Sam Goetz

BIO 240WI

3/21/19

Decline in salmon population

(Scientific Side)

The Chinook Salmon, or the Oncorhynchus tshawytscha is highly sought after, and is

very important to the Great Lakes region (DNR). According to Keith Matheny of the Detroit

Free Press in 1966 they where first stocked in Lake Michigan and where a huge hit. Generating

7 billion dollars to the local economy. The main problem is that salmon numbers are greatly

decreasing, and the epicenter of it is very hard to pinpoint.

The diet can be a large part of the declining salmon numbers. Historically they have

always eaten the same bait fish “Alewife and smelt were the dominant forage species found in

coho and chinook stomachs in 1969 and 1971” (Salmon Fishery). They have always been

excellent predators of invasives. In fact they are so good at eating these invasives, that they are

running out of food. They are also eating lots of gobies, the round goby is an invasive that is also

hunted by the large and smallmouth bass. Bass are a problem to the salmon because they live in

rivers all year round eating gobies, reducing the amount for the migrating salmon. “In the late

'70s, it was nothing to catch a 25-pound, 30-pound salmon all the time, and lots of them”

(Lavey). This shows that it is harder for salmon to eat a large number of alewife and other small

fish, resulting in smaller salmon. In some sense it is a reverse evolution to be smaller. Lavey also

stated that the amount of fish caught on charters are dropping exponentially, from 3 fish a boat

on average to .8 in 2010.
 Stocking is also reduced but is not a large amount of the declining numbers “Michigan

stocked almost 1.7 million chinook into the Great Lakes in 2012. That number was slashed by

more than two-thirds in 2013; and this year, the state's chinook stocking number was cut again,

to 330,000 fish” (Matheny). This could be a good sign, if more fish are able to spawn naturally,

numbers are rising. Also this might be an indicator that bait fish are spawning more rapidly and

in larger amounts.

The declining numbers combined with the smaller size reduces money that the fishing

industry makes. Tournament fishing is very popular and generates lots of money for the state

“team spending at the 16 events on the 2009 Lake Michigan Tournament Trail generated

$852,113 and 21,386 employment hours in tournament ports” (Economic). This is a huge amount

of money that is made just with tournaments. With the revenue generated the state can spend

more on researching the cause behind declining numbers. Problem is with smaller fish less

people want to enter tournaments. The aftershock of this is less money for the fishing industry. A

massive decline of these fish will be catastrophic for the ecosystem and economy.

(Other Part)

One of the most sought after fish is the salmon. Chinook and Coho are the most popular

to pursue, but they are also facing an alarming amount of problems in the Great Lakes. Losing

these fish means losing billions in revenue from charters and tourist and some of the most

beautiful fish in the nation.

In the Great Lakes and their rivers there are many invasive species of fish. Salmon are an

excellent predator of these. According to the DNR “Primary food source is alewives, but other

prey species such as rainbow smelt and bloaters are also common.” Alewives are small invasive

fish that are dropping in numbers as a result of efforts to remove them. This drop in food has
brought smaller fish. “At the height of king salmon fishing in the mid- to late-1980s, around 10

million pounds of the fish were harvested from the lake each year, according to research by the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and agencies from four states. In recent years, fishermen are

managing to catch only about 3 million pounds” (Briscoe). A decrease in this is a shocking tell

that the fish are truly shrinking in size and amount. Even if we are catching smaller fish we

aren’t catching man of them.

Historically fishing charters brought in a lot of money a majority of the money of the

fishing industry. “First stocked regularly in the Great Lakes beginning in 1966, the kings led a

complete turnaround in the Great Lakes fishery, helping create a $7 billion economic impact”

(Matheny). It is great money, but it is dropping because of the dropping fish. Smaller fish aren’t

nearly as fun to catch and it reduces the amount of people entering tournaments. Not only are the

actual fisherman making money, but so are general tourist. Sea Grant Michigan stated that Grand

Haven made $611,336 during a salmon tournament, and this is total. So the majority come from

non-fishermen.

Sources
Chinook Salmon. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-

79135_79218_79614_82588---,00.html

Economic Impacts of Tournament Fishing. (2018, February 26). Retrieved from

http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/fisheries/economic-impacts-of-lake-michigan-

tournament-fishing/

Gaumnitz, L. (n.d.). Recovery and redemption -- Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine --

October 2010. Retrieved from https://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/2010/10/trout.htm

Lake Michigan has become much clearer in 20 years, but at great cost. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://phys.org/news/2018-01-lake-michigan-clearer-years-great.html

Lavey, K. (2016, June 09). What's the future for Great Lakes salmon? Retrieved from

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/travel/michigan/2016/05/26/whats-future-great-

lakes-salmon/84865094/

Matheny, K. (2017, October 23). King salmon reign becomes more precarious on changing

Great Lakes. Retrieved from

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/10/23/king-chinook-salmon-great-

lakes-fish/780231001/

Michigan Great Lakes Trout and Salmon Fishery. (1971). Michigan Department of Natural

Resources,9-13. Retrieved from

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/SR05_542361_7.pdf.