Commercial Fishing on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes commercial fishing in the United
States and Canada harvests about 54.8 millions pounds of fish each
year, reports Michigan Sea Grant.
Fish harvested between the two countries are (by
pounds): whitefish (21 million); smelt (7.6 million); walleye (7.2
million); yellow perch (5.1 million); white bass (3.4 million); chubs
(1.9 million); lake trout (1.5 million); carp (1.5 million); lake
herring (1.4 million); channel catfish (538,000); Pacific salmon
(425,000); white perch (501,000).
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Annual Commercial Harvest
(totals in millions of pounds)
|
Lake
|
U.S.
|
Canada
|
Lbs./Yr.
|
Erie
|
3.9
|
23
|
27
|
Huron
|
4.8
|
10.4
|
15.2
|
Michigan
|
7.5
|
0
|
7.5
|
Ontario
|
70,000*
|
914,000*
|
984,000*
|
Superior
|
2.4
|
1.4
|
3.9
|
*less than 1 million
|
SOURCE: MICHIGAN SEA GRANT, 2003 FIGURES
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Lake Notes
October brought good news for water levels; the lake was squeaking in
at about 600.9 feet, or slightly higher, above the monthly record low
of 600.7 feet set in 1925. Basinwide rainfall by October 21 was 4.51
inches, well above the October average of 2.79 inches. Water levels had
hit record lows for August and September. With water so low, the
outflow at the St. Marys River, controlled by the International Lake
Superior Board of Control under a binational agreement, was 1,560 cubic
meters per second. Long-term average release for October is 2,300 cms.
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