Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Updated 2023-09-08 19:21:09

Lake Michigan -> 1.0 Salmonine (Salmon and Trout) -> Lake Trout Fall Spawner Catch Rate

1.2.3 Mean reef-specific estimates of spawning lake trout in fall large-mesh gill net surveys above 50 fish per 1,000 feet of net

Large-scale stocking programs and effective sea lamprey control efforts have led to a buildup of spawning age lake trout. Lake trout spawner relative abundance, based on catch at fall gillnet survey sites, exceeded the target of 50 fish per 1,000 feet of net at both northern and southern sites in Lake Michigan during 2016-2021 (Figure 1). The target was attained at southern sites in all but 4 years during the 1998-2021 time period. The general trend in abundance at northern and southern surveyed reefs has been upward since 2005 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Relative abundance of hatchery and wild lake trout pooled based on fall spawner surveys at northern and southern spawner survey sites in Lake Michigan, with a benchmark of having greater than or equal to 50 fish per 1,000 feet of net.