Big boost in pickerel numbers
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Lovers of deep-fried perch and pickerel will be happy to hear that the tasty fish continue to thrive in Lake Erie.
Evidence of that is found in the quota numbers for 2018 approved by the Lake Erie Committee.
Yellow perch quota enjoyed a 13 per cent increase last year relative to 2016. The 10.4 million pounds approved in 2017 has been bumped up to 10.5 million pounds this year.
The big increase concerns walleye, which usually shows up on the menu as pickerel. Pickerel quota is expressed in terms of number of fish and not by weight.
The Lake Erie Committee approved a harvest last year of 5.9 million pickerel. That will increase this year to 7.1 million. Good hatches are cited as the reason.
“(Pickerel) are managed as a single stock and are increasing lake-wide due to average or better hatches in three of the past four years,” the Lake Erie Committee said in a news release.
“These conditions support an increase in the total allowable catch.”
The Lake Erie Committee is made up of fishery managers from Ontario, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The committee meets annually to assess the fishery and set sustainable catch allowances. The amount of fish allotted to each jurisdiction is based on how much of the lake committee members have within their boundaries.
As such, Ontario’s share of yellow perch this year comes to 4.95 million pounds. Ohio’s share is 4.5 million pounds. New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan divide up the remainder.
Pickerel quota is allotted on the basis of pickerel habitat and where it is located. Under this formula, Ohio’s share of the 2018 catch is 3.6 million fish. Ontario’s share is 3.1 million. Michigan collects the remainder with 400,000 fish.
Quota last year and this spring suggests reliable dining for fish lovers now and into the future. That’s good news for the Knechtel family of Port Dover, one of the largest purveyors of perch and pickerel in Ontario with four restaurants and a catering service.
Thursday, Beach House manager Peter Knechtel said wholesale supply is only an issue if there is a spike in demand in the United States. Other communities in southern Ontario have tried to replicate Port Dover’s experience with perch and pickerel but with little success.
Knechtel explains that the enjoyment of deep-fried perch and pickerel in southern Ontario has become associated with the drive to Port Dover and everything that makes the lakeside community unique.
Knechtel knows of restaurateurs in Hamilton who have tried to offer what people are getting in Port Dover but with disappointing results.
“Port Dover is part of the dining experience – the people, the harbour, the lake,” Knechtel said. “It’s about the entire package. People don’t want to go down to Barton Street for their perch dinner. It’s been tried but it just hasn’t worked that well.”
In other commercial fishing news, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission lauded the Trudeau government this week for its continued financial support of the commission’s work, particularly in the area of lamprey control.
An invasive species, sea lamprey appeared in the Great Lakes in the 19th century and badly damaged the fishery in the 1930s and 1940s. A single lamprey can destroy as much as 40 pounds of fish during its feeding cycle.
The turnaround came when wildlife biologists figured out that lamprey young can be poisoned in the streams and brooks where they hatch.
“The commission’s program is essential to the $7-billion Great Lakes fishery,” commission vice chair James McKane, of Wiarton, said this week in a news release.
“Hundreds of thousands of people – basin-wide – depend on a healthy Great Lakes for their livelihoods. The fishery alone generates more than 75,000 jobs and is the backbone of many local communities.”
A spokesperson for the Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association was unavailable for comment.
MSonnenberg@postmedia.com