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Lake Superior Fisheries Outreach

Gulls flying over Lake Superior as the sun sets.

 

The Lake Superior Fisheries Management Team regularly updates the public about the status of fish populations, potential fishing regulation changes and other recent projects. This page provides a catalog of current outreach events, informational public meetings and publications. Is there a subject you’d like to learn more about? Let us know!

Nearshore Stocking Updates for Lake Superior

Stay up-to-date on recent changes to the Lake Superior stocking program changes by viewing a presentation from our informational public meeting on Dec. 11, 2024. Here, we provide background on the decision to discontinue splake stocking based on updated statewide stocking policies and concerns about maintaining the genetic integrity of lake trout and brook trout populations. We also review how transitioning to the spring-scattered-yearling (SSY) stocking strategy helped improve the harvest of splake and brown trout, and we plan to increase brown trout production in the future to continue enhancing the fishery.

Lake Superior Fish Community and Trends

What does the Lake Superior fish community look like now compared to a few decades ago? DNR biologists assisted with a review paper to help document the lake-wide changes in fish abundances, harvest, and fishery management from 2001-2022 for important predator and prey species, including lake trout, lake whitefish, ciscoes, rainbow smelt, sea lamprey, burbot and more. Overall, stable populations and fisheries characterized this contemporary time period compared to the previous era of population recoveries from 1970-2000.

Nebagamon Creek Project

A 500-foot section of Nebagamon Creek, a tributary to the Bois Brule River, was renovated by removing a deteriorated abandoned rail grade and culvert. The rail grade was a sedimentation risk to the Creek’s and River’s trout and salmon, and the culvert was a fish passage concern. The project was completed after nearly seven weeks of site work in late summer and early fall 2023. For more in-depth information on the project, view the project and time-lapse video.

Walleye in the St. Louis River and Western Arm of Lake Superior

Find out the latest status of the St. Louis River walleye spawning stock, patterns in how these fish utilize Lake Superior, and what they eat out in the big lake by watching the presentation from our informational public meeting on May 9, 2024. The management team is currently evaluating the walleye regulations in western Lake Superior and the St. Louis River Estuary, and they provide some background on that process here. Contact any of the team members with your input on the goals of the walleye fishery and potential regulation changes.

Status Of The Lake Superior Stocks 2023 – Lake Trout, Cisco, Whitefish

Learn about the latest status of lake trout, cisco and lake whitefish populations in Lake Superior by watching our presentation from an informational public meeting held on Nov. 29, 2023. Information about regularly scheduled quota updates for lake trout and cisco are provided for the upcoming fishing seasons.

Fisheries Surveys On Lake Superior Aboard The R/V Hack Noyes

Take a journey out to Gull Island Shoals on the Research Vessel Hack Noyes with the Lake Superior Fisheries Team to learn about historical lake trout surveys and how they are conducted. Learn about the roles that refuge, lamprey control, stocking and fisheries assessments played in rebuilding the lake trout population after the sea lamprey invasion. The video was produced by Stokes Media House in 2019.