An annual fall netting survey targeting Eurasian ruffe in its only known location in Lake Huron, the Thunder Bay River, has caught none for the 3rd year in a row.  The Eurasian ruffe is an invasive fish species that was first found in the Great Lakes from Lake Superior in the 1980s.  They are believed to have been accidentally tranported to the Great Lakes from their native land of Eurasia in the ballast water of an ocean going ship.  Ruffe were found in Lake Huron in the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, Mich., in 1995.  Ruffe were also found in Lake Michigan in 2002.

The abundance of ruffe in the Thunder Bay River slowly increased until their numbers reached an all time high in 1999 when they were the most abundant bottom dwelling fish captured during fall trawling surveys.  In 2002 the Alpena FRO initiated a spring netting survey to remove adult spawning ruffe from the river prior to spawning.  Ruffe were captured in the spring and fall of 2002 and spring of 2003 but were not captured in either the spring or fall of 2004 or 2005. 

Ruffe have not been captured from Thunder Bay since the spring of 2003 and may have become extirpated from the area.