The research vessel Kiyi, operated by the Lake Superior Biological
Station at Ashland, Wisconsin, makes an annual circumnavigation of the
lake as part of an ongoing census of fish populations in Lake Superior.
The following images are from the 2004 spring fishing survey of Lake Superior.
The Kiyi Story:
Listening to the Lake
R/V Kiyi
Built 1999: Patti Shipyard, Pensacola, Fl
Length: 107 feet
Beam: 28 feet
Draft: 10 feet
Speed: 10 knots
The crew of the Kiyi consists of a combination of fishery
biologists and the vessel's navigation team.
The primary mission of the spring lake survey is to gather
census information on forage fish populations around the lake.
This is accomplished using a trawl net at predermined "stations" along the shore.
Sorting fish in the Wet Lab, Black Bay, Ontario.
Once the fish are aboard the vessel they are sorted by species,
counted, weighed, and measured in the vessel's Wet Lab.
Analyzing information in the Dry Lab.
The information gathered at each trawling station is cataloged
and recorded in the Kiyi's Dry Lab. Once the Kiyi has returned to
its home base in Ashland the data is then entered into the LSBS's
database and made available to fishery managers and researchers.
Deck foreman Keith Peterson prepares
for a "ponar grab", lowering the clamshell
device that will grab a soil sample from
the lake bottom.
Biological Technician Lori Evrard
collects zooplankton samples gathered
off Thunder Bay's Pie Island. The samples
are preserved for study back at the
Ashland research station.
The crew of the Kiyi works four to five stations each day,
averaging about twelve hours work from start to finish, rain
or shine. Deck foreman Keith Peterson, and Northland College biology
student Lindsey Lesmeister prepare to set the trawl net at
Station 454, Red Rock River Bay, Ontario.
To maintain the integrity of the data each trawl, or "transect"
is laid out on exact coordinates, with a specified distance, course,
and depth. In the pilot house Captain Joe Walters and First Mate
Mike McCann are in constant communicatin with the trawl deck as
they monitor each transect.
In addition to the annual census the biologists also conduct research
based on their particular areas of interest. Fishery biologist Dan Yule
is a specialist in the use of hydroacoustics and is using sonar to study
the forage fish populations in Lake Superior. On each transect, for instance,
Dan monitors the hydroacoustic data and then compares it against the fish
census gathered from the trawl.
Jason Stockwell, the Kiyi's lead biologist on this trip, is working on
a pilot study of the lake's forage fish biomass. The purpose of the study
is to more accurately determine the forage fish populations in the lake,
information that fishery managers need to help regulate commercial and
recreational fishing, while protecting the lake's natural resources.
Fishery management is a cooperative effort between the United States,
Canada, and various tribal fisheries. The sharing of information helps
dissolve political boundaries and establish working relationships for all
sides of the equation.
Dan Katajamaki and Russ Bobrowski, students working for the Ontario Ministry
of Natural Resources out of Thunder Bay jumped at the chance to spend a
day on the lake aboard the Kiyi.
The Kiyi's 700 gallon live well is used to hold fish until they can be released
back into the lake.
The lake trout, once nearly decimated
by over fishing and the predatory sea
lampray has made a tremendous return to
Lake Superior, in a large part due to the
efforts of the program conducted by the Lake
Superior Biological Station, a field station
operated by the Great Lakes Science Center
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
On the eastern end of the lake, OMR Wawa District biologists come
aboard to observe and talk management strategies with the biologists on the Kiyi.
L-R, Captain Joe Walters; Nathan Hanes, District Biologist, Wawa;
Marcel Pellegrini, Management Biologist, Wawa; Stephen Chong,
Assessment Biologist, Sault Ste. Marie.
Herring at Sawyer Bay, Thunder Bay, Ontario
The lake herring is one of the primary food sources for mature lake trout.
A healthy forage fish population, which includes fish such as herring,
melt, bloater, and kiyi, is important to maintaining a balanced Lake Superior fishery.
Station 466: Richardson's Harbor.
The days are long and the work is never ending, the spectacular scenery of
Lake Superior manages to weave its way into every day. While the biologists
are focused specifically on fish, the lake's entire ecosystem is always
considered when it comes to managing our natural resources.
