Download WDNR Fish Surveys

WDNR Fish Surveys
By Judy Nugent
Every year the Wisconsin DNR completes a series of fish surveys. They use both
nets and electroshocking to catch the fish and keep track of the health of Lake Michigan.
The species on the agenda for this spring are yellow perch, Steelhead, Lake Trout, and
walleye, making this a very busy time for the DNR.
The yellow perch surveys started already at the end of last year. Since the 1980’s,
perch populations have declined more than 90% and the DNR has been searching for
answers. Wind and wave action along will low food availability and increased predation
are blamed for this decline.
In mid February the DNR finished their mesh netting of Yellow Perch. They had
hoped to be done earlier, but difficult weather hampered their efforts. Now they have
finished their five lifts, and the results are promising. According to Brad Eggold, DNR
Lake Michigan Southeast Region fisheries supervisor, they had a respectable catch of
around 600 perch. By comparison, in the last two years, the results of winter lifts yielded
less than 100 fish.
In March the DNR will survey the size and numbers of Steelhead returning up the
Root River. Each year the WDNR stocks 500,000 into various tributaries to Lake
Michigan. The biologists at the Root River weir will monitor all three strains of
Steelhead. The Skamania strain started to enter the stream last fall, the Chamber Creek
strain will swim up in early March, and the Gannaka strain will come in a few weeks
after that. The peak of the migration should be around April 1 depending on snow melt
and rain events.
In April the DNR will be conducting Lake Trout lifts looking for scars left by
lamprey. These scaring rates help the DNR to estimate the population of adult lamprey
and determine if harsher methods need to be applied to keep the lamprey numbers low.
Also in April, the DNR hopes to conduct fish surveys on the MIlwaukke River for
walleye/ Weather and water temperature will determine when the electroshocking takes
place. Stocked fish are recognized by a fin clip or injected plastic marker. The DNR has
been stocking 10,000 walleye each year since 1995 into the river. The current draft plan
is for this stocking to continue for the next five years.
All of these activities will keep the DNR busy until summer. Hopefully after all
the data has been compiled, the DNR will find a healthy lake full of fish for us to enjoy.