Nunns Creek Fish Hatchery is an ongoing effort to
strengthen and improve the Great Lakes fishery resource.
Nunns Creek raises walleye,salmon and other species to
stock Great Lakes waters.Since it opened in 1989,the
hatchery has served as the center for monitoring and man-
agement of salmon harvested by tribal commercial fisher-
men.
Each CORA tribe has a biological services program that
cooperates with ITFAP,Michigan DNR,and federal and bina-
tional agencies and governments to manage and maintain
Great Lakes fish stocks.
All biological agencies on the Great Lakes work toward
sea lamprey eradication.Recent examples of other coopera-
tive efforts include:
Planting lake trout eggs on historic spawning reefs;
Spring and fall lake trout assessments;
Habitat inventories and mapping projects;
Lake Michigan yellow perch assessments; and
Seasonal whitefish studies.
Tribal biologists are responsible for coordinating activities and research that evaluate Great Lakes fish stocks and
maintain or improve fishery habitat. Annual projects conducted by these programs include commercial harvest monitoring, lake trout and walleye population assessment,
whitefish recruitment, forage fish surveys, and water quality monitoring. ITFAP maintains a commercial harvest database, conducts fish contaminant sampling, and stocks fish in treaty waters.
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Tribal biologists work throughout the Great Lakes but
specialize in their area of the treaty fishery. Grand Traverse
Band, Little Traverse Bay Band and Little River Band are
located on Lake Michigan's east coast, and Bay Mills on
Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay. Sault Tribe reservations span
the eastern Upper Peninsula from Munising to St. Ignace.
Tribal biological staff and ITFAP participate in many
interagency fishery and environmental committees, task
forces, commissions and advisory teams on a state, national
and international level. Tribal biological staff have been
members of or have actively participated in all the Lake
Committees and their Technical Committees, the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission, the Integrated Management of
Sea Lamprey, the Great Lakes Fish Health Committee, the
Council of Great Lakes Fishery Agencies. The International
Joint Commission’s Lake Michigan Lakewide Management
Plan, St.Mary's Remedial Action Plan, Binational Program
for Lake Superior, Binational Superior Work Group, Great
Lakes Council of Governors, Fish Consumption Advisory
Task Force, Great Lakes Panel on Exotic Species, Great
Lakes Water Quality Guidance, Great Lakes United,
Michigan Aquaculture Advisory Committee, the Technical
Fisheries Review Committee and the Technical Fishery
Committee.
Tribal biologists have given presentations at many
environmental and fishery management functions, from a
local Sierra Club to the Native American Fish and Wildlife
Society. They have contributed or served as editors to such
publications as the Lake Trout Rehabilitation Guide; State of
the Lake Report; and Fish Community Objectives.
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