The Milwaukee Post

By COLLEEN JURKIEWICZ Conley News Service OZAUKEE COUNTY — Due to a recom- mendation made by the Lake Michigan Committee earlier last week, the Chinook salmon population of Lake Michigan could soon drop by dramatic numbers. It's a move that the committee hopes would protect the alewife population of Lake Michigan, which is at an all-time low, accord- ing to Brad Eggold of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Alewives are the main food source for Chinook salmon. "We've been looking at information and data constantly over the last several years, and all the data that we're seeing would show that ... the prey population is very low, histor- ically low," Eggold said. "If we continue with as many predators as we have out there, we'll drive these alewives into super-low levels that will really impact salmon and trout fish- ing." The Lake Michigan Committee is com- prised of all state management agencies that border Lake Michigan (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan) as well as Michigan's tribal governments. On June 14, the commit- tee called for a lake wide reduction of 62 per- cent in the number of Chinook salmon stocked into Lake Michigan, beginning in spring of 2017. That means an annual lake- wide stocking of 690,000 Chinook salmon, in contrast to the current 1,800,000. Hopefully, said Eggold, this reduction will help Lake Michigan avoid the same fate as Lake Huron, which in 2004 suffered the deple- tion of its alewife population. That disrup- tion to the food chain resulted in the collapse of the lake's salmon fishing industry, though it has allowed other fish populations to flour- ish, according to several reports. The alewife is actually an invasive species in Lake Michigan; a pelagic planktivore that is native to the Atlantic Ocean, it entered the Great Lakes in the late 19th century through canals, becoming widespread by 1960, accord- ing to the website of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Chinook salmon and other predators were introduced at that time both to control the population and to improve the Great Lakes' sport fishery. But by the 1980s, the alewife population was declining too rapidly. "Changes to the lake's food web, including the prevalence of invasive mussels, have complicated the equation by diminishing the amount of food available for alewives, which has contributed to the greatly diminished abundances of this key prey fish," said the Lake Michigan Committee in a press release. "Given the massive numbers of quagga mus- sels in Lake Michigan, prey fish are not expected to rebound any time soon to num- bers that would support current stocking lev- els." "Attempting to work toward and with a balanced predator and prey population is necessary to preserve the quality and diversi- ty of Lake Michigan's multi-million dollar sport fishery," said committee chair Jay Wesley of the Michigan DNR in the press release. Wisconsin has already reduced the num- ber of Chinook stocked in the lake five times in the past, said Eggold — by 10 percent in 1986, 27 percent in 1992, 15 percent in 1998, 21 percent in 2006 and 30 percent in 2013. The Lake Michigan Committee's current recom- mendation calls for Wisconsin to cut its stocking numbers by 56 percent. The recommendation is not binding, and the Wisconsin DNR is not under obligation to reduce its numbers. But failing to do so could complicate the state's working relationship with the remainder of the committee's mem- bers, who share Lake Michigan's fishery. 2 • Milwaukee County Post • June 24, 2016 Volume 22, issue number 25 The Milwaukee Post (ISSN 1544-1776) is published weekly by Conley Media, Milwaukee County 3397 South Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207 For all departments call: 414-744-6370 News display and advertising FAX: 414-375-7070 Classifieds: 800-762-6219 ext. 5005 Classified Fax: 262-334-6252 For display advertising inquires: 414-744-6370 Barry Richards: Advertising Representative — ext. 13 brichards@conleynet.com Julia LeGath: Advertising Representative — ext. 17 jlegath@conleynet.com Jim Baumgart Advertising Sales Director — 262-513-2621 jbaumgart@conleynet.com For editorial questions: Dan Muckelbauer Editor 262-513-2626 dmuck@conleynet.com POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Milwaukee Post 3397 S. Howell Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207 Periodicals Postage Paid at Milwaukee, WI. Hello, readers of the Post. Your weekly newspaper will soon begin running obituaries in the edi- tion. The obituaries will cost $85 per day for 300 words or less. The obituary includes a small .jpg photo or a graph- ic, such as a veterans flag. A full-col- umn photograph can be added to the obituary for $10 per day. A short pend- ing death notice will cost $25 to run inside of the Post. The obituary deadline will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday before publication for the week's edition. All obituaries must be submitted by email. Send them to postobits@conleynet.com. Please call 262-513-2626 with any questions about the new obituary service. Post to begin running obituaries Chinook salmon population may soon drastically decrease DNR seeking input at public hearings Mon.-Thurs. 7:30-7:00p.m.; Fri. 7:30-7:30; Sat. 7:30-5:30; Sun. 7:30-4:00 4640 W. 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