Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Updated 2023-11-09 15:48:06

Lake Michigan -> 4.0 Benthivore (Bottom Feeding Fish) -> Lake Whitefish Yield

4.1.1 Annual commercial yield of lake whitefish between 4 and 6 million lbs

Lake whitefish has remained the most valuable commercialized fish species in the upper Great Lakes for many decades and is the dominant species in terms of commercial yield (the number of fish harvested by weight) in the Lake Michigan basin. During 1995 to 1999, annual yield of lake whitefish by commercial fisheries operating in Lake Michigan averaged approximately 7.5 million pounds (Figure 1). Yield remained within the benchmark range each year from 2000 to 2012, with an average yield of 5 million pounds during this period. By 2013, commercial yield had dropped to 4 million pounds, subsequently declining each year thereafter through 2021, when lake-wide yield fell below 2 million pounds. During the 2016-2021 reporting period, average yield was less than 3 million pounds, well below the benchmark range. The decline in yield that began in the early 2010s was associated with fisheries that operate in Lake Michigan’s main basin (in other words, outside of Green Bay), where fewer young fish (“recruits”) are entering the fishable population. During 2019 to 2021, annual fishery yield from the Green Bay region exceeded annual fishery yield from the entire main basin (Figure 1). The decline in recruitment of fish to populations in the main basin began in the mid-2000s, a period that coincides with large-scale ecological change in Lake Michigan. Conversely, stocks in southern Green Bay continue to produce young fish and the region now supports a robust recreational fishery for lake whitefish. From a lake-wide perspective, populations of lake whitefish are unable to support fishery yields in the benchmark range. 

Figure 1. Annual yield of lake whitefish by commercial fisheries operating in Green Bay and Lake Michigan’s main basin during 1995-2021. Yield values do not include harvest from recreational fisheries.