We’re in the midst of our spring fish-stocking season, so you may be seeing DNR trucks releasing their prized cargo at hundreds of lakes and streams throughout the state.
Fish stocking is a valuable tool used by fisheries managers to restore, enhance and create new fishing opportunities in Michigan’s inland lakes, streams and the Great Lakes. he DNR accomplishes this by rearing fish at its six fish production facilities located throughout the state, cooperatively managing nearly 40 rearing ponds and six Great Lakes imprinting net pen locations, and maintaining a fleet of 18 specialized fish-stocking vehicles.
Over the course of a typical year, upwards of 20 million fish (weighing nearly 350 tons, including eight species of trout and salmon and three cool-water strains of walleye and muskellunge) are stocked. Beginning in mid-March and ending in early June, the DNR fish-stocking trucks will travel well over 100,000 miles to visit between 700 and 1,100 locations.
