The 5th Annual General Meeting of the Temagami Stewardship Council

With all the controversy this spring over the upcoming changes to the fishing regulations for the Temagami area in 2007, the turnout for the Annual General Meeting of the Temagami Stewardship on Monday, July 31st, was a little disappointing. The featured speaker for the meeting was George Morgan, of Laurentian University in Sudbury, a recognized expert in Fisheries Management. The meeting was purposely held in the evening to accommodate the local population, yet few attended. There was no representation from the local Chamber of Commerce or the lodges on Lake Temagami.

Chairman Gaye Smith began the meeting by introducing John Finley who was recently appointed by the Municipality of West Nipissing as their proposed representative on the Stewardship Council. The Council will vote on the West Nipissing reinstatement at the August 28th meeting. The business portion of the meeting consisted of a financial report given by Mark Johnson, the unanimous passing of a motion to purchase boulder material for the rehabilitation of a walleye spawning site on Aston Creek and the acclamation of Dick Crum as the TSC “Member at Large” for 2007.

The first presentation given by Chairman Gaye Smith provided a succinct overview of the projects and activities the TSC is conducting during the summer of 2006. The value of the work being done as well as the important data being collected by the network of volunteers from such activities as the Spring Walleye Spawning Observation, the Water Quality Testing to the Fall Lake Trout Observation was highlighted. Information was also provided regarding the Angler’s Journal, The Trophy Fish - Live Release Contest, the activities of the Stewardship Rangers, the upcoming FWIN and SPIN Netting Research, the ongoing Invading Species Testing and details of the TSC Web Page.

Nathan Kirby, the Temagami Stewardship Coordinator, introduced the second speaker of the evening, Doug Metson from the Temiskaming Health Unit. In Doug’s presentation on the “Problems With Steel Septic Tank Systems on Lake Temagami”, he provided pictures and an explanation of the serious danger to the water quality of Lake Temagami posed by malfunctioning steel septic systems. Doug explained that steel tanks used in the 70’s and 80’s on Lake Temagami will by now have deteriorated to the point where raw sewage will be escaping through the walls into the surrounding ground and into the lake water. Cottage owners who replace the steel tank before the baffles in the inside deteriorate and allow sludge to fill the weeping bed may be able to replace only the tank and save the expense of having to replace the whole system. There is also a grandfather clause in effect that allows for the tank alone to be replaced without re-examining the entire system. Doug also showed a copy of Bill 43, which is awaiting a final vote in the legislature. With the passing of this bill into law, municipalities will have the authority to reinspect septic systems with the cottage owner bearing the total cost of repair or replacement.

Gaye introduced George Morgan, the Aquatic Systems Analyst, from the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Laurentian University as one of the pre-eminent fisheries management authorities in Ontario. George provided the audience with an informative and educational presentation of Fisheries Management in Ontario. His presentation was given from the scientific perspective, therefore, his non-political correctness was refreshing.

George began his presentation by introducing the audience to the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit of Laurentian University. The unit consists of 30 to 40 mostly student employees who conduct research all over Ontario, into Quebec and even into the United States. They use the most up to date fisheries assessment methodologies and George described how these methods (i.e. FWIN and Nordic Netting) work and the kinds of data that can be collected. He showed how the information gathered is extrapolated into charts and graphs that show the results of the studies. The very large Lake Trout Synthesis Study that is the basis for the recommended lake trout regulations for 2007 was explained. Ontario has 20% of the world’s lake trout and the studies show that this population is in decline.

George mentioned that although Ontario’s ads say we have 250,000 lakes the real number is more like 400,000 and only some 10,000 get surveyed. The biggest determining factor in the health of Ontario’s fishery is ACCESS. The better the access to a lake, the more fishing pressure the lake will receive resulting in a poorer quality fishery. Ontario has 50,000 licensed anglers in the Northwest, 200,000 anglers in the North East and 750,000 in Southern Ontario. Where would you expect the studies to show the fishing to be the best? The demographic for the North West is also different as 60% of their fishing pressure comes from American anglers who want to catch fish not necessarily keep them. In the North East, we not only have a larger resident population than the NW but we have managed to provide 4 lane accessibility to the NE for the 750,000 anglers from the South who are used to such poor fishing in the South that they are elated to catch anything and they keep everything they catch. If you want a diverse fishery you must limit access! You can do that by putting regulations in place. It is easier to regulate and keep a healthy fish population up than to wait until the population has crashed and then try to rebuild it. By the time people recognize that a fish population is poor, it is probably a decade or two after the over fishing of the resource has occurred.

The other factors most threatening the fisheries resource after access are the allocation of harvest, invading species and climatic changes. What is everyone’s fair share of the resource and how do you allocate such a share? As far as invaders, we already have the smallmouth bass and the rock bass, which are creating enormous changes to the bio mass in Northern lakes and serious problems for the walleye and lake trout. The spiny water flea is in our lakes already and other invaders are on their way with no serious attempts being made to stop the spread. Our unpredictable variable climate also plays a significant part in fish stocks as was evident by the cold year of 1992 where reproduction was nonexistent and then the opposite in 1998, which was a hot year where walleye reproduction skyrocketed.
As far as enhancing the fishery, George praised the efforts of the TSC to encourage the release of large trophy fish. He pointed out that most of these large fish are females. Contrary to the widely held view that the eggs of large old fish become somehow less healthy, he pointed out that older fish produce many eggs that are larger, healthier and contain the genetic material from a very successful parent thus giving the offspring an advantage.

The presentation was not without controversy as George pointed out that a 4 fish one over 18 inch limit for walleye was useless as it did nothing to protect the spawning aged walleye. In answering questions following the presentation he suggested that the science is there to suggest what should be done to enhance the fishery but politics is often the reason for regulations were protecting or enhancing the resource is not the priority.

The next meeting of the Temagami Stewardship Council will be Monday, August 28th at 1:00 p.m. in the Temagami Municipal Building.