Walters Fishery, Fishing Family Profile
Dale Witham – General Fishery Manager and Chief Smoker! Dale Witham is ready to deliver another load of smoked fishIf you must smoke…smoke fish! That’s the motto of Walters Fishery in Ludington, and they do a lot of it. Many Michigan fish processors smoke fish, either for the wholesale or retail market, but it’s Walters’ exclusive focus. The “Old World” method of natural hardwood smoking lends a special savory hickory taste to Great Lakes whitefish, and they tap three generations of experience to produce the delicacy. According to Walters’ general manager Dale Witham, they carefully select and hand craft each batch of fish. They use no supplementary flavorings such as brown sugar or molasses. Instead, they let the cherry, maple, and hickory wood chips do the work and create the finished product’s distinctive aroma and flavor. Witham is especially proud of the comment by an Alaska seafood expert that Walters’ golden smoked whitefish product is better than Alaska salmon. He’s also proud of complying with state regulations and implementing their federally required Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) process. The focus on standards comes naturally to Witham, a former quality assurance specialist for a medical equipment firm and for Hunt-Wesson Foods. “It’s really important to produce a consistently high quality product,” he says cheerfully. Witham runs the operation for Walters’ owner George Shrink, who bought it from Ron Walters, a second generation fish smoker. Shrink, who fishes with Witham’s nephew, lured “Uncle Dale” (as he prefers to be called) to lend his quality control expertise to build the business. In addition to his professional experience, Witham grew up working in the meat department of his family’s Thriftway grocery store in Muskegon. A large portion Walters’ smoked fish business is to wholesale markets within a 100 mile radius. At their walk-in location in Ludington, local customers are on an honor system, where they deposit money in a slot and take their fish. Witham likes it that way, appreciating the loyal, honest folks who patronize their product. He also foresees a growth in cyber sales, as customers from all parts of the country can access the flavor of smoked Great Lakes whitefish. The work days are long, but Witham’s contagious enthusiasm for educating people about the benefits of eating fish sees him through. This story posted in Fishing Families on Great Lakes Whitefish website (view PDF version of original web content)
Eat Wisconsin Fish website
Eat Wisconsin Fish is all about local fish that is available to purchase in Wisconsin—fish caught by commercial fishermen on the Great Lakes and fish raised by Wisconsin farmers. A project of Wisconsin Sea Grant, Eat Wisconsin Fish supports its goal of creating a safe and sustainable seafood supply to meet consumer demand, as well as fostering informed consumers who understand the health benefits of seafood consumption and how to evaluate the safety and sustainability of the seafood they buy. This food-focused informational website offers information about Great Lakes fish, commercial fish producers, recipes for cooking and preserving fish, and where to buy local Wisconsin fish.
History of state-licensed Great Lakes commercial fishing in Michigan
Michigan Department of Natural Resources website offers history, images, and resources relating to state-licensed Great Lakes commercial fishing in Michigan, including: Early History The Rise of Recreation and Modern Commercial Fishery The Current Commercial Fishery References
Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail Fact Sheet and Poster
A fact sheet (information page) and poster are available in learning more and promoting Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail network and partnership: INFORMATION PAGE about the Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail network and partnership. TRAIL POSTER for promoting the Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail in your respective community.
Sea Lamprey, life history website
Click Here to visit this informational webpage and life history profile of Sea Lamprey compiled by Wisconsin Sea Grant.
Sea Lamprey, A Great Lakes Invader website
Click here to visit this Great Lakes Fishery Commission website about Sea Lamprey ecology, issue, and management in the Great Lakes. This web page offers information about: Sea Lamprey Lifecycle Issue and risks related to Sea Lamprey Status Control
Great Lakes Water Life Photo Gallery, Native and Exotic Lampreys
Great Lakes Water Life photo and information gallery page for native and exotic sea lampreys. Provides links and information about: Scientific profiles (from University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology) Species profiles and images Distribution and Habitat Variety of additional resources and information sources
Eat Safe Fish
Eat Safe Fish website offers resources and information related to fishing, purchasing, or preparing fish safely. Learn about health benefits of eating fish and steps you can take to reduce risks (e.g. environmental contaminants that may accumulate in fish).
Great Lakes Whitefish, The Great Fish WEBSITE
Take a dip into this site to learn about this versatile fish and its fishermen. You’ll also find out how to locate Michigan whitefish for yourself and cook it to perfection with one of our many recipes. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Michigan Fish Producers Association
Great Lakes Lake Sturgeon Education website
Sturgeon education website brings fisheries science and technology into the classroom A new Great Lakes sturgeon science website features the research of an MSU team of fisheries scientists and the threatened Lake Sturgeon of northern Michigan. Posted on January 31, 2013 by Brandon Schroeder, Michigan State University Extension, Steve Stewart, Michigan State University Extension, and Dr. Kim Scribner, Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife A new Great Lakes Sturgeon Education website explores how the prehistoric and threatened Lake Sturgeon + fishery scientists = one amazing teaching opportunity for Michigan educators! The Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, in partnership with the Michigan Sea Grant, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and others, have developed and launched a Great Lakes sturgeon education website designed to bring fisheries science and research to interested educators and youth. Through educational lessons, this site features the collaborative fisheries science investigations led by Dr. Kim Scribner and Dr. Ed Baker working with Lake Sturgeon on the Cheboygan River Watershed in Northeast Michigan. This wealth of research, ranging from science, technology and math, has been refined and organized for use by educators and youth to explore as part of their school learning experience. This website opens a window to real-world sturgeon research, sharing access to data sets paired with lesson plans designed to guide youth in exploring sturgeon as future budding scientists themselves. This website offers an opportunity to enhance youth learning opportunities through real-world fisheries resources of our Michigan and Great Lakes waterways. It is difficult not to love, or at least be amazed by, a prehistoric looking sturgeon – a great way to hook kids into learning! Once on the line, the learning can be endless: Math: Exploring fish survival, growth rates, and populations sizes Science: Biology of fish, life cycles, habitats, and ecosystem food webs English, Language, Arts: reading, writing, and drawing Social Studies and History: fishing and fish management policies, history and local history and heritage ties with this fish Technology: exploring research equipment and techniques used by researchers to collect this information Exploring experiments and data from a diversity of sturgeon research examples, teachers and students are able to understand, better, the science and the scientific process. Organizing data, interpreting these data through graphs, and trying to derive answers to questions through these actions give new meaning to applications for learning mathematics. Through sturgeon learning, students can learn to connect fish with quality and habitat connections, interactions within aquatic ecosystems, human impacts, history and heritage ranging to today, exploring threatened and endangered species, river studies. A website for educators, developed in partnership with educators. Setting the stage for development of this science based website, fourteen educators from ten different schools convened as part of COSEE Great Lakes-sponsored Sturgeon Research Workshop for Educators held on August 11-12, 2011. At this workshop, they learned about lake sturgeon research, while exploring educational linkages and opportunities related to this amazing and charismatic fish. Working first hand with Dr. Kim Scribner and his Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife research team, teachers not only learned about sturgeon research through presentations, but also enjoyed the opportunity to get their feet wet experiencing sturgeon research in a hands-on way. This was an amazing opportunity resulting from scientists and educators working together; and Quincy Elementary educator, Ben Braymer, shared his own amazing experience through a video he prepared for his students. Throughout the next year, this partnership explored educational lessons and opportunities in support of this website. A couple of these educators continued working with Michigan Sea Grant and Dr. Scribner’s research team, including graduate student John Bauman, to develop curriculum connections ultimately expanding the reach and impact of this research to broader audiences through this website an even great opportunity. This website also cross-connects with other fisheries-related curriculum, like Project FISH and Project FLOW (Fisheries Learning on the Web), among others. Several other agency and community partners have also supported this multi-year investment in sturgeon education, including: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Huron Pines; Sturgeon for Tomorrow (Black Lake Chapter); the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative network; and the Great Lakes Fishery Trust. For more information about this project partnership between MSU Dept of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan Sea Grant, and MSUExtension, visit the Great Lakes Sturgeon Education website. This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).
