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Ice fishing is big business around the Lake Erie Islands.
Joe Kostura, owner of Put-in-Bay Hard Water Charters, said the lack of ice this year has hit his business and the entire island with a cold slap right where it hurts -- in the pocketbook.
''I have lost at least $30,000 this year on account of not being able to run any ice-fishing trips,'' he said. ''Ice fishing is a craze out here not just for islanders, but I have people who come every year from California to Florida.
''Everyone keeps calling, hoping I will tell them the lake has iced over,'' he said glumly. ''Instead, I tell them their refund check is in the mail.''
Because there have been no ice fisherman flocking to the island this winter, he said, the airport, restaurants, hotels and bed and breakfasts are having a horrible season.
''Most of them have just shut down, deciding it would be better to close down until the summer tourist season gets going,'' he said.
Kostura estimates Put-in-Bay has lost at least $1 million this winter as a result.
Over at the Put-in-Bay Airport, Carolyn McCabe said there isn't much to do without the ice fishermen on the island.
''We are usually taking planes up starting at 7 a.m. and going out all day but not this year,'' she said. ''It is really depressing out here, without ice fishing there really isn't much do. Everyone ice fishes, from little kids to 70-year-old women -- it's part of the culture.''
Mr. Ed's is one of two restaurants on the island that stays open in the winter, counting on the ice fisherman for most of its business. It, too, has closed down.
''We were losing way too much money staying open,'' said Kelly Mohn, who works part time at the bar.
She said the only reason she was even at the restaurant was because she thought she might as well do some cleaning and maintenance.
''There really isn't anything else to do,'' she said. ''People on the island are finally doing projects they have been putting off for years.''
Put-in-Bay's commerce is feeling the immediate effects of no lake ice, but the long-term effects of warmer winters are what concerns National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association hydrologist Cynthia Sellinger.
Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie are experiencing the lowest water levels in the past 35 years. Between 1997 and 2001, Lakes Michigan and Huron dropped by 3.4 feet, and Lake Erie dropped 3.13 feet, according to NOAA data.
Present low levels resulted from a combination of reduced precipitation, leading to lower water runoff into the lakes, higher evaporation and higher air temperatures between 1997 and 2000, she said.
Specifically, extremely high air temperatures greatly reduced tributary runoff and increased lake evaporation.
The lakes remain below average because of insufficient ice cover in the winter of 2001 and insufficient snow melt in the spring of 2001.
Sellinger said at this point even if there were heavy snowfall from now until April, it would still not bring the lake levels up.
''We need a return to cold winter weather and a lot more precipitation, and we need it consistently for a couple of seasons,'' she said.
Concerns were heightened when 2001 was declared the second-warmest year on record, she said. The warmest year on record took place place only three years earlier in 1998.
If global warming trends continue and future weather predictions are accurate, the trend of lower lake levels could remain a problem for years to come, according to Sellinger.
The weather patterns of recent years and resulting low water levels have affected the shipping industry, which must carry lighter loads on its carriers.
The low lake levels force ships into ''light-loading.'' The Cleveland-based Lakes Carriers Association, which represents the shipping industry, reported that $22,000 to $28,000 of cargo has to be removed from each carrier for every inch of water the lakes lose.
These costs are typically are passed along to consumers, according to Rick Novak, executive director of the Lorain Port Authority.
Lorain companies feeling the effects of increased shipping costs include Republic Technologies International, Lorain Tubular and U.S. Gypsum, he said.
The shipping industry in the Great Lakes region faces steep competition from railroads and commercial trucking, making it impossible to raise prices, according to Mike Donahue, president of the Great Lakes Association.
Low water levels are posing problems for boats operating in shallow harbors. Some areas in which boaters are accustomed to traveling in recent years may be too shallow for safe passage by mid to late summer, particularly for sailboats and other deep-keeled vessels, according to NOAA.
Recreational marinas are also being hurt by water levels, according to Donahue.
To allow boats access to the water, marinas are now having to conduct expensive dredging projects, he said.
Dredging is basically the digging of channels to gives boats access to shallow waterways and marinas, according to Skip Scarpelli of Lorain-based South Shore Dredge and Dock Inc.
Scarpelli said the last few years of low water levels have caused a boom in his business.
''If the marinas don't dredge, then they can't do any business because the boats can't get into the water,'' he said. ''It is terribly expensive though, so with lake levels like this we are seeing a lot of marinas closing up shop, especially in the western area of the state.''
Novak said Lorain hasn't had to do any dredging in its harbor, but, if low lake levels persist, a project is likely be planned within the next years.
Dredging is made expensive by government controls, the equipment used and the need to dispose the dredge when finished, according to Scarpelli.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the governing body for dredging, and it has been bombarded with dredging permit requests this year, according to NOAA.
Dredging, literally, stirs up a lot issues, said Donahue.
''There are economical, environmental and social implications to dredging,'' he said. ''So the Army Corps has examined a number of different issues from many different angles before allowing for dredging permits.''
Because lake levels had been high since the mid-1960s, much of the toxic contaminates once prevalent in Lake Erie have became part of the lake's sediment, according to Donahue.
These toxins have been left undisturbed and were essentially harmless.
However, dredging stirs up toxic contaminants and puts them back into the water.
The results of the increased dredging are not yet known.
According to Sellinger, certain species of birds in areas along the Great Lakes where dredging is prevalent have developed some beak deformities and egg shells are too thin for proper hatching. Both are believed to be a result of toxins stirred up by dredging, she said.
Toxic contaminants also present a problem of what to do with the dredge once it has been dug out of the lake, she said.
According to Scarpelli, all dredge is tested for a number of different things. If it is free of contaminants and heavy in sand, it is typically put back into the lake to help build up the shoreline, he said.
However, if there are toxic contaminants in the dredge it has to be secured in safe area, he said.
Dredge companies are now having a problem finding places where they can legally store dredge, said Donahue.
Despite the complications, the increase in the need for their services makes those in the dredging business among the few benefiting from the low lake levels.
Others who may see the lower levels as a positive are shoreline property owners who now have more beach front and those worried about erosion.
When lake levels are lower, the erosion process is slowed, and there isn't a need to build expensive water retention devices, said Donahue.
''I wouldn't be too quick to build on some of that opened up land,'' said Novak. ''In a couple of years the water levels could go right back up, and then, oops, there goes your house.''
NOAA and other groups studying the lake aren't convinced the lower levels of recent years mean the lake is going to remain lower.
Although the lake is lower now than it has been since 1964, Sellinger pointed out, from 1964 to 1986 the lake experienced record highs, making today's lower levels more obvious.
''The lakes are not at all-time lows,'' she said. ''Though the drop in the last four years is uncharacteristically quick.''
Many scientist believe the lakes are in a 30-year cycle, said Sellinger.
If that theory is correct, she said, it accounts for the lake's low levels before 1964, leading to the high levels up until 1997 and the dipping levels seen in the years since.
''It is hard to say if it is global warming or natural fluctuation,'' said Sellinger. ''It is hard to make solid theories until a trend, like dropping lake levels, has been seen for at least five years. We are coming up on five years now, so people are now looking at drawing some conclusions.''
