Fishing News: Lake Erie Charters, and the Pacific Salmon Ban

Posted on 11 April 2008 under Canadian Food, Fish, Food In The News, Michigan Cuisine


Some of the Lake Erie charter fishing captains who work out of the Luna Pier
Harbour Club at their annual fish fry in the marina’s store in December 2007.
The captains were kind enough to invite Mary and myself to this event.

MLive.com reported yesterday afternoon that Lake Erie fishing charter captains won’t be required to contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection with client lists if they venture into Canadian waters. From the article:

Customs officials told charter operators in March that they would need to call ahead an hour before they crossed into Canadian waters and provide a passenger list so that the government could conduct background checks … They also said everyone on the boat would need a a passport or two forms of identification … Customs officials decided last week to change their mind and now say U.S. citizens will need only to report if they plan on stopping at a Canadian port — not if they just plan to fish or drop anchor. Proper identification will be needed only if boaters visit a foreign port.

This directly affects a number of fishing charters operating out of marinas in Luna Pier, Bolles Harbor, LaSalle and other coastal areas along the lake. Mary and I have met a number of these charter operators and frankly, the majority have enough going on to have to deal with the extra amount of busy-work this regulation would have generated.

In more distant news that affects salmon availability, the Associated Press is reporting progress on a ban on Pacific salmon fishing for the 2008 season. From the AP report:

West Coast fisheries managers voted Thursday to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year … The council’s decision still must be confirmed by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency in charge of salmon management … The governors of Washington, Oregon and California have already signed letters seeking a disaster declaration. Congress will be asked to make a fast decision on money to alleviate the suffering of fishermen and any other negative effects the cutback might have, said Brian Gorman, a NOAA Fisheries spokesman.

As I mentioned in previous posts, it’s great to see governments and fishermen alike agreeing on these issues in a vast effort to ensure future fishing, looking at long-term goals while dealing with short-term problems.

Read Comments

  1. 14 April 2008 @ 2:25 am Posted by White On Rice Couple

    This was big news here on the West Coast. We were wondering how it would affect the fisherman. Hopefully Congress will pitch in and help out.
    You’re right, it is good to see fishermen and governments working together to protect the livelihood of the salmon and the fishermen.

  2. 14 April 2008 @ 6:18 am Posted by Dave

    It hardly made the news here in the midwest at all. It’s as though people here will need to see a salmon shortage before they’ll realize how important this is to the entire nation. Very discouraging on this end.

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