There's good and bad things that go with such a successful year at the hatchery, tons of fish is good but tons of fish can be bad too. You're probably asking how can tons of fish be bad – right? Well, there are more fish in each lined pond than ever before and therefore an increased need for oxygen in each pond. I got a call yesterday morning from Matt at Wolf Lake, the levels of DO (dissolved oxygen) in the ponds are very low and near lethal. There have been some fish lost but at this point it is VERY minimal and Matt has acted quickly and come up with ways to get the DO back up near acceptable levels. However, this isn't perfect, isn't cost effective and is only getting the DO to acceptable levels.

What am I getting at? The hatchery and MMA was put in a Go/No Go situation with the well being of 60,000+ fall fingerling muskellunge. Matt wasn't going to spend the money on the aeration system if MMA couldn't commit to the funding.

What have I done? I told Matt that we'll find $2000 for him to get this done.

Where am I going to find this money? From the very generous members of Michigan Muskie Alliance. I hate to beg all of you for money because you are always so generous but this is one of those times when MMA has to step up and get the job done.

Please respond here if you can help, then send me a PM with the amount you can give. No amount is too small or too large. All donations to MMA are tax deductible and we'll make sure you get a receipt.