Sault Tribe restocks U.P. waterways with walleye, whitefish

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is working to restore walleye and whitefish to rivers and lakes in northern Michigan. Courtesy photo.

by Sneha Dhandapani (Bridge Michigan)

Sault Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes describes a story told by ancestors of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians: The whitefish were once “so bountiful in the St Mary’s River Rapids that you could walk on their backs.”

Now, the fish are struggling to survive. This has left scientists predicting the species’ collapse.

But this month, over a million more walleye and whitefish swim through northern Michigan waters.

The Sault tribe transported and released more than 1.1 million walleye fingerlings into waters of the eastern Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula in early June, a slight drop from the 1.4 million released last year. A week later, Sault Tribe staff released 45,421 whitefish fingerlings from the Pine River’s mouth.

“Our people have relied on (fish) for quite some time,” Lowes told Bridge Michigan.

In 2023, the tribe was responsible for a third of the total walleye released in Michigan. Walleye are also released by Michigan researchers. The release efforts have generated an estimated $2.5 million for the commercial fishing industry and $2.14 million in sport fishing activity, according to a press release from the tribe.

Whitefish are also a backbone of the commercial fishing industry as they account for about 85% of the catch in Michigan.

Searching for a solution to the declining whitefish population, the tribe decided to release whitefish in the summer this year, and the most yet  —  a huge increase from last fall when only about 8,500 whitefish were released. The tribe has released whitefish for three years now.

Lowes attributes the species’ decline to zebra mussels, which eat the same prey as whitefish. This counters what he argues is “one of the lies that have been put out there: tribal fishermen are carpet bombing the Great Lakes,” Lowes said. “But as evidenced by our restocking efforts, that’s not the case.”

Sault Tribe fisheries biologists collect eggs from adult fish and then fertilize and incubate the eggs until they hatch. Upon hatching, the fish are raised in ponds until they grow large enough to be released. This year, the walleye were transported to 10 different lakes, with 312,000 going to St. Martin’s River and 170,000 going to Potagannissing River.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.