LAKE MICHIGAN SALMONID STOCKING
Chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout and two strains of rainbow trout are raised at the Department’s Jake Wolf Fish Hatchery. Chinook salmon eggs are collected from mature fish in the Little Manistee River (Michigan) by Illinois and Michigan Departments of Natural Resources personnel; coho salmon eggs are collected from mature fish in the Platte River (Michigan). Eyed eggs (developed to the point that eyes can be distinguished inside egg) of brown trout and Arlee-strain rainbow trout are received from US Fish & Wildlife Federal hatcheries, and fertilized Skamania-strain rainbow trout eggs are received from an Indiana Department of Natural Resources hatchery. These fish are grown at the hatchery and stocked by the hatchery staff in early or late summer, depending on the species. Lake trout stocked in our waters are hatched and raised at one of the US Fish & Wildlife Federal hatcheries; these fish are then stocked offshore using the Service’s vessel Togue.
There have been several studies over the years that have required us to be
able to identify the age, strain, or stocking location
of salmonids stocked in our waters. A highly visible and relatively
inexpensive method of marking fish is to clip off one or a combination
of fins. One ongoing project involve clipping fins on Chinook salmon
stocked in Waukegan Harbor to assess fall (spawning) returns to
that stocking site and to estimate mortality rates. We also began
clipping fins on both strains of rainbow trout in 1996 in response
to Michigan’s request that all stocked rainbow trout be marked
to distinguish them from naturally produced rainbow trout.
In partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the IDNR (among other State agencies) began a coded wire tagging program for Chinook salmon in 2010. Coded wire tags are inserted into the snouts of Chinook salmon smolts and enable researchers to determine stocking site fidelity, movements, and survival. Lake trout have received coded wire tags for several years now and, like Chinook salmon, much of the same information can be collected from tag returns; additional information includes the strain and source location of tagged lake trout.
2011 STOCKED
2010 STOCKED
2009 STOCKED
2008 STOCKED
2007 STOCKED
2006 STOCKED
2005 STOCKED
2004 STOCKED
2003 STOCKED
