(Satellite Location: Fairview) Is the Lake Erie Yellow Perch Heading Toward Extinction?
Is the Lake Erie Yellow Perch Heading Toward Extinction?
Systematic warming has created dramatic changes in the world's waterways. Some of these include a geometric rise in shark attacks on the East Coast of the United States, frightening losses of coral reefs, strange new whale behavior, and unimaginable storms along both ocean coasts. The Great Lakes have not escaped these changes and one of the most disturbing shifts has been noted in commercial and sports fishing data. Anglers report that yellow perch have been more difficult to catch and at the same time walleye (yellow pile) are being harvested in record numbers. Is there a connection? Could Lake Erie's catch diversity be at risk? Could the yellow perch disappear? As unimaginable as this may seem similar losses have happened before. The story of Lake Erie's blue pike and cisco may provide a warning; a lesson for all of us to pay attention.
Join us as Dr. David Frew presents both disturbing and hopeful data drawn from Lake Erie's historic harvest totals. Dr. Frew is a researcher who has worked in Ontario with the Ministry of Natural Resources. His book, "Fortune & Fury" (co-written with Jerry Skrypzak), is a definitive history of commercial fishing on Lake Erie.
Location: Lincoln Community Center Library – 1255 Manchester Rd. Erie, PA 16505.
Date/Time: Monday, July 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Admission: FREE, please register in advance.
Parking: lot in front of building.
Historian and author David Frew, Ph.D., is a JES Scholar-in-Residence. An emeritus professor at Gannon University, he held a variety of administrative positions during a 33-year career. He is also emeritus director of the Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center, where he had previously served as Executive Director for five years, and is president of his own management consulting business.
After beginning with a five-year career in engineering, Frew took a teaching fellowship at Kent State University, where he earned a doctorate in Organizational Behavior in 1970. His love of Lake Erie brought him back to Erie where he became a faculty member and the founding director of Gannon's MBA Program. His career at Gannon included administrative posts as Director of the Health Services Administration and Public Administration Programs, as well as Dean of the Graduate School. In 1982 and 1983, he took a leave from Gannon to complete a post-doctorate at Kent State University where he completed advanced coursework in psychology and research design. He was also a visiting professor at Mercyhurst University for four years.
Dr. Frew has authored or co-authored 40 books, most recently “Accidental Parade: A 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle,” and more than 100 articles, cases, and papers. His work has appeared in publications ranging from refereed journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology to popular magazines such as Sail Magazine and Cruising World.
Growing up on Erie's lower west side as a proud "Bay Rat," Frew was known to join neighborhood kids playing and marauding along the west bayfront. He has written for years about his beloved Presque Isle and his adventures on the Great Lakes. In the “On the Waterfront Series” for the JES, the Scholar-in-Residence takes note of life in and around the water.
