Dear Editor:
Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, in the small town of Kagawong, residents would gather on the town dock to fish for perch. The abundance prompted netting at the north end of Mudge Bay. After a few years, to everyone’s surprise, the stocks dwindled, never to rebound in any great number, probably decimated by some predator, such as lake trout.
In spite of a once-seemingly endless supply of fish on the east coast, the industry there has fallen on hard times. Since these difficulties arose after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, is there a possibility that now with easy access, some of the Great Lake predators developed a taste for cod and travelled east.
Back home in the North Channel, sources tell us, the supply of whitefish is dwindling, due to lake trout predation and that netting them will soon not be viable.
Nets have now appeared at the northwest end of Mudge Bay, probably targeting pickerel. With few perch and whitefish to feed on, it’s most likely only a matter of time before the voracious lake trout begin destroying the pickerel population.
With the explosion of the human population and the rapid advance of technology, many species are extinct and many more threatened.
Mother Nature is not the problem.
Doug Alkenbrack
Kagawong
