TOPIC:

New Stocking Plan Aims at Enhancing Lake Michigan Fishing
Contact(s): Todd Kalish, Deputy Director Fisheries Management, 608-266-5285, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
December 5, 2019 at 4:06:42 pm

MADISON, Wis. - To enhance fishing success and opportunities for all Lake Michigan anglers, while sustaining a balanced and vibrant fisheries community, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released a new Lake Michigan fish stocking plan.

"Because of work with key partners in the Lake Michigan fisheries community, Wisconsin will grow as the preeminent destination for world-class fishing. This collaborative approach and innovative management strategies will expand our diverse and exciting fishery," said DNR Fisheries, Wildlife, and Parks Director Scott Loomans. "I'm looking forward to big things."

Lake Michigan is home to a world-class fishery, and there are anglers, businesses, stakeholder groups and communities that have a deep commitment to developing management strategies that will benefit this fishery for current and future generations, according to Todd Kalish, Deputy Director of DNR Fisheries Management.

Throughout 2019, DNR fisheries staff conducted an open and inclusive process to gather input on management options for the Lake Michigan fishery.

"Stakeholder input has historically and continues to be a driving force in the development of Lake Michigan management strategies," Kalish said. "A common theme of stakeholder input was a strong interest in developing innovative management strategies and collaboration that acknowledge economic, social and biological factors."

For 2020, 2021 and 2022, chinook salmon stocking numbers will increase to 1,200,000 fish annually, coho stocking will increase to 500,000 annually, steelhead stocking will increase to 460,000 fish annually and brown trout, a popular fish, caught off piers and in harbors, will increase to 450,000 fish annually.

"In meetings and in comments we received about this plan, there was strong interest in increases in stocking not just for chinook salmon but for coho salmon, steelhead and brown trout," said Brad Eggold, Great Lakes District Fisheries Supervisor. "This plan accomplished that goal and contained increases for every type of fishermen."

Fisheries managers will assess potential changes to stocking numbers for 2023 and beyond based on traditional and new data and metrics collected and evaluated in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The DNR will also begin the development of a Lake Michigan brook trout stocking initiative in 2020. Brook trout are a revered native species that could produce critical near-shore angling opportunities. "We are excited to work with stakeholders to pursue reestablishing this native species to enhance angler opportunities and experiences," Kalish said.

"Lake Michigan is a tremendous economic asset, and the fish stocking plan released today by Secretary-designee Preston Cole shows his vision of enhancing our world-class fishery in this great lake, making Milwaukee and the rest of our shoreline a fantastic tourist destination," said Steve Baas Sr., Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

In addition to the 2020-2022 stocking plan, department staff, in collaboration with charter, commercial and sport fishers, plan to:

expand salmon and trout net pen projects to maximize the survivability of stocked fish;
develop and implement innovative public/private data collection initiatives to better inform future management strategies;
enhance outreach and communication by more actively engaging stakeholders in communication initiatives;
increase and enhance diverse marketing and outreach strategies; and
pursue salmon and trout habitat enhancement projects.
"I commend Secretary-designee Cole for his leadership and standing up for Wisconsin sportsmen and our impact on the Wisconsin economy," said Tom Kleiman, President of the Wisconsin Lakeshore Business Association. "Our priority throughout this process is to promote the entire Lake Michigan fishery, including the tributaries, near-shore and open water fishing. This plan addresses short-term needs with a comprehensive plan for future growth to enhance fishing opportunities in this great resource."

Hopefully the bait can support this increase IF SO WE MAY HAVE 500,000 Coho show up from Wisconsin along with the other states plants in the future spring fishery on the southend. LOL

Actually, Wisconsin already plants around 400K cohos so the increase is an additional 100K. But hey! I'll take 'em! Even in the hay-day of Indiana's stocking program when Indiana was stocking over a half million kings each year, cohos were the mainstay of the fishery down here.

Gutsy move by Wisconsin. Time will tell if it was sensible or nonsense. I'm sure the "originalists" who view salmon in the lakes as invasive species are fuming.

On the other hand, perhaps they are jumping for joy. Once the alewives are gone, as in Lake Huron, the sooner the lake can go back to a ecosystem with lake trout as the only apex predator. Hmmmmmm........

Thanks for a reply Mike.

That is why I posted this. How will it affect Indiana? The last few years Indiana bait has been rebuilding. One part that still is missing is where is the small alewife? Last spring we saw a very good alewife spawn but,,,,,,,,, it has been along time since we saw what we had last spring. We used to see that heavy spawning activity every season. I suspect that until we can duplicate a few of those spring spawns year after year we will have issues with some of our stocking process.
Indiana still needs to focus on what is best for us. We have no returning silver fish. That to me should be our focus point. We have and will always get fish in from other states as they rotate thru but come mid July we are close to being done for the season. How do we fill the gap?

I copied this from a fella that fishes Huron. Finally a fellow fisherman from there that gets it.
thanks for saying why overwhelm the the eco System why don’t we let the alewives grow to bigger numbers and maybe they will move back over to the Lake Huron side I can tell you there isn’t to many over here and sure makes it tough when they keep planting more Kings and they come threw and eat all the ones that were just starting in Lake Huron again i know it’s hard for a lot of guys from Lake Michigan to think of Lake Huron but our fishery sucks and I would love to see some lower plants to get the alewife population up so maybe Lake Huron can thrive again as well

" We have no returning silver fish. That to me should be our focus point"

.Evidently Wisconsin has decided to pursue their own interests. Sounds risky to me and if they get overly aggressive we may all suffer. What happened to erring on the side of caution?
I am of the opinion we need to take better care of the fish we have. Hold the Coho's over and release them as yearlings and start net pen programs to protect the Chinook fingerlings until they smolt. St. Joe had a great Coho run this year as a result of releasing yearlings.
If we were able to double our return on kings or better by protecting them from predators while they imprint and smolt, the results could be the same as increasing our stocking numbers. Direct stocking with the number of fingerlings we are planting now isn't working.
Indiana is the only state not utilizing net pen programs and the Terns, Seagulls, Cormorants, Loons, Drum etc. love it.
Fish could be released under the cover of darkness giving them a better chance to disperse safely.

Looks like the trade off is a significant reduction in Lake Trout stocking. Everyone of those additional fish they will stock have an expiration date except the Lake Trout (and Steelhead) so if the program looks to be putting to much strain on the baitfish its a relatively easy fix in terms of managing prey species. However, continuing to stock the lake with Lake Trout which can live for a couple of decade and reproduces naturally cannot be controlled once they are released. The annual stocking of Lake Trout at the current rates in other states than Wisconsin don't make a lot of sense to me unless the plan is to starve out the invasive salmon. Seems like you have to do what Wisconsin is doing by reducing the Lake Trout versus just adding more of everything else or end up with 10lbs Kings at maturity.

I agree and I am happy to see the increase of silver fish across the board.