Michigan Trout Unlimited Photo credit: Kevin Feenstra
MICHIGAN Trout
Steelhead Bag Limit Reduced in Some Lake Michigan Tributaries
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by Jim Schmiedeskamp
Spring 2022
Michigan’s Natural Resource Commission (NRC) reduced the 2022 steelhead daily bag limit from three to one during the spring spawning season in selected Lake Michigan tributaries based on perceived decreasing fish populations. On December 10, 2021, the Commission unanimously approved NRC Commissioner David Nyberg’s amendment to a fishery order on bag limits in order to be proactive in addressing both documented and anecdotally reported declining steelhead populations in the Manistee River, Bear Creek (a Manistee tributary), Pere Marquette River, Muskegon River, and the Upper Peninsula’s Manistique River and Carp River. The new bag limit for the prized game fish, which applies between March 15 and May 15, went into effect on January 9, 2022. The NRC is a seven-member public body appointed by the governor and oversees the Michigan DNR, including its Fisheries Division. The Commission has exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish through the issuance of orders. NRC Responds to Anglers and Guides According to Nyberg, growing concerns among anglers and guides regarding declining steelhead returns to Lake Michigan rivers and streams were a major factor in the decision. However, he cited as a frustration the lack of available DNR data to validate consensus observations on these trends, except for the department’s year-overyear decreasing numbers of spring steelhead collected at the Little Manistee Weir during egg harvesting. “Data from the 2021 Inland Guide Survey shows that a mere seven percent of guides indicated that steelhead fishing was ‘good’ relative to last year, while a staggering 84 percent agreed that a harvest limit reduction would help to ensure the long-term viability of steelhead populations in Michigan,” said Nyberg. “Similarly, 84 percent of guides agreed that a regulatory change to reduce the daily possession limit would benefit their ‘home water,’ resulting in the conclusion that increased fishing pressure and increased harvest of steelhead were perceived as the greatest threats among inland guides.” Nyberg confirmed that one idea discussed by the Commission was the potential merit of a no-kill regulation for wild versus stocked hatchery steelhead (identified by a clipped adipose fin) to promote the natural recruitment of wild fish. Recruitment is the number of fish born within a given period that survive to the juvenile stage. However, this proposal for taking only stocked hatchery steelhead was defeated in a 3-3 vote among NRC commissioners, although both Fisheries Division staff and non-department biologists found merit in tailoring the regulation to wild/naturalized fish. Michigan TU Says It’s Both a Fish and a Fishing Issue “Steelhead are seeing increasing stress and declines in much of their native range, and now that concerning trend has become more apparent here in Michigan as well,” says Dr. Bryan Burroughs, executive director of Michigan TU. “Though times have been good for steelhead in our state in the past, it is clear that we are now in a
different and more tenuous condition with them that warrants more attention and resources allocated toward their management.” “While DNR Fisheries Division staff have asserted to the NRC that the new regulation is unnecessary because it may not increase the number of fish, we find that to be a secondary consideration also worthy of future discussion and research,” said Burroughs. “The key here is that if we are indeed stuck with fewer fish, how do we balance between anglers who are currently dissatisfied with their ability to catch steelhead--for example, the number caught per unit of fishing effort--and anglers who would be dissatisfied with reduced opportunity to harvest multiple steelhead per day.” “We have a fish problem, and we need honest investment to understand and address this issue,” explained Burroughs. “As a result of this fish problem, we have a fishing problem that must be dealt with under the proposed new bag limit. While this proposal may or may not help with the fish problem, it certainly will not harm the fish, giving us time to learn and assess whether it helps. The fishing problem is one of, perhaps temporarily, making do with less, to invest in our future.” Fisheries Division Agrees to Seek More Data According to Jim Dexter, Michigan DNR Fisheries Division Chief, “the Fisheries Division questioned the inclusion of some of the river systems in this regulation packet and was hoping for continued discussion to air these concerns and more broadly gauge angler attitudes towards the regulation. In general, the Fisheries Division would support bag limit changes for steelhead if there was justification and alignment with public concerns. It is our professional opinion that reductions in the harvest of adult steelhead will not alleviate recent declines in fish returning to rivers. Conditions in Lake Michigan have changed significantly since 2003, creating survival issues for stocked and wild steelhead smolts. When smolts leave the river and enter the lake, they are subjected to increased predation pressure and competition for resources.” “On our more northern rivers, the number of age-1 steelhead captured in electrofishing surveys on the Pere Marquette River, Little Manistee River, and Bear Creek fluctuate from year-to-year but have not consistently trended downward, indicating no obvious changes in long-term habitat conditions or adult spawning success,” said Dexter. “Our modeling of lake-wide population estimates show steelhead numbers slightly below the long-term average in recent years.” A statistical catch-at-age model was recently developed by Fisheries Division staff; the model allows for a lake-wide prediction of the steelhead population in Lake Michigan. The lake-wide statistical catch-at-age model integrates comprehensive data collected in all states throughout the Lake Michigan watershed, not just an individual river system. The magnitude of steelhead population fluctuations in the 1980s far surpassed the implied recent declines, with the lowest population estimates occurring in 1988 at 2.4 million and the highest estimate in 1984 at over five million fish. “While there has not been a consistent decline or trend in
