
Coaster Brook Trout
Brood Stock Development Continues
The Service, with field
assistance from Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Isle Royale National Park,
and the University of Minnesota, continued development of the Tobin Harbor
strain coaster brook trout brood stock from Isle Royale, Michigan. Isle
Royale National Park, Michigan, supports the only known populations of
wild self-sustaining coaster brook trout in U.S. waters of the Great
Lakes. Crews departed for Isle Royale in early October and returned to
the mainland October 21. About 65 individual brook trout were captured
in Tobin Harbor in fyke nets and boat electro fishing. Eggs and milt
were collected from a dozen pairs of coaster brook trout. The size of
females from which eggs were collected ranged from 16.9 to 19.7 inches.
Fertilized eggs were transported from Isle Royale to the isolation facility
at Genoa NFH. The collection provided a third year class of wild gametes
and will assist Service efforts to develop a coaster brook trout brood
stock for restoration efforts in Lake Superior. Rearing and development
of the brood stock takes place at Iron River and Genoa National Fish
Hatcheries. Secondary objectives of the collection effort were to gather
data on population size, age and size and structure, capture location,
substrate type at capture sites, and tissue samples for genetic evaluation
of the wild and hatchery reared fish.
Offices Involved: R3-Iron
River NFH, R3-Ashland FRO, R3-Genoa NFH
Partners: Isle
Royale National Park Keweenaw Bay Indian Community University of Minnesota
U.S. Geological Survey - Lake Superior Biological Station Michigan Department
of Natural Resources
Notes: Received
field assistance from University of Minnesota graduate student, Annie
Cooper, and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community biologist, Mike Donofrio.
Volunteer Sturgeon
Monitoring Program by Commercial Fishermen started in Western Basin
of Lake Superior
The Ashland Fishery
Resources Office (FRO) has initiated a volunteer sturgeon monitoring
program for commercial fishermen fishing near the Keweenaw Peninsula
in the upper peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. Three tribal fishermen
have volunteered to tag and collect data from sturgeon caught in their
gill nets or trap nets. Two of the fishermen, Joe Newago, Bad River Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa, and Neil Malmgren, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
(KBIC), are using gill nets and the Dakota brothers, Dale and Brad, of
the KBIC, are fishing with trap nets. Each volunteer is given a ""sturgeon
kit"", a tackle box that contains a cloth tape measure, scissors,
tag gun and yellow USFWS numbered floy tags, camera, a mini-hack saw,
pencils and scale envelopes that were developed to record the data on.
When a sturgeon is caught, total length and girth measurements are taken,
weighed if possible, then the sturgeon is tagged at the base of the dorsal
fin. A small piece of the pectoral fin is clipped and saved in the scale
envelope, which will be used for genetic work. A picture of the fish
is taken as a visual record and then released. If the sturgeon is dead,
the mini-hack saw is used to remove the pectoral fin to be used for aging
the specimen, along with all the data being recorded as well. Along with
the volunteers, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Natural
Resources Department is currently conducting their annual lake trout
assessments on Lake Superior, and a kit was supplied to the tribe. Data
collected from the tribe and volunteers will be entered into a Lake Sturgeon
Great Lakes Database that is currently being developed.
Partners: Ashland
FRO Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department, Bad River
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Natural Resources Department, Red Cliff
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Natural Resources Department
113 Largemouth Bass
Transferred To Lighthouse Pond
Frank Stone recently
completed one lake survey and fish transfer for the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community (KBIC). The KBIC and tribal biologist Mike Donofrio (Natural
Resources Department) are interested in developing Lighthouse Pond into
a family oriented largemouth bass fishery. Currently the surrounding
area is used for picnicking and numerous tribal activities, including
a yearly Pow-Wow. Because of the lakes convenient proximately to this
tribal recreation area, the KBIC has initiated management plans with
the Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to enhance
this fishery. The first step in this process was to conduct a boat electro
fishing survey to assess the species diversity of Lighthouse Pond. Because
this system is subjected to winter kill conditions, the options for enhancing
the angling potential are limited. One possibility that is being considered
would be to manage the lake as a catch and release fishery for children,
elders and the disabled. Catchable size largemouth bass could be stocked
and/or transferred from nearby lakes into Lighthouse Pond. The lake could
be managed as catch and release fishery until early fall, when all catch
restrictions could then be lifted. The lake will most likely winter kill,
so additional stocking or fish transferees would need to be conducted
each year. The second phase of this project consisted of transferring
113 largemouth bass from Laws Lake into the pond. The fish collection
took place during the evening hours using a boat electro fishing system.
The KBIC provided a fish hauling tank (which included an aeration system)
that helped to ensure the fish arrived at the pond in excellent condition.
Offices Involved: R3-Ashland
FRO
Resource Outputs: The
data gained from these surveys will give the KBIC the additional information
they need to make the best management decisions for this fishery. The
tribe can then focus management efforts to achieve desired results.
Partners: Keweenaw
Bay Indian Community (KBIC) MI. Department of Natural Resources
No New Sightings
of Ruffe Reported in Lake Superior During Spring 2002
Ashland Fisheries Resource
Office completed spring surveillance for Eurasian ruffe in advance of
their known range along the south shore of Lake Superior. Preferred habitat
sites were targeted along the near shore and tributaries from Ontonagon,
Mich., through the Keweenaw Waterway to Keweenaw Bay. A total of 3.81
hours bottom trawling and 21 trapnights were completed. No ruffe were
discovered. Spottail shiner and trout-perch were the two most abundant
fish captured in trawls, while spottail shiner and white sucker were
the dominant species captured in traps. Traps were baited with nightcrawlers
and spawn bags. An incidental survey conducted along Pictured Rocks National
Lakeshore (Munising to Grand Marais, Mich.), 160 km east of Keweenaw
Bay, was also void of ruffe. Longnose sucker and round whitefish were
the most abundant species captured in this survey. There have been no
confirmed reports of any new discoveries of ruffe in the Great Lakes
or inland lakes since spring 2001, when a minor expansion was reported
within Thunder Bay Harbor, Ontario, Lake Superior.
Offices Involved: R3-Alpena
FRO, R3-Ashland FRO, R5-Lower Great Lakes FRO
Partners: USGS-Lake
Superior Biological Station, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Great
Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, Michigan Dept. of Natural
Resources, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, USFWS-Marquette Biological
Station-Sea Lamprey Control, Keweenaw Bay Tribal Natural Resources Dept.,
Bay Mills Tribal Natural Resources Dept., Red Cliff Tribal Natural Resources
Dept., Bad River Tribal Natural Resources Dept., Alpena FRO, Lower Great
Lakes FRO, Perch America, Michigan Technological University, University
of Wisconsin-Superior.
