Aquatic Research Lab to release 38,000 Atlantic salmonPosted: May 25th, 2006_5053.jpg)
LAB TOUR -- LSSU Aquatic Research Laboratory Manager Roger Greil, at right, shows Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality Director Steven Chester a tank full of Atlantic salmon ready to be released into the St. Mary's River. The lab released 38,000 Atlantics this week. Chester stopped in the lab for a tour while visiting the Eastern Upper Peninsula. (LSSU Photo by Shelley Peterman)
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Lake Superior State University's Aquatic Research Laboratory will release 38,000 Atlantic salmon in the St. Mary's River on Thursday, May 25. The annual stocking culminates months of work by students and staff at the lab and provides hours of recreational opportunity for anglers.
Lab manager Roger Greil said the yearling salmon, which have been raised at the lab through the past 18 months, have an average size of 19.3 cm, or just over 7.5 in., and all have been marked by clipping their left ventral fin.
"Most of the fish caught in the coming weeks will be two-to-five-pound fish that were released in 2005, but bigger fish from plants in 2004 will be coming in too," said Greil. "Anglers who are trolling near DeTour are catching a fair number of Atlantic salmon right now and they should be up here in a couple of weeks, if not earlier." He said Atlantics released in 2005 were marked with a clipped right pectoral fin and those released in 2004 were marked with a clipped right ventral fin.
Greil recommended that fishermen check the LSSU "fishcam" at fishcam to see when the Atlantics are in the river.
As in past years, the LSSU lab is looking for angler assistance with research efforts, most notably a DNA study that is being conducted by Purdue University.
"We could use a fin sample from any Atlantics that fishermen catch this year," said Greil. "But the most important piece of information we need is to know which fin has been clipped to mark the fish," he continued. "It is very important to get the proper fin clip, which tells us the year class."
Anglers can clip any fin to present as a sample, but the lab needs to know which fin was missing when the fish was caught. Before they are released, each salmon is marked by removing a fin. The same fin is removed for each member of a year class, providing a means of quickly identifying the year that particular fish was released.
Atlantic salmon released from the lab have been marked by clipping pectoral or ventral fins. The pectoral fins are just behind the gills on the left and right side of the body. The ventral fins are lower, off the belly of the fish and farther back on the body, about mid-way between the head and tail. The left and right fins would correspond to the left and right hands of the person holding the fish if he held it belly down with the head facing away from him.
"If the angler thinks the fish did not have a fin clip, then I would like to see it, or at least the remains of the fish after it was cleaned," Greil said. "Some of the fins we clip will regenerate."
Besides the fin sample and noted fin clips, the lab needs the length and weight of the fish. Anglers who bring in or send in their own samples should either let the fin piece dry before putting it into an envelope and taking it to the lab, or make sure it is placed in a paper envelope. Greil said anglers should not put fin pieces into a plastic bag because they have a tendency to rot.
The Purdue DNA study will determine which of the lab's parent brood stock had the best surviving eggs. The information gained from the study will help the lab raise healthier fish for stocking.
Greil said he or student staff at the lab will be happy to identify salmon that anglers bring in to the facility at the east end of the Edison Sault Electric Company power plant. He also said the lab has envelopes available for anglers who need them for fin samples.
Anglers with fin samples from Atlantic salmon can send them to Lake Superior State University, Aquatic Research Laboratory, 650 W. Easterday Ave., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., 49783.
For more information, call Greil, 906-635-1949, or visit the aquatic research lab’s web page, LSSU lab. The web cam that allows anglers to see the Atlantic salmon as they congregate behind the lab is made possible through Edison Sault Electric Company, Lighthouse.net and its parent company, Cloverland Electric Cooperative. –LSSU-
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