The Michigan Department of Natural Resources honors the memory of Dr. Howard A. Tanner, former DNR director and Fisheries Division chief, who passed away Aug. 16 at the age of 102. Dr. Tanner is remembered for his conservation and fisheries management work, which has left an indelible mark on the state and created new fishing opportunities for Michigan anglers.
Dr. Tanner served as the chief of the Fisheries Division of the DNR (then known as the Michigan Department of Conservation) from 1964 to 1966. He was then the director of the Natural Resources program at the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources until his return to the DNR in 1975 as the agency’s director.
Perhaps best known for his contribution to the recreational Pacific salmon fishery on the Great Lakes, Dr. Tanner, as chief of the Fisheries Division, was charged with addressing the issue of alewife — an invasive species that was washing up on shore in droves, making beaches unusable and throwing Great Lakes ecosystems out of balance. In response, he determined to stock coho salmon and acquired surplus eggs from Oregon. The first of these coho salmon were stocked in the Platte River and its tributaries in 1966, resulting in the start of the “something spectacular” that gives title to Dr. Tanner’s memoir: a Great Lakes recreational salmon fishery that exists to this day.
“Dr. Howard Tanner had the vision and courage to imagine a different future for the Great Lakes when few others could,” said Randy Claramunt, DNR Fisheries Division chief. “His decision to introduce Pacific salmon transformed Michigan’s fisheries, created a world-class recreational fishery, and changed the way we think about managing the Great Lakes. “We are the beneficiaries of his bold leadership today, and his legacy will continue to influence fisheries management for generations to come.”
Additionally, Dr. Tanner was instrumental in addressing mercury contamination in Michigan waters and influential in the Milliken administration’s ban on the manufacture and sale of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), toxic industrial chemicals that are harmful to human health, in the state in 1976.
Perhaps best known for his contribution to the recreational Pacific salmon fishery on the Great Lakes, Dr. Tanner, as chief of the Fisheries Division, was charged with addressing the issue of alewife — an invasive species that was washing up on shore in droves, making beaches unusable and throwing Great Lakes ecosystems out of balance. In response, he determined to stock coho salmon and acquired surplus eggs from Oregon. The first of these coho salmon were stocked in the Platte River and its tributaries in 1966, resulting in the start of the “something spectacular” that gives title to Dr. Tanner’s memoir: a Great Lakes recreational salmon fishery that exists to this day.
“Dr. Howard Tanner had the vision and courage to imagine a different future for the Great Lakes when few others could,” said Randy Claramunt, DNR Fisheries Division chief. “His decision to introduce Pacific salmon transformed Michigan’s fisheries, created a world-class recreational fishery, and changed the way we think about managing the Great Lakes. “We are the beneficiaries of his bold leadership today, and his legacy will continue to influence fisheries management for generations to come.”
In 2016, the DNR named one of its Great Lakes research vessels after Dr. Tanner, the RV Tanner out of Alpena. He was inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2019 and was honored by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission with the Thomas L. Washington Lifetime Conservation Award in 2022.
