$10,000 Challenge Grant from Wege Foundation In late December 2005, in a very giving spirit, Mr. Peter Wege of the Wege Foundation responded to the Pere Marquette Watershed Council’s (PMWC) request to match the donations we will receive in 2006. Mr. Wege has agreed to match dollar for dollar any cash donations that we receive, exclusive of dues, up to $10,000 in the aggregate. We are grateful for his generosity and delighted that he recognizes the important work that we do as volunteers on behalf of this valued resource.

During the year please remember the opportunity you have to double any donations that you make to the Pere Marquette Watershed Council.

Lamprey Science 101 by Professor Dick Schwikert, Scribe

The construction and operation of the Lamprey Barrier and Fish Passage Ladder (best known as “The Custer Weir”) was intended to replace chemical treatment of the river with lampricide. However, federal Fish & Wildlife officials have recently announced plans to treat the Pere Marquette with TFM this summer. F&W and DNR personnel were invited to explain this decision to the PMWC Board of Directors.

Jeff Slade began by explaining the annual process for selecting which watersheds will be treated each year. Sea lampreys wreak their destruction when they reach the adult stage in the Great Lakes and prey mainly on trout and salmon. Their life cycle can be interrupted by impeding or inhibiting their reproduction in the rivers flowing into the Great Lakes, over five hundred of which are suitable for lampreys. Various methods are used to attempt to disrupt their spawning in the streams or kill the larvae. These include barriers such as dams and electrical grids, chemicals specific to lamprey mortality such as TFM and Bayluscide, and traps to dispose of them or to capture males, which are then sterilized for release. Each year between 70 and 90 rivers are treated with

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lampricides to kill larvae. Cost varies based upon several factors, but staffing, manpower and chemical costs are primary. Energy costs to run the grids and pumps are also major expenses. On the PM, over $60,000 is spent each year for operating it. Each treatment with TFM runs about $432,000 and is needed every 3-6 years. The irony is that the rivers that are most attractive to lamprey are also those that have the best Brown Trout fishery.

The Pere Marquette was treated with TFM seven times between 1964 and 1987. The electrical weir was installed at Custer in 1988, but due to fish passage problems operation of the weir was discontinued in 1991. TFM was also used in 1991, 1995, and 1999. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission then approved construction of the fish ladder, and a Smith-Root pulsed electrical grid was added in 1999 at a cost of about $400,000. The river was last treated (the eleventh time) in 2002. Surveys show that lamprey recruitment (to larval stage in the river, not adult stage in Lake Michigan) dropped from 2,384,000 in 1999 to 146,000 in 2005, a 94% reduction. This is significant when you calculate that each adult female can produce 90,000 eggs.

Greg Klingler then explained the operation of the barrier. Smith-Root owns the patent for the concept of the phased or pulsed current. The seven bands of electrodes stretching across the river receive increasing voltage as you proceed upstream. The effect on the fish or lamprey increases with their length, and becomes stronger as they swim further across the electrodes. Larger, longer fish are affected first, smaller ones more so on the upper grids. The electrical shock encourages them to turn cross current, washing them back downstream off the decking. The design could have been improved by angling the electrodes diagonally to the river flow, and by increasing the voltage on the opposite (north) side of the weir to direct passage toward the ladder.

Both the water pumps used to create the fish ladder and the electric grids have experienced numerous mechanical problems, primarily in 2004. High water, electrolysis of the grid bands, wear on the pump bearings, power outages followed by generator

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failures and ice and debris clogging intake draws all caused problems when one or both systems were down allowing lamprey to pass. But this isn’t the sole reason for lamprey remaining in the river. The lampricide treatment has been shown to be 94-95% effective, leaving 5% of those in the treated area to escape. Even with ideal circumstances some lamprey could bypass the barrier. For example, they could get through during the early spring before the system is turned on, or during the times when it is shut down due to the forecast of low probability of upstream migration. It requires two operators from roughly March 1 to August 1 and costs $60,000 a year to run the weir. So, in spite of the huge reduction in larval lamprey, the survey count shows it is necessary to treat again this August.

Mark Tonello agrees with F&WS figures that show that adequate numbers of steelhead, suckers, and brown trout are using the ladder to bypass the weir. However, the barrier does have an effect on timing – the duration between arriving at the grid and finding the way around it – both in going upstream and down.

Plans for 2006 are similar to past schedules, but will be refined to maximize the weir’s efficacy. The grid and ladder will be turned on March 1, unless water temperature indicates an earlier start-up. Both the ladder and grid will run until August 1, but not on weekends after June 24. Lamprey nets will also be set this year to determine more precisely when they will be starting their spawning run. Since no lamprey were found in some sections of the watershed last year, the upper section of the Big South and the entire Middle Branch will not be treated with TFM in ’06. F&W officials will continue to survey annually to again determine whether another treatment will be needed in 2010. The PMWC will discuss this plan and comment to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Fish & Wildlife Service personnel prior to this June’s program review.

The Board appreciated the 2-1/2 hour informational discussion led by Jeff and Greg on the complexity of controlling this one exotic species. We applaud their continued devotion to improving the fishery.

F&WS hosted the 40th Annual Lamprey Working Session in Ludington recently. The PMWC will request attendance at future sessions.

Cast for Conservation Changes

Last July C4C participants and guides were asked if they would approve of major changes in the Watershed Council’s Cast for Conservation (C4C). The vast majority of those who responded indicated they would indeed favor changes, which will certainly yield more and larger trout.

The major change will be that the actual fishing will take place on Friday afternoon and evening when the bigger fish come out to play. Fishing on Friday evening is preferable since evening fishing is better and there won’t be canoes, kayaks, and rafts to battle.

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The Friday evening picnic will be replaced by a brunch/BBQ late Saturday morning. At that time all score sheets will be handed in and various fish stories will be shared. Because we will be fishing in waning light and perhaps darkness, the restriction on flies to be used will be abandoned. This decision is based on safety concerns generated by attempting to retrieve a fly in the darkness. Participants can also expect some changes in the scoring format.

The registration fee will remain the same $500 per team.

Registration information for the July 15, 2006, C4C has been sent to past participants. If you’ve never participated in the C4C and would like to, please call C4C Chairman, Bob Kennedy at 231-898-3319 or e-mail him at dkennedy@carrdata.net.

Large Woody Debris Meeting Held

Several PMWC Board Members joined guides, watercraft rental outfitters, fishermen and other river users for a Friday, March 10, 2006, evening meeting at the old Chittenden Nursery near Wellston. The meeting was organized and hosted by the Michigan DNR and US Forest Service. The thirty people in attendance did not agree on everything but did share a common interest in designing a workable solution to

the sometimes conflicting interests of fishermen, commercial users and those who wish to leave our rivers in a better condition than we found them. One possible outcome of the meeting may be an education/certification program that would empower certified users to trim hazardous fish cover according to state and federal guidelines. We will keep you informed about this unfolding issue.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

2006 PMWC Annual Banquet: July 16, 2006, at the Ludington Ramada Inn/Conference Center. Dinner, speaker, raffles, auction and great camaraderie. Plan to join us!