About Us

Perch America was established in 1995, by a group of concerned fisherman from other fishing clubs and organizations, to gather information on the over harvesting of perch by commercial fisherman, who were being allowed to set out miles and miles of gill nets in the Indiana and Illinois waters, during the spawning season, at which time they would take the egg bearing females who would not have a chance to lay their eggs, which in turn was slowly bringing the species to a potential of extinction. They were supported by the DNR and the restaurant association, who had a strong political lobby and were ignoring the issues and the average fisherman's pleas to stop these atrocities before it is too late. Perch America finally made some head way and succeeded in stopping the commercial fishing of lake perch from the Indiana and Illinois shorelines when it became painfully obvious that the numbers of perch had dropped off dramatically.  The states of Wisconsin and Michigan had put a stop to commercial fishing years ago so that they could preserve their sport fishery.

We now have a season to fish for perch in Indiana and Illinois, that does not interfere with the natural spawning process of the perch, and we are starting to see a small, but steady return of the Lake Perch. 

Now our focus lately has been on stopping the introduction of exotic species to our Great Lakes, that are being brought over in the ballast water of sea going vessels and reproducing at an alarming rate, competing for the food sources our natural fish hatchlings survive on ,like the zoo plankton that is being devoured by the zebra mussel and the perch eggs that are being eaten by the bottom dwelling round goby, who are multiplying in vast numbers, and can be found everywhere in Lake Michigan and its tributaries.

There are also other exotics like the ruffe , and the stickleback minnow that when eaten by another fish, causes its death, due to the sharp, needle-like spines getting caught in their throats.  

Other contamination that has been brought over by the contaminated ballast waters from other parts of the world are bacteriological menaces like the cryptosporidium , a microbial parasite that can be fatal to humans and thought to have caused the deaths of 104 people in Milwaukee, when they had to close the beaches, and instruct people to boil their drinking water.

In 1992 E.P.A. Contract R995164-01-0/05-R-000 Report, showed that ships entering the seaway, carry an average of 158 tons of ballast water BELOW their pumps, which can never be fully pumped out.  Ballast water exchange is never complete.  Salt water ballast exchange at sea does not kill salt water exotics or disease pathogens in tanks, that will survive and thrive in fresh water. When cargo is unloaded and ballast water is pumped to keep the ship stable and mixes with the contaminated water BELOW the pumps, the loading process then reverses and the contaminated ballast water is pumped out with the exotics, and disease pathogens along with it.  Welcome to America, land of the free and home for every Lake destroying and human threatening infestation that ship can hold. Multiply that times how many ships we have coming back from overseas, and you have a very serious problem.  Soon our fresh water supply of the Great Lakes will no longer be drinkable and nothing is being done currently to de-contaminate that ballast water, prior to the exchange at sea.