Purdue News

March 17, 2000 Forum to address fishery issues in Lake Michigan WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Southern Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum will be held April 8 at the Purdue University Calumet campus in Hammond. The forum will address issues of interest to anglers, charter captains and commercial fishermen, and anyone else with an interest in the southern Lake Michigan fishery system. According to Patrice Charlebois, biological resource specialist with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, the forum will present information about current populations of fish species in southern Lake Michigan, as well as updates on invaders entering the region, such as the fishhook flea, which eats zooplankton, a fish food source. "The fishhook flea is something that anglers and commercial fishers will be seeing for the first time this season," Charlebois said. "I want people who are directly involved with this industry to have the most current information about this species of invader, specifically its distribution and its potential impact." Speakers at the forum, sponsored by the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program and the Illinois and Indiana departments of natural resources, will cover topics ranging from prey fish to fish health, and from research projects to sport fishing. The forum will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The conference is free, but preregistration is required. For more information or to register, contact Charlebois at (847) 872-8677, p_char@ix.netcom.com. The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program is one of 29 National Sea Grant College Programs. Funding is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Purdue University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Writer: Samantha Cain, (765) 743-0930, news_students@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page