7of5 years catch and
research
Fisheries management benefits from decades of data collection on Vilas County lakes
RYAN BOWER
At five beautiful lakes in Vilas County, there is an opportunity for fishing to be about more than just casting a line. Here, at the Northern Highland Fishery Research Area, angling and science go hand in fin — and they have for 75 years. On June 20, the DNR will mark the 75th anniversary of the NHFRA, the agency’s longest-running fisheries research project. It has been a rich resource for researchers since it began and is well known by fisheries professionals and the research community, though lesser so by the public.
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Originally called the Five Lakes Research Project, the NHFRA is named after the lakes that comprise it: Nebish, Pallette, Mystery, Spruce and Escanaba, where the headquarters are located about 10 miles south of Boulder Junction. The research area was established by the Wisconsin Conservation Department in 1946 in response to requests by anglers that a group of lakes be set aside for long-term sport fishing research. This specific area was chosen because of its location and diversity of lake types. The NHFRA is an umbrella project including multiple research initiatives that have contributed much over the years to the understanding of how fish communities respond to fishing regulations, environmental changes and angler practices. Many of the DNR’s fishing regulations were first
Visitors from Trees for Tomorrow learn about research at Escanaba Lake in the summer of 1952 on an outing led by fisheries area coordinator Arthur Oehmcke.
tested on lakes in the NHFRA. One of the NHFRA’s most notable and unique contributions is its angler survey data set, one of the longest continuous fish harvest data sets in the world. The data set stems from a mandatory fishing survey first imposed on all five lakes when the NHFRA was initially established. Anglers on the lakes are required to stop by the Escanaba Lake creel station
