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IDNR Announces Chinook Salmon Stocking Reduction
Informational meeting for Lake Michigan anglers slated for June 23

SPRINGFIELD, IL - The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), along with partnering fishery management agencies around Lake Michigan, today announced plans for a 62 percent lake-wide reduction in Chinook salmon stocking beginning in 2017. The stocking reduction represents a commitment by fishery managers to maintain a quality and diversified Lake Michigan salmon and trout fishery in the face of a changing ecosystem and record low abundances of prey fish populations, including alewives.

The proposed 2017 stocking reduction comes four years after managers implemented a 50 percent lake-wide reduction in Chinook salmon stocking in 2013. Fisheries management agencies met several times with constituents in 2012 to decide on changes to the salmon management strategy which were then instituted in 2013. Increases in natural reproduction of Chinook, and declines in the abundance of alewives and overall productivity of the system have led to recent stocking changes to maintain the predator-prey balance in the lake.

“As a signatory to the Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, Illinois works cooperatively with other states, tribes and federal agencies to manage multi-jurisdictional fisheries in Lake Michigan,” said Dan Stephenson, chief of the IDNR Division of Fisheries. “Stocking fewer numbers of prized Chinook salmon is not a decision we desire, but with continuing declines of prey species, a further reduction in predator stockings is warranted to balance predator and prey fish populations and stabilize the fishery.”

”Our fisheries biologists use the best science available when making management decisions that affect Illinois anglers and the economically important Lake Michigan fishery. We remain committed to providing the highest quality fishing opportunities for the residents of Illinois and the many non-residents who visit and recreate along the lakefront,” said IDNR Director Wayne Rosenthal.

For 2017, Lake Michigan managers propose a total lake-wide stocking of 690,000 Chinook salmon, down from the current 1,800,000. The proposed reduction follows the 2013 stocking cuts, when state natural resource managers agreed to a decrease from previous levels of 3.3 million Chinook stocked each year.


Under agreement among the agencies, Illinois would now stock 90,000 fish each year, Indiana would stock 45,000 fish, Michigan 200,000 and Wisconsin 355,000. The proposed 2017 stocking plan reflects past stocking performance and spring/summer angler success in catching Chinook from various stocking locations around the lake. In addition, the plan should include enough fish to ensure fall spawning runs at egg collection weirs and for stream, harbor and nearshore anglers in each state.

The IDNR will hold an informational public meeting to discuss the Chinook stocking reduction and salmon and trout management in Lake Michigan. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, 2016, and will be held at the CMS Suburban North Regional Office Facility, 9511 W. Harrison Street, Des Plaines, IL 60016. Attendees are asked to please use the south parking lot and enter through the building’s south doors.

The agenda will include informative presentations on recent changes in the lake ecosystem, Chinook salmon and prey fish population abundances, coded-wire tag returns, Illinois salmon and trout harvest, and tools used to inform trout and salmon management decisions. Time will be reserved after the presentations for questions and open discussion of mutual matters of concern.

For more information on the Lake Michigan fishery in Illinois, call the IDNR Lake Michigan Program at 847-294-4134, or check the website at www.ifishillinois.org.
www.ifishillinois.org

When this happens michigan will be stocking more king in lake huron than lake michigan. They just stocked 325k kings in roger city.

hopefully they stock more coho and steelhead!!!!!!

Looks like Wisconsin will be going from 855,000 kings down to 355,000.

The financial loss this is going to lead to in the long run is going to hurt. I know I have spent a bunch of money to get to be able to Salmon fish. I am ok with going after lakers too but the silver is what I am addicted to. I wonder why they don't start stocking prey fish to keep the numbers balanced? Is it the fact there is not enough plankton in the lake for the prey fish due to the mussels? Just some random thoughts that keep running through my head whenever I hear about reductions.

I've read in a article somewhere that If they used all of the Hatchery space for Alewives it would still only feed the predators for 2 to 3 days max. Wish I had a link but I don't.

Some rational thoughts and some optimistic thoughts.........

1) Lets say 1.8M kings were stocked annually in recent years, now its cut in half. Based on the baitfish available, many of these fish could have died. We "might" not see all that much different results fishing. Still poor, but maybe not that different if more are surviving and we have a few good alewive class years.. And of course I could be completely wrong....but I am hopeful. At least they are not removing the chinooks entirely. They are trying to find a way to hold on.

2) I would rather see conservatism than destroy the fishery completely. It may rebound and stocking numbers might increase in the future if/when the baitfish situation improves.

3) Yes stocking lake trout still sucks and should be decreased. To me its the bigger problem.

4) We still have coho and steelhead.......as much as it pains me to say it. Their diets are more diverse. Every coho I cought this weekend had gobies in them.

5) Stocking the baitfish is unfeasible. The amount required to make a difference is unfathomable. This would never work unless the predators were gone or greatly diminished.

I am addicted to fishing for kings and if we are to have any chance at a future this is needed. Partly because they are the top predator for alewives and partly because of political BS and the fed lake trout stocking. I am hopeful that reducing the kings in combination with the charters only hammering lake trout restores the some balance of the lake trout and available bait. The DNR knows that a great deal of the fishing interest revolves around kings, which buys the licenses and supports their efforts.

I am still optimistic personally - this year seems much better than last year and like the weather I think a lot is cylindrical but was thoughts that I have every time I read about the reductions so thank you for your input. I think the major effort that should be (and I believe is) would be to eliminate the mussels - I feel that they are the main issue because they are destroying the lowest prey which is having an affect all the way up the food chain (I know capt obvious here). Lets hope all these efforts pay off for years to come.

Yes your right - the mussels are the key and the root cause of the problem. If they figure out how to get rid of them the lake will thrive.......if they dont then it will be all about delicate balance. Time will tell.

Some other things to think about is based on the last time I checked the King poll which I believe was stated to align with the DNR's numbers, somewhere between 60-70% of the kings logged are wild. I'm sure they will decline some with the reductions but maybe the Kings we do catch will be larger for it. Wishful thinking maybe.