Editing Lake Erie (section)

====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>