The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that the survey vessel (S/V) Steelhead is back on the water to conduct surveys of Lake Michigan fish populations. The S/V Steelhead will collect data used to estimate relative abundance, biomass, age and growth, health, diet, survival rates, natural reproduction and movements of fish in Lake Michigan.
The S/V Steelhead will be 50 years old in 2017 and has been in continuous operation since 1968 – spending almost 200 days on the water annually. It is used in a variety of fisheries assessment operations – including spring evaluations of adult yellow perch, lake whitefish, lake trout and Chinook salmon populations.
Spring survey operations are conducted near the ports of St. Joseph, South Haven, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Arcadia, Leland and Charlevoix. Later in summer, the S/V Steelhead conducts netting to evaluate yellow perch, lake whitefish and lake trout reproduction, and teams up with vessels from the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate lakewide forage fish abundance. During this lakewide forage fish survey, the S/V Steelhead again traverses the entire eastern Lake Michigan shore, working in waters anywhere from 30 to more than 900 feet deep.
“The DNR is responsible for protection and management of abundant and diverse fishery resources in Lake Michigan for current and future generations, and the S/V Steelhead is critical to this effort,” said Dave Clapp, DNR Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station manager.
Throughout the summer, the S/V Steelhead will be docked at many Great Lakes ports; the public is encouraged to visit the vessel and talk with the crew about fisheries assessment operations.
To learn more about the efforts of all of the DNR’s vessels, please visit michigan.gov/fishing and click on “Managing Michigan’s Fisheries.” Additional information about science vessel operations throughout the Great Lakes can be found at the Great Lakes Association of Science Ships website, canamglass.org.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that the survey vessel (S/V) Steelhead is back on the water to conduct surveys of Lake Michigan fish populations. The S/V Steelhead will collect data used to estimate relative abundance, biomass, age and growth, health, diet, survival rates, natural reproduction and movements of fish in Lake Michigan.
