By Louie Stout

DNRs alter salmon cut plan; Michigan meeting set.Lake Michigan fish managers have altered their previously proposed cuts for next year’s lake-wide trout and salmon stockings.

Initially, the Lake Michigan Committee had proposed a 61 percent in chinook (king) salmon stockings to alleviate pressure on a dwindling alewife forage base, but recently relaxed that number in a compromise with anglers who have objected with the cuts.

A new proposal announced to Hoosier anglers at a meeting in Michigan City earlier this month, and one that will be explained to Michigan anglers next month, calls for a 50 percent reduction instead of the 61 percent.

Indiana originally announced it would eliminate king stockings for next year and utilize the hatchery space to grow steelhead bigger for a later stocking which would enhance better survival.

That plan to hold-over steelhead remains up in the air until the new lake-wide stocking plan is confirmed. Indiana now plans to put 60,000 kings in hatchery production for next year’s stocking, which is still a 70 percent cut from what it stocked last year.

Under the former proposal, Michigan would have cut its king stockings by 64 percent but has since adjusted the cut to 46 percent.

Details of the new stocking concept for Michigan waters will be outlined in two public meetings, Sept. 7 at the Ludington City Hall and Sept. 13 at the South Haven Moose Lodge. Both meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.

Drastic stocking cuts are required because of a dwindling forage base that many biologists fear could collapse as it did in Lake Huron a few years ago.

King salmon have been targeted because they not only feed heavily on alewives, but research shows they also are reproducing naturally. For example, Indiana biologists estimate that 67 percent of the kings caught in Indiana waters last year were wild fish.

While most anglers understand the concern, many believe that more drastic cuts should come in lake trout, not the kings, the latter of which is a preferred fish among sport anglers.

As a result, the Lake Michigan Committee has proposed a 21 percent cut (outside tribal waters) in lakers and includes discontinuation of the 550,000 fall fingerling stocking implemented in 2015. In addition, lake trout stockings would be eliminated at Grand Haven, Holland, New Buffalo, and Michigan City on the southern end of the lake. Future lake trout stocking changes will depend on negotiations with the Tribal Nations.

Also, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin are considering a lake trout bag limit increase from 2 to 3 to align with Michigan’s existing laker limit.

Northern Fisheries Supervisor Jeremy Price agrees with anglers that lake trout feed on alewives but not to the extent that kings do.

“Our research shows that it takes nearly 2½ lake trout to equal one chinook when it comes to alewife predation,” Price said. “Lakers have a broader diet than kings.”

Lake trout eat gobies, too, he added, which is a growing forage base that spends most of its time on the bottom where lakers commonly feed. King salmon more commonly suspend in the water column where alewives prevail.

In that sense, lake trout serve an additional purpose in reducing the non-native goby population that is growing rapidly throughout the lake.

Fish managers have been working for decades on a Lake Michigan lake trout restoration plan with hopes of creating balance in the predator-prey relationship throughout the big lake.

They believe the new proposal of cutting kings and lakers will reduce pressure on alewives, but biologists will continually monitor the alewife population.

If the forage base bounces back, some king stockings could be reinstated; if not, more cuts may be needed.

While lakers aren’t as much fun to catch as kings, they do provide trollers with an easier target when the salmon aren’t available.

“I think more anglers like lake trout than they are willing to admit,” said Price, who noted Indiana will conduct an angler preference survey next year. “As we have gone through this process we are finding a surprising number of people who like catching them.”

No final decision on the proposal has been made but Price is confident this is the best solution to pacify anglers and help the alewife population recover.

“I’m comfortable with this new recommendation to reduce predation and hope all states can get on board,” he added.