FYI, This spring I visited the Wolf Lake Hatchery per a future walleye project. This was the following week after the muskie eggs were taken and they looked good in the jars. Also neat to see was the herring project. At that time they were in a raceway, but within the confines of a "mini net-pen", using mini feeders, and a focus light. The little culture system was packed with herring about 3/4" long. Remember the MMA/MAA solar heating donation was in part to also help this herring hatchery project in future years.

I received the following article today and now we know how that herring project turned out. Just speculating, but In some future year a herring culture and muskie culture might meet up in the same lake as a forage predator partnership. That could be interesting.

40,000 fish released in Lake Huron

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07/13/09 Sean Harkins ** you do not have permission to see this link ** 358-5688

For the third year in a row, the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division planted lake herring in Lake Huron.

On Monday, 40,000 fish were released into the lake's waters near Lafarge's west dock in Alpena. The planting part of an experimental pilot program to see if the species can thrive in the area and potentially fill a void left when the population of alewives crashed in 2004.

DNR Fisheries Research Biologist Dave Fielder said the species is a popular sport fish but would be valuable as a prey fish for larger species in Lake Huron.

Fielder said the species is native to Lake Huron, but is now sparse and mostly found in Lake Superior and the northern extremities of Lake Huron. Because it is not an exotic species, he said there is reason to be optimistic the lake herring will do well locally.

The downside, he said, is the needs of the alewives are similar to those of the lake herring. Even though the alewives have declined, he said there is reason to believe the lake herring could fill a niche in Lake Huron – but the results of the planting will determine that.

"This planting is somewhat experimental," Fielder said.

This was the third and final year of planting the fish in the lake. Last year 6,000 fish were planted, though they were 4.5-5 inches – quite a bit larger than this year's stock.

This year's stock consisted of fish born in February at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery. Fielder said at 2-3 years of age, the fish are mature and can spawn and can get as big as 12-14 inches.

He said the DNR expects about 10 percent of the population to survive the first year after the planting, but even a 5 percent survival rate is acceptable.

If the pilot program is deemed a success, the DNR would do a full-scale stocking program, releasing 250,000 of the fish in Thunder Bay each year for five years. Fielder said 500,000 would be released each year in Saginaw Bay during the same time frame. That determination could be made either later this summer or next year.