DNR Seeks Anglers Advice for Fishery Management

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is again seeking participation from Lake Michigan anglers and other interested stakeholders to discuss the latest trends in the fishery and lay the groundwork for management decisions for 2018. Public information meetings will be held from 6 to 9 pm on June 7 in Room 3080 at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53204 and on June 8 in the Lake Michigan Conference Room at Lakeshore Technical College, 1290 North Ave, Cleveland, WI 53015. Todd Kalish, DNR deputy fisheries bureau director, said the meetings will highlight a number of actions DNR has taken in the past year, provide information about the current state of the fishery and allow for the exchange of ideas as stakeholders provide comments and suggestions about future management actions. Presentations will include recent findings of the Lake Michigan Committee, the multistate collaborative charged with aggregating and assessing Lake Michigan fishery data. Among the details is a better-than-expected survival of the 2012 alewife year-class. In 2015, alewives again produced a measurable year class that provided needed forage for salmon and trout in the lake. There are indications that the Chinook stocking reduction starting in 2013 (including the 30 percent reduction by Wisconsin) helped reduce predation pressure on alewives. To learn more, visit dnr.wi.gov and search “Fishing Lake Michigan.” Background information including a copy of a presentation to stakeholders from 2016 can be found by visiting the DNR website and searching “Lake Michigan salmon and trout meetings.”