When do smelt run in lake superior

Thousands of Northlanders are joined by people from across the Midwest each spring to net smelt along Minnesota and Wisconsin points in Duluth and Superior as well as North Shore streams like the Lester River and along the waterfront in Ashland. But only in a some cases are the levels high enough to trigger fish consumption advisories.

Generally, fish as small as smelt are considered the best options to eat to avoid soaking up toxic chemicals. In fact before the PFAS warning, smelt were considered among the safest fish in Lake Superior, with no restrictions on how much should be eaten. To confuse matters even more, fish that have high levels of PFAS can suddenly shed the contaminant and test clean — not just the species but the same fish, McCann noted. PFAS chemicals are now found in food, groundwater, drinking water, lakes, rivers, fish tissue and even in deer.

In some cases, geographic proximity hints to where the stuff is coming from. The chemicals have already been found at high levels in groundwater near the Duluth Air National Guard base and in surface water that originates near the base, including Miller Creek and Wild Rice Lake Reservoir, likely from firefighting foam used in training at the base for decades.

At least one homeowner in the area has been provided bottled water because their well is contaminated with PFAS. The Minnesota Department of Health has issued a fish consumption advisory for Miller Creek trout - to limit meals to once monthly - due to high levels of PFAS chemicals in the fish.

But PFAS also is showing up in lakes and streams hundreds of miles from any point source like a factory or air base. McCann noted that the state Pollution Control Agency has applied for a federal grant to test fish in the Lake Superior watershed this summer specifically for PFAS, an often expensive process.

The first order of business is for the Legislature to declare PFAS an official dangerous chemical by law, something already decided in court cases on PFAS contamination responsibility.

While health expets are advising people to limit meals of Lake Superior smelt to once montly due to PFAS contamination, fish in some lakes and rivers in Michigan have such high levels of PFAS that the state warns against eating any fish at all. Deer sampled in that area had high PFAS levels in their livers.

So far the agency has found PFAS in all the deer sampled, but not yet at levels high enough to issue an advisory, said Barb Keller, big game program leader for the DNR.

Wild Rice Lake Reservoir: Walleye, northern pike, crappie and sunfish — One meal per month for all people. Most people have been exposed to PFAS chemicals. Certain PFAS can accumulate and stay in the human body for long periods of time. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. Lastly, the fire needs to be confined by a controlled device or structure such as an enclosure, fire ring or fire pit, no more than three feet wide at its widest point.

For more information on smelting season in the Ashland area, call us at We have a smelt hotline set up during the month of April. Please keep checking back for updates! Click here to read our weekly fishing report! Important smelting rules and regulations from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources:. These can be obtained at any licensing agent such as Walmart or the DNR building. The cheapest option for non-residents who wish to harvest smelt is to purchase a two-day outlying license.

The water must be emptied out of the buckets before leaving the beach. Clair, St. Clair R. Marys R. See List A for additional inland streams open to hand netting. See List B for additional streams closed to dip netting. Marquette Co. Alger Co. Baraga Co. Houghton Co. All Great Lakes, L. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals.

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: 1 increases in the number of individuals of some species; 2 the emergence of new species over time; and 3 the extinction of other species. Identify environmental factors that influence smelt spawning. Graph water data. Draw conclusions about the timing of smelt spawning using water temperature and water discharge data as evidence.

Background Smelt were brought into the Great Lakes in the early s to help stocked Atlantic salmon survive. Rainbow Smelt Name: Atlantic rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax.

Average size: inches long centimeters. Lifespan: Most live years. Predators: Coho salmon, burbot, trout, walleye, yellow perch and other smelt.

Competitors: Alewife, possibly lake herring.