4 minute read
Northwoods Bootcamp Benefits Budding Fisheries Professionals
Story and photos by Rachel Benedict
Rachel Benedict is a communications specialist and publications editor in the DNR’s Office of Applied Science.
On a dreary, gray day in May 2023, six students at the DNR’s Northern Highland Fishery Research Area piled into the cozy creel station at Escanaba Lake. They joined the station’s research scientists, biologists and technicians, and were greeted by Greg Sass, fisheries research team leader with the DNR’s Office of Applied Science.
The students were at the Vilas County creel station for Fisheries Bootcamp, an all-expenses-paid weekend trip supported by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Student members from affiliated universities in the state apply each year by submitting a one-page essay on why they want to become fisheries professionals.
“Fisheries Bootcamp aims to provide college students with hands-on experience conducting spring fish surveys,” said Sass, a UW-Madison Ph.D. who oversees the NHFRA and DNR’s statewide fisheries research team.
“The experience allows students to be a fisheries biologist for a weekend and gives them the opportunity to ensure their major is right for them.”
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
As bootcamp got underway, Sass gave the students a rundown of survey activities: collecting fish from fyke nets, resetting nets, collecting data and learning the basics of operating boats and equipment.
Annual surveys are essential for understanding fish populations. Data can show how populations fluctuate and provide the basis for generating population trends for species such as walleye, northern pike and yellow perch.
Geared in waders and coats, students split into groups, each assigned with DNR staff to work on different activities. Depending on the species and data needed, students measured, tagged and weighed fish and collected biological samples.
Students also learned how to attach Floy tags — usually inserted near the dorsal fin, with a unique number for tracking — and give temporary fin clips, removing a small piece of a dorsal or tail fin. Recapturing tagged or clipped fish aids species population estimates.
Electrofishing is a common survey method. Students learned how to prepare a boat for the practice by hooking up booms to the boat, attaching the droppers and launching the boat. Although the electrical current was never turned on for safety purposes, the students went through the motions, learning where to stand safely on the boat and practicing scooping up fish with nets in the water.
LAUNCHING A CAREER
Skills learned during Fisheries Bootcamp and the connections students make are vital to a successful fisheries career. Just ask Joseph Mrnak, a graduate of the first Fisheries Bootcamp in 2016.
After bootcamp, Mrnak went on to get his bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife ecology from Northland College in Ashland, worked for a time at the Escanaba Lake Research Station, then completed his master’s degree at South Dakota State. Earlier this year, he received his Ph.D. from UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology, with Sass as one of his advisors.
“Fisheries Bootcamp allowed me to gain real-world experiences and foster great, long-lasting relationships with fisheries professionals in the area I always dreamed of working, northern Wisconsin,” said Mrnak, now a senior research scientist at NHFRA.
“After eight years and two shiny graduate degrees, I am excited to return to the place where it all started for me.”
LEARN MORE
The Northern Highland Fishery Research Area is located near Boulder Junction and consists of five lakes set aside in 1946 as experimental lakes for long-term monitoring and research. For more about NHFRA and how you can help fisheries research, visit dnr.wi.gov/tiny/2051. For details on the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, including how to become a member (student memberships are free!), check wi-afs.org.
