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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-08-17, Page 9Wednesday, August 17, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 9 Are chinook salmon populations bouncing back in Lake Huron? Darryl Coote Reporter At 23.78 lbs, this year's win- ning chinook salmon is the largest entrance in the Chantry Chinook Salmon Derby since 2004 when Cliff Jenkins reeled in a 25 -pounder. Derby records posted online show that only three first -place chinook salmon have broken the 20 -pound marker since 2003, with two surpassing that weight in the last three years. And Jordan MacDougall's 23 -pound beauty might just represent more than the $15,000 cash prize the angler took home -- it might be indication that the salmon's population is bouncing back "Overall, the lake has still got problems," derby chair- man Brian Lang told The News over the phone Aug. 12, "but the salmon fishery is on a little rebound." Prior to the mid-1990s, Lake Huron was teeming with chinook salmon, according to Lang. One had to just dip his rod into the lake and a chinook would be on the menu for dinner. "When this derby started (in 1983) up until about 1998, prior to that you could go out there setting up your line in the morning and the line would get ripped right out of your hand because there were so many fish," he said. However, according to a London Free Press article published in March, chinook salmon saw a collapse in its population, losing about 90 per cent between the mid- 1980s and 2010; a collapse brought about by the col- lapse in its food source, the alewife. Infesting the Great Lakes in the early to mid -1900s, alewife population exploded as it had no predator. "I can remember when they were so bad. They would wash up here in Port Elgin and they would have to get loaders to get rid of them, they smelled that bad," Lang said referring to the seasonal die offs the invasive baitfish is known for. To control alewife, chi - nook salmon were intro- duced to the Great Lakes in the 1950s and prospered. Chris Davis, the fisheries assessment supervisor with the Ministry of natural Resources and Forestry, said the chinook salmon were then introduced to the great lakes to control alewife as it was an abundance prey resource. According to some fishery reports, chinook were popu- lating widely, until the ale- wife population crash. "The alewife collapse is thought to be due to the entry of zebra and quagga mussels and their filtering of much of the plankton that alewife rely on for food," said Davis. The Free Press' report also says the decline is attributed to environmental efforts to restrict phosphorus entering Submitted Goderich's Jordan MacDougall, left, holds up his $15,000 cheque for catching the largest chin000k salmon during the 33rd Chantry Chinook Salmon Derby. Brian Lang, right, chairman of the derby, holds the first place fish. the lake. Davis said the decline in chinook salmon has been "substantial." Based on derby records, in the late 1990s over 4,000 chi - nook salmon were being entered in the derby. This year only saw 338. "Although the number of chinook entered in the derby has declined," Davis wrote to The News in an email, "the average weight of our sam- pled fish has remained rela- tively constant at about 7 lbs since about 2003 (it was larger before that)." As the salmon is not indig- enous to Lake Huron, Lang was asked if something should be done to Chantry Derby results are in for 2016 The results are in from the Chantry Chinook Classic Salmon Derby that ran the Bruce Peninsula from July 23 to Aug. 7, 2016. Top 25 Salmon 23.781b Salmon - Jordan MacDougall from Goderich, 23.451b Salmon - Bruce McDonald from Southampton 22.34 lb Salmon - Elias Sprenger from Kitchener 21.30 lb Salmon - Maria Claydon from Cambridge 20.53 lb Salmon - Gary Breitenbach from Stratford 20.05 ib Salmon - Mark Donaldson from Port Elgin 19.41 lb Salmon - Phil Hahn from Tiverton 18.98 lb Salmon - Paul Avnet from NB Penninsula 18.71 lb Salmon - Kevin MacMillan from Caledonia 18.33 lb Salmon - Kath- leen Scott from Port Elgin 18.27 lb Salmon - Larry Kirk from Kincardine 18.15 lb Salmon - Chris Vanhaelemeesch from Port Elgin 17.951b Salmon - Debbie Brick from Hanover 17.72 1b Salmon - Gavin Reed from Georgian Bluffs 17.70 lb Salmon - Brad Weatherall from Port Elgin 16.75 lb Salmon - Jeremy Bimm from Port Elgin 16.55 lb Salmon - Kevin Grass from Port Elgin 16.55 lb Salmon - Ryan Oudeslays from Guelph 16.30 lb Salmon - Kevin Beaudette from Port Elgin 16.30 lb Salmon - Braydon Woznica from Ayr 16.26 lb Salmon - Dan Lisk from Lions Head 16.12 lb Salmon - Shel- ley DeCunha from Hanover 15.95 lb Salmon - Ryan Sharpe from London 15.74 lb Salmon - John Paul Hamilton from Lucan 15.70 1b Salmon -- Chi- nook caught by Mark Barker from Port Elgin h repopulate Lake Huron with the Pacific species fish. "The salmon brings a lot of money to local municipali- ties," he answered. "A lot of municipalities won't be get- ting the money they've been getting because it brings people in from everywhere to fish this derby, and when they are here they're staying at hotels, camp sites. They're buying food here. They lose lures or tackle and they go to the tackle shops." "It's a money -making industry," he said. "Without the salmon you will see a lot of things die off, not just the fishery." For full results from the derby visit chantrychinookcom Top 5 Trout 19.861b Trout - Paul Gei- ger from Stoufield 18.001b Trout - Mark Bro- maroff from Port Elgin 17.901b Trout - Mark Jack- son from Port Elgin 17.131b Trout - Don Voll from Kincardine 16.76 lb Trout - Doug Baier from Baden Sandy's of DOWNTOWN Kincardine is CLOSING IT'S DOORS FOREVER ALL STOCK 50-90°%o REDUCED BY BULK BONUS - BUY 3 GET 1 FREE choose ANY 4 Items ALREADY ON SALE & GET THE LOWEST PRICED ITEM FREE OPEN 10-5 DAILY, SUN 12-4 CASH ONLY/ALL SALES FINAL Directly across the Public Library Southampton's Bruce McDonald holds up his second -place chinook salmon that weighed in at 23.45 lbs. Paul Geiger, left, won largest trout at 19.86 lbs. Right, derby chairman Brian Lang poses for pictures with the fish. tutionis Si' um IiSne ari J SOLD OUT LAST 2 YEARS!