The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) has reared Pacific Salmon to support the sport fisheries of the Great Lakes for over 60 years. Lake Huron Chinook Salmon were depleting forage compounded by the latest invasive mussels taking out the bottom of the food chain. In the late 2000’s the salmon fishery in Lake Huron had all but disappeared. The MDNR began experimenting with Atlantic Salmon in the Fish Production System. In 2012 MDNR took on Atlantic Salmon on a full production scale with the goal of producing 200,000 spring yearlings for stocking in Lake Huron. Only 106,000 fish were produced for stocking in 2012.
Today, ten years later, the MDNR is much closer to hitting the mark of 200,000 yearlings on an annual basis. Success took hard work, mentoring and retrofitting a portion of a facility designed for rearing Pacific Salmon. It took Michigan Department of Natural Resources years to get it right. The intent of the session is to describe todays current rearing conditions and discuss the lessons learned.