Editing Lake Erie (section)

===Fishing===

====Species of fish====
[[File:Erie 07-04-2008 01;14;23PM.JPG|thumb|Summer morning west of [[Cleveland]]]]
Lake Erie is home to one of the world's largest freshwater commercial fisheries. Lake Erie's fish populations are the most abundant of the Great Lakes, partially because of the lake's relatively mild temperatures and plentiful supply of [[plankton]], which is the basic building block of the [[food chain]].<ref name="twsX14b"/> The lake's fish population accounts for an estimated 50% of all fish inhabiting the Great Lakes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/mar/22/marcy-kaptur/rep-marcy-kaptur-says-lake-erie-has-more-native-fi/|title=Rep. Marcy Kaptur says Lake Erie has more native fish than all other Great Lakes combined|access-date=September 4, 2013|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203022230/http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/mar/22/marcy-kaptur/rep-marcy-kaptur-says-lake-erie-has-more-native-fi/|url-status=live}}</ref> The lake contains [[Rainbow trout|steelhead]],<ref name=twsZ14/> [[walleye]] (known in Canada as pickerel),<ref name=twsX14b/><ref name=twsZ14/> [[largemouth bass]], [[smallmouth bass]],<ref name=twsZ14/> [[perch]],<ref name="twsZ14">{{cite news |author=Weisberg |first=Deborah |date=January 27, 2008 |title=Fishing: Meet the burbot: The freshwater cod are running, but night fishing at Lake Erie can be brutally cold |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08027/852559-358.stm |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-date=November 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109052948/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08027/852559-358.stm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[lake trout]], [[Chinook salmon|king salmon]], whitefish, [[Smelt (fish)|smelt]], and many others.<ref name=twsX14b/> The lake consists of a long list of well established [[introduced species]]. Common non-indigenous fish species include the [[rainbow smelt]], [[alewife (fish)|alewife]], [[white perch]] and [[common carp]]. Non-native sport fish such as [[rainbow trout]] and [[brown trout]] are stocked specifically for anglers to catch. Attempts failed to stock [[coho salmon]], and its numbers are dwindling. Commercial landings are dominated by yellow perch and walleye, with substantial quantities of rainbow smelt and white bass also taken. Anglers target walleye and yellow perch, with some effort directed at rainbow trout.

Up until the end of the 1950s, the most commonly caught commercial fish (more than 50% of the commercial catch) was a subspecies of the walleye known as the [[blue walleye]] (''Sander vitreus glaucus'') sometimes erroneously called "blue pike". In the 1970s and 1980s, as pollution in the lake declined, counts of walleyes which were caught grew from 112,000 in 1975 to 4.1&nbsp;million in 1985, with estimates of the numbers of walleyes in the lake at around 33 million in the basin, with many of {{convert|8|lb}} or more.<ref name="twsJanY211">{{cite news |author=Husar |first=John |date=August 18, 1985 |title=Here's Proof Lake Erie's Alive And Well |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/08/18/heres-proof-lake-eries-alive-and-well/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807122426/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-08-18/sports/8502240030_1_lake-erie-walleyes-lunkers |archive-date=August 7, 2011}}</ref> Not all walleyes thrived. The combination of overfishing and the [[eutrophication]] of the lake by pollution caused the population to collapse, and in the mid-1980s, the blue walleye was declared extinct. But the Lake Erie walleye was reportedly having record numbers, even in 1989, according to one report.<ref name=twsX41>{{cite news
 |author       = Julie Sheer
 |title        = Fishing Hole of the Week
 |newspaper    = Chicago Tribune
 |date         = March 30, 1989
 |url          = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/03/30/fishing-hole-of-the-week-12/
 |access-date  = January 24, 2011
 |archive-date = December 4, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111204131329/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-03-30/sports/8903310711_1_lake-erie-walleye-minnows
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

There have been concerns about rising levels of mercury in walleye fish; a study by the Canadian Ministry of the Environment noted an "increasing concentration trend" but that concentrations were within acceptable limits established by authorities in Pennsylvania.<ref name="twsX511" /> Because of the threat of [[PCBs]], It was recommended, that persons eat no more than one walleye meal per month.<ref name="twsX511">{{cite news
 |author       = Deborah Weisberg
 |title        = Mercury levels rising
 |newspaper    = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 |date         = July 4, 2010
 |url          = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10185/1070323-358.stm
 |access-date  = January 24, 2011
 |archive-date = December 2, 2010
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101202135837/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10185/1070323-358.stm
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> Because of these and other concerns, in 1990, the National Wildlife Federation was on the verge of having a "negative fish consumption ''advisory''" for walleye and smallmouth bass, which had been the main catch of an $800&nbsp;million commercial fishing industry.<ref name="twsX513">{{cite news
 |author       = John Husar
 |title        = Mussel Mess A Heavy Burden For Lake Erie
 |newspaper    = Chicago Tribune
 |date         = January 31, 1990
 |url          = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/01/31/mussel-mess-a-heavy-burden-for-lake-erie/
 |access-date  = January 24, 2011
 |archive-date = December 4, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111204140906/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-01-31/sports/9001090502_1_lake-erie-lake-michigan-walleyes
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

The longest fish in Lake Erie is reportedly the [[sturgeon]] which can grow to {{convert|10|ft}} long and weight {{convert|300|lb}}, but it is an [[endangered species]] and mostly lives on the bottom of the lake.<ref name=twsX27a/> In 2009, there was a confirmed instance of a sturgeon being caught, which was returned to the lake alive, and there are hopes that the population of sturgeons is resurging.<ref name=twsX32>{{cite news
 |author       = Deborah Weisberg
 |title        = Sturgeon resurgence in Lake Erie
 |newspaper    = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 |date         = July 19, 2009
 |url          = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09200/984887-358.stm
 |access-date  = January 24, 2011
 |archive-date = November 24, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111124072727/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09200/984887-358.stm
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

====Commercial fishing====
[[File:Lake Erie Sunset with fish net.JPG|thumb|right|Sunset on Lake Erie seen through a fishing net]]
Estimates vary about the fishing market for the Great Lakes region. In 2007, one estimate of the total market for fishing in the Great Lakes, including commercial and recreational fishing, was $4&nbsp;billion annually.<ref name=twsX412a/> Another estimate was more than $7&nbsp;billion.<ref name="twsX14b"/> But since high levels of pollution were discovered in the 1960s and 1970s, there has been continued debate over the desired intensity of commercial fishing. Commercial fishing in Lake Erie has been hurt by pollution as well as government regulations which limit the size of their catch; one report suggested that the numbers of fishing boats and employees had declined by two-thirds in recent decades.<ref name="twsX14b" /> Another concern had been that pollution in the lake, as well as toxins found inside fish, were working against commercial fishing interests.<ref name="twsX215" />

U.S. fishermen based along Lake Erie lost their livelihood over the past few decades and no longer catch fish such as whitefish for markets in New York.<ref name=twsX314a>{{cite news
 |author       = Dennis B. Roddy
 |title        = Caught in a net of laws and bans, fishermen lost their livelihood
 |newspaper    = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 |date         = September 30, 2010
 |url          = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10273/1091470-454.stm
 |access-date  = January 24, 2011
 |archive-date = October 3, 2010
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101003072413/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10273/1091470-454.stm
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> Pennsylvania had a special $3 stamp on fishing licenses to help "compensate commercial fishermen for their losses", but this program ended after five years.<ref name=twsX314a/> One blamed the commercial fishing ban on a "test of wills" between commercial and recreational fishermen: "One side needed large hauls. The other feared the lake was being emptied."<ref name=twsX314a/>

[[File:15-04-19 008 Modern fish tug, AMANDA MAY on Lake Erie.jpg|thumb|right|Canadian commercial fishing boat coming into the harbor at Port Burwell on Lake Erie]]
Commercial fishing is now predominantly based in Canadian communities, with a much smaller fishery—largely restricted to [[yellow perch]]—in Ohio. The Ontario fishery is one of the most intensively managed in the world. However, there are reports that some Canadian commercial fishermen are dissatisfied with fishing quotas and have sued the government about this matter, and there have been complaints that the legislative body writing the quotas is dominated by the U.S. and that sport fishing interests are favored at the expense of commercial fishing interests.<ref name=twsZ32>{{cite news
 |publisher=The Windsor Star 
 |title=Lake Erie fishermen suing government over quotas 
 |website=Canada.com 
 |date=September 18, 2007 
 |url=http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=c664e767-a81e-450e-b471-c90bd072691b&k=54718 
 |access-date=January 26, 2011 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828013743/http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=c664e767-a81e-450e-b471-c90bd072691b&k=54718 
 |archive-date=August 28, 2012 
}}</ref> Cuts of 30 to 45 percent for certain fish were made in 2007.<ref name=twsZ32/> The Lake Erie fishery was one of the first fisheries in the world managed on individual transferable quotas and features mandatory daily catch reporting and intensive auditing of the catch reporting system. Still, the commercial fishery is the target of critics who would like to see the lake managed for the exclusive benefit of sport fishing and the various industries serving the sport fishery. According to one report, the Canadian town of [[Port Dover, Ontario|Port Dover]] is the home of the lake's largest fishing fleet.<ref name=twsX18/>

====Government regulations====
The lake can be thought of as a common asset with multiple purposes including being a fishery. There was direct competition between commercial fishermen and sport fishermen (including charter boats and sales of fishing licenses) throughout the lake's history, with both sides seeking government assistance from either [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] or [[Ottawa]], and trying to make their case to the [[public opinion|public]] through newspaper reporting.<ref name=twsJanY314>{{cite news
 |title        = A GREAT INDUSTRY IN DANGER; The Fish Supply of Lake Erie Likely to be Exhausted Unless the State of Ohio Takes Action.
 |newspaper    = The New York Times
 |date         = January 31, 1895
 |url          = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20913F8395911738DDDA80B94D9405B8585F0D3
 |access-date  = January 25, 2010
 |archive-date = November 11, 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121111024109/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20913F8395911738DDDA80B94D9405B8585F0D3
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> But other groups have entered the political process as well, including [[environmentalism|environmentalists]], lakefront property owners, industry owners and workers seeking cost-effective solutions for sewage, ferry boat operators, even corporations making electric-generating wind turbines.

Management of the fishery is by consensus of all management agencies with an interest in the resource and work under the mandate of the [[Great Lakes Fishery Commission]]. The commission makes assessments using sophisticated [[mathematical model]]ing systems. The commission has been the focus of considerable recrimination, primarily from angler and charter fishing groups in the U.S. which have had a historical antipathy to commercial fishing interests. This conflict is complex, dating from the 1960s and earlier, with the result in the United States that, in 2011, commercial fishing was mostly eliminated from Great Lakes states. One report suggests that battling between diverse fishing interests began around Lake Michigan and evolved to cover the entire Great Lakes region.<ref>[http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/9.1/szylvian.html Szylvian, K.M. 2004.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305053512/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/9.1/szylvian.html |date=March 5, 2009 }} ''Transforming Lake Michigan into the 'World's Greatest Fishing Hole': The Environmental Politics of Michigan's Great Lakes Sport Fishing, 1965–1985.''</ref> The analysis suggests that in the Lake Erie context, the competition between sport and commercial fishing involves universals and that these conflicts are cultural, not scientific, and therefore not resolvable by reference to ecological data.<ref>Berkes, F. 1984. Competition between commercial and sport fishermen: an ecological analysis. Human Ecology 12: 413–429.</ref>

====Sport fishing====
The lake supports a strong sport fishery. While commercial fishing declined, sport fishing has remained. The deep cool waters that spawn the best fishing is in the Canadian side of the lake.<ref name="twsX413a">{{cite news |author=Hall |first=Mimi |date=March 27, 2008 |title=Going fishing? Pack your passport |newspaper=USA TODAY |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-03-26-fishing_N.htm |access-date=January 24, 2011 |quote=That's because half of Lake Erie – as it happens, the half with the deeper and cooler waters that often spawn the best fishing – is in Canada. |archive-date=November 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104124707/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-03-26-fishing_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, a fishing boat that crosses the international border triggers the security concerns of border crossings, and fishermen are advised to carry their passport.<ref name=twsX413a/> If their boat crosses the invisible border line in the lake, upon returning to the American shore, passengers need to report to a local border protection office.<ref name=twsX413a/>

In 2008, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission tried stocking the lake with [[brown trout]] in an effort to build what's called a ''put-grow-and-take'' fishery.<ref name="twsJanY115">{{cite news
 |author       = Deborah Weisberg
 |title        = Looking ahead to 2009 (and '10): New plan to stock trout in Erie steelhead streams
 |newspaper    = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 |date         = December 28, 2008
 |url          = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08363/938086-358.stm
 |access-date  = January 25, 2010
 |archive-date = November 24, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111124074306/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08363/938086-358.stm
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> There was a report that charter boat fishing increased substantially on the American side, from 46 to 638 charter boats in operation in Ohio alone, during a period from 1975 to 1985 as pollution levels declined and after populations of walleye increased substantially in the lake.<ref name="twsJanY211" /> In 1984, Ohio sold 27,000 nonresident fishing permits, and sport fishing was described as big business.<ref name="twsJanY211" /> In 1992, there were accounts of fishermen regularly catching walleye weighing up to {{convert|12|lb|abbr=}}.<ref name="twsJanY212">{{cite news |author=Husar |first=John |date=December 6, 1992 |title=Feeding Frenzy: Lake Erie Is Awash In Hungry Walleye |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/12/06/feeding-frenzy-lake-erie-is-awash-in-hungry-walleye/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204134920/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-12-06/sports/9204210276_1_lake-erie-big-fish-charter-captain |archive-date=December 4, 2011}}</ref> It is possible to fish off piers in winter for [[burbot]]; the burbot make a midwinter spawning run and is reportedly one of Erie's glacial relics.<ref name="twsZ14" />

====Ice fishing====
In winter when the lake freezes, many fishermen go out on the ice, cut holes, and fish. It is even possible to build bonfires on the ice.<ref name=twsJanY114>{{cite news
 |author       = Christopher maag
 |title        = On Great Lakes, Winter Is Served Straight Up
 |newspaper    = The New York Times
 |date         = February 19, 2006
 |url          = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/national/19lake.html
 |access-date  = January 25, 2010
 |archive-date = August 11, 2014
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140811014803/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/national/19lake.html
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> But venturing on Lake Erie ice can be dangerous. In a 2009 incident, warming temperatures, winds of {{convert|35|mph}} and currents pushing eastward dislodged a miles-wide ice floe which broke away from the shore, trapping more than 130 fishermen offshore; one man died while the rest were rescued by helicopters or boats.<ref name="twsX16">{{cite web |author=Seewer |first=John |date=February 7, 2009 |title=Officials: 1 dead, 134 rescued from Lake Erie ice |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/07/hundreds-trapped-on-ice-i_n_164908.html |access-date=January 24, 2011 |website=Huffington Post |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112091002/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/07/hundreds-trapped-on-ice-i_n_164908.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The day began with fishermen setting down wooden pallets to create a bridge over a crack in the ice so they could roam farther out on the lake. But the planks fell into the water when the ice shifted, stranding the fishermen about 1,000 yards offshore ... When fishermen realized late Saturday morning that the ice had broken away, they began to debate the best way off. Some chose to sit and wait for authorities, while others headed east in search of an ice bridge ... Others managed to get to land on their own by riding their all-terrain vehicles about five miles east to where ice hadn't broken away. ... When the rescued fishermen made it to shore, authorities had them line up single-file to take down their names.|John Seewer, February 2009<ref name=twsX16/>}}