07/29/2006

The Associated Press
The newest vessel on the Cheboygan riverfront is the Spencer F. Baird, an $8 million ship built for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will focus on the lake trout population of the Great Lakes.

New ship to focus on trout population

Ship built for Fish and Wildlife Service

The M/V Spencer F. Baird, which replaces the M/V Togue, has arrived at its home port on the Cheboygan River at the Great Lakes Science Center docks.

The Baird is designed for stocking lake trout, the Fish and Wildlife Service said on its Web site. The agency has released millions of yearling lake trout into lakes Michigan and Huron in recent years using the Togue.

"It's the first boat of this magnitude built for the Fish and Wildlife Service since the mid-1980s," said Gerry Jackson, assistant regional director of the agency's fisheries division in Fort Snelling, Minn.

The 95-foot-long Baird was designed in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., by Tim Graul and Associates and built by Conrad Industries of Morgan City, La. It has accommodations for eight, but normal operations call for a crew of four.

"Usually we'll run day trips and tie up at night in different ports," Capt. Mike Perry told the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. "This ship has very unique missions — fish restoration and the capability of assessment."

The Baird can release fish or capture and inspect them, he said.

"Lake trout is our main focus at this time," Perry said. "This vessel produces its own oxygen for the 10 removable fish tanks on deck."