FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2011
Contacts: Gary Whelan 517-373-6948 or Mary Dettloff 335-3014
DNR to Raise Great Lakes Muskies Rather Than Northern Muskies in 2011
The Department of Natural Resources plans to raise Great Lakes (spotted) muskellunge at its Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery this year, a change of direction from the northern muskies the department has raised in the past.
“This is a key turning point in our muskellunge production program,” said DNR Fish Production Manager Gary Whelan. “This strain of muskellunge is native to most of Michigan; the northern muskellunge is native to only a small portion of the far western Upper Peninsula in the Wisconsin River drainage.
“The spotted muskellunge will be more at home in more waters than northern muskies.”
The DNR has been studying the idea of raising spotted muskies for more than a decade, but did not want to bring the Great Lake strain into the hatchery system while raising northern muskies because of potential disease concerns. DNR Fisheries Division personnel plan to take 1.5 million eggs from spotted muskies in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River this spring with a goal of producing 40,000 10- to 12-inch fall fingerlings.
In order to minimize the risk of spreading disease, the DNR will not take eggs from northern muskellunge this year, but will evaluate the need to produce northern strain muskies in the future. Ideally, the department will address the disease concerns and be able to raise both strains in the future, Whelan said.
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"chipdon" said:
do we know the reason for the change? availability? choice?
We've been discussing some of the reasons in another thread:
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"chipdon" said:
do we know the reason for the change? availability? choice?
Historically the only strain outside some places in the UP are the Great Lakes strain.
Biologically this is the right direction. This eliminates the concern for stocking in waters with an outflow and opens up potential waters throughout the state including some large rivers. What we don't know is if these fish will be successful spawning in lakes that have been previously stocked with the N. strain. Even minimal success would be better than the zero success that has been documented with the N. strain.
"Kingfisher" said:
Interesting change but we knew it was coming . I hope we see some fish put in the Chain. Nothing would make me happier then seeing about 10,000 fish put in the chain this year. Where is big bear? pm me.Mike
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Not a really big lake by any means at only 350 acres. We should be sure to note the already unsatisfied people who fish there so in 15 yrs they can't blame it on the muskies. <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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I thought that I had heard, or read that years ago Northern strain fish were being stocked in the Indian river. What I remember was that they stopped because the fish were heading to Lake Huron, and leaving the system. Not staying in the river, and Burt/Mullet/Black lakes.
I hope that these fish that are stocked into lake connected to Lake Michigan, don't just leave the lakes, and enter Lake Michigan.
Does this sound like a reasonable concern?
"LonLB" said:
I thought that I had heard, or read that years ago Northern strain fish were being stocked in the Indian river. What I remember was that they stopped because the fish were heading to Lake Huron, and leaving the system. Not staying in the river, and Burt/Mullet/Black lakes.I hope that these fish that are stocked into lake connected to Lake Michigan, don't just leave the lakes, and enter Lake Michigan.
Does this sound like a reasonable concern?
There were some fish we got from Wisconsin stocked in the inland waterway but they were GL.
Yes, many of these waters on the radar for the future will lose fish to Lake Michigan or Huron for sure. That really goes in hand with a restoration project like this. Consider the fishery created in Green Bay, most fish stay nearby some leave and never come back. Then again maybe they find their way to another suitable location and find a parntner the following spring… voila… restoration reaching new water.
Please forgive this ignorant and selfish question but for those who have caught plenty of both, would you say they are essentially the same in habits, difficulty to catch, etc.? I've had very little experience with the GLS and was hoping that they weren't even tougher than the Northern Strain, but either way I do still like the shift to what would be a more natural part of our waters. Thanks.
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