Wisconsin DNR Accepting Ideas for Distributing Stocked Chinook
OutdoorHub 12.04.12
Lake Michigan anglers and others have until Dec. 17, 2012, to submit ideas for how the state should distribute among Lake Michigan ports the chinook salmon it will be stocking in 2013 under an agreement among the states surrounding the lake.
The states and Michigan tribes agreed to adjust stocking levels to sustain great fishing on the lake by restoring the balance between game fish and their prey. Low levels of the main prey fish and strong natural reproduction by chinook in Michigan tributaries spurred the agreement to reduce chinook stocking lake wide by half. Wisconsin will lower stocking by 38 percent, sending 724,000 chinook to ports in the spring. Michigan will take a much larger cut.
“If you could not attend the Dec. 1 meeting about chinook distribution, or would like to provide additional comments to what you gave us already, we’ll be accepting comments until December 17 via email, phone or letter,” says Brad Eggold, DNR supervisor for southern Lake Michigan.
Comments can go to Brad Eggold, Wisconsin DNR, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53204 or bradley.eggold@wisconsin.gov or 414-382-7921.
Eggold and other DNR fisheries managers heard ideas on how to distribute the fish planned for stocking from anglers and others attending the Dec. 1 meeting of the Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum. The Forum is an independent group of interested stakeholders facilitated by UW-Sea Grant. DNR fisheries biologists presented information about how DNR has distributed fish in the past, along with information regarding suggestions anglers made earlier this year to factor license sales into the equation and reduce stocking in Strawberry Creek in Door County.
The materials presented at that meeting are available by searching the DNR website for “Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum” and clicking on the link for management reports.” More documents will be added over coming days so check back again, Eggold says.
