Michgian To Stock Fewer Salmon, Lake Trout

Lake Michigan's prey fish are in a perilous state, taking pressure from below and above. So Michigan and other Lake Michigan states have agreed to cut chinook salmon and lake trout stocking levels for the next two years, while other states will cut predator fish stocking levels as well, said Jay Wesley, Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan basin coordinator. They're hoping to avoid a major fisheries crash like what happened in Lake Huron in 2004 when alewives disappeared. "Prey levels altogether and alewife levels have been at historic lows the last couple of years, and chinook salmon primarily feed on alewives," he said. Other states will cut brown trout, steelhead and coho salmon stocking as well, Wesley said. Lake-wide, chinook salmon stocking rates will drop by 27 percent to 1.32 million in 2017, and lake trout stocking will drop 12 percent to 2.74 million the same year, according to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.   Overall, Michigan anglers should see little impact in lake trout and chinook salmon catch rates, Wesley said. Starting at Grand Haven, ports in the lake's southern end might see a slightly lower catch rate for lake trout. But chinook catch rates should stay the same, if not improve. That's because of two years of better survival rates for stocked and wild fish. "Those younger salmon will be working their way up, and anglers will start catching more of them," added Wesley.