Lake Huron: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community

Abstract

Lake Huron is a large, deep, oligotrophic lake, centrally located in the St. Lawrence Great Lakes system. Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula divide the lake into the relatively discrete water masses of the North Channel, Georgian Bay, and Lake Huron proper. Water quality in Lake Huron has deteriorated only slightly since the early 1800s. The only significant changes are confined to areas adjacent to centers of human activity, chiefly Saginaw Bay and various harbours and estuaries in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. The lake has supported a commercial fishery which has produced annual catches as high as 13000 metric tons. A dramatic decline in landings of commercially valuable species and an instability in fisheries resources has occurred in all areas of the lake since the 1940s. This depression of populations of valued species was associated with the accidental introduction of the sea lamprey, instances of overfishing and deterioration of water quality in Saginaw Bay. The present depressed state of the fisheries will undoubtedly persist until sea lamprey control is achieved and climax predators are reestablished. Governments are proceeding toward the establishment of water quality criteria and fishery management practices which, hopefully, will stabilize the fisheries and prevent further deterioration of the aquatic environment.