Michigan king salmon stocking may become a thing of the past

[Legacy]

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/michigan_chinook_salmon_collap.html

[Sk8man]

Very disturbing and to varying degrees the other bodies of water where these invasives have taken hold are experiencing problems as well and the extent of it is truly scary because once an essential link it the food is taken out at the bottom eventually the things at the upper levels will gradually disappear and this seems to be happening in a number of places with no obvious solution in sight.

[fisherdude]

i believe this is why we are seeing large tackle sales in the classified adds here on lou guys starting to unloading their stuff due to salmon getting less and less

[Tyee II]

It will be a sad day if the do end the Chinook program. I have caught Kings with Gobies in their bellies, but they were natural fish. Maybe the naturals will thrive more with less competition, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Kind of ironic they announced this on the day they were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the stocking program, with Howard Tanner present at the ceremony.

[bandrus1]

i believe this is why we are seeing large tackle sales in the classified adds here on lou guys starting to unloading their stuff due to salmon getting less and less

 

 

it was what 3-5 years ago the salmon fishing was absolutely nuts.. it all goes in cycles 

[machzrcr]

 does anyone know if they have the amount of gobies there as we do?

[vetting]

We have a crap ton of gobies on the Wisconsin side of the lake.  We also actually have normal bait on our side.  We actually catch a fair share of naturals on our side that come from the Michigan side - we really dont have any natural reproduction on our side of the lake. 

[TyeeTanic]

Question is will the $7 billion fishing economy survive without the Chinook. If not would it make sense to add phosphorous to increase forage and help the alewife population?

[machzrcr]

 just doing a little reading on that,   the  zebra mussels are eating all the plankton and shrimp,  so are they trying to do anything to reduce zebra mussels?  read that the gobies feed on them and are feeding the gamefish. I wonder if there was any other species like black carp or something to help eat the zebra mussels. Or are their any other control efforts to reduce the numbers, if so why not look into that more to see why it is not working and make adjustments or try something else.

Edited April 7, 2016 by machzrcr

[work2fish]

I asked about adding phosphorus at the symposium and the experts said it becomes a public/political issue with drinking water and potential algae blooms. But I can't see that happening on lake o at the current levels and cooler water Temps.

[vetting]

For that reason they already removed phosphorus from dish washer soap.....hence why you now have to wash you dishes before you wash your dishes.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

It will be a sad day if the do end the Chinook program. I have caught Kings with Gobies in their bellies, but they were natural fish. Maybe the naturals will thrive more with less competition, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Kind of ironic they announced this on the day they were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the stocking program, with Howard Tanner present at the ceremony.

 

Howard Tanner is a hero of mine. Always wanted to meet him-- please shake his hand for me if you get the chance. Not many gutty decisions being made like that anymore. So many positive changes have occurred to the Great Lakes because of his decision. I grew up next to a worthless sea of dead alewives.

Time to relax the over zealous phosphorus control, pretty blue water is sterile. As for wild Chinook, they are the cream of the crop but so much of Great Lakes trib habitat is unsuitable. Time to create safe zones for the greatest fish that swims to spawn without harassment. 

[work2fish]

Agreed capt Vince. That could certainly increase the wild ones. Hopefully they can adapt quick enough to the changing lake.

[Tyee II]

Howard Tanner is a hero of mine. Always wanted to meet him-- please shake his hand for me if you get the chance. Not many gutty decisions being made like that anymore. So many positive changes have occurred to the Great Lakes because of his decision. I grew up next to a worthless sea of dead alewives.

Time to relax the over zealous phosphorus control, pretty blue water is sterile. As for wild Chinook, they are the cream of the crop but so much of Great Lakes trib habitat is unsuitable. Time to create safe zones for the greatest fish that swims to spawn without harassment.

Howard Tanner is one of my heroes as well. Funny how some people see him as a Dr. Frankenlake though. The fact is, he saw a huge problem, created by humans, and visualized a solution. Then he had the balls to make it happen.

I posted this link on a popular website over here in Chicago, and surprisingly many people agree the Chinook needs to go away! Apparently these are people who have never experienced the thrill of hunting for the Mighty Tyee!

Although it really was a big problem at one time, I really miss driving over dead Alewives with my trailer. I hope they are wrong like they were when they said the lake levels would take 30 years to come back to normal, then it happened over one winter. I am hopeful the higher lake levels and the mild winter we had this year will bolster the Alewife population again. We may even see a resurgence in natural reproduction with the higher water. One can only hope...

Edited April 7, 2016 by Tyee II

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

We are pulling for you Tyee II.

[Sk8man]

I would echo Capt. Vince's comment. They are a truly spectacular fish and deserve a great future. Mother Nature sometimes finds or creates her own solutions that we sometimes don't see in advance. Lets hope this is one of those situations.

[battlehammer]

just doing a little reading on that, the zebra mussels are eating all the plankton and shrimp, so are they trying to do anything to reduce zebra mussels? read that the gobies feed on them and are feeding the gamefish. I wonder if there was any other species like black carp or something to help eat the zebra mussels. Or are their any other control efforts to reduce the numbers, if so why not look into that more to see why it is not working and make adjustments or try something else.

. Zebra mussels and quagga mussels are here to stay. I do a lot of zebra mussel sampling for various industries and utilities. Any reduction methods are only temporary. The only sure method that keeps them out of any body of water is low calcium levels in the water. This makes it impossible for them to mature into a adult and grow a shell and reproduce.I have been sampling the NYC drinking water reservoir systems for 20+ years. The calcium is why they are not in that system..... Yet. Most but not all are calcium deficient. Also we have found mussels in perch and sheepshead while doing stomach analysis studies.