The Department of Natural Resources today announced the final totals from its spring fish-stocking efforts. DNR fisheries staff stocked a total of 20,099,988 fish that weighed more than 325 tons and consisted of nine different species and one hybrid.

To complete this task, staff took more than 370 stocking trips to 732 stocking sites, traveling more than 100,000 miles over the course of 2,556 hours using 17 specialized stocking trucks.

“It was another outstanding spring stocking season that will bring significant benefits and fishing opportunities to Michigan,” said Ed Eisch, DNR fish production manager. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, fish were reared and delivered to stocking sites in excellent condition. The numbers produced and stocked were right on target for almost all areas.”

The number and type of fish stocked vary by hatchery, as each location’s ability to rear fish varies because of water supplies and temperature. In Michigan there are six state and two cooperative hatcheries that work together to produce the species, strain and size of fish needed by fisheries managers. These fish must then be delivered at a specific time and location for stocking to ensure their success. Each hatchery stocked the following fish this spring: Read more

Sportsmen frustrated with temporary success of Pebble’s delay tactics for protections to Bristol Bay’s world-class fishery

ANCHORAGE, AK – U.S. District Court Judge Holland today released a ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Pebble Limited Partnership. The ruling allows the case to proceed into discovery and temporarily keeps the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to protect Bristol Bay on hold. Judge Holland did not rule on the merits of the claims, but only that the claims are plausible, and could not be dismissed, as the Environmental Protection Agency had requested in its motion.

Though Pebble has succeeded in temporarily delaying the protections proposed by the EPA, the facts remain: the EPA has authority under the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay; the people of Bristol Bay and Alaska overwhelmingly oppose the Pebble mine; and if built, Pebble would harm the region’s incredible wild salmon runs. Read more

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. Read more

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds anglers to monitor their live bait purchases this holiday weekend and also to look for juvenile Asian carp during the entirety of the fishing season. The DNR is taking many steps to prevent adult Asian carp (bighead and silver) from entering the Great Lakes, but many people don’t realize that juvenile Asian carp pose a threat to the state’s waters, too.

Juvenile Asian carp can be confused with common baitfish – such as gizzard shad, emerald shiner, spottail shiner or golden shiner. Because bait often is transported across state lines, including from areas with breeding populations of Asian carp, it would be possible for juvenile Asian carp to make their way into the bait supply without anyone realizing it.   Read more