Atlantic salmon

ROGERS CITY — A number of city officials, local businesses, and anglers in Rogers City are working to convince the Michigan Department of Natural Resources that Rogers City would be an ideal location to stock Atlantic salmon.

A resolution unanimously approved by the city council on Tuesday requested that the DNR stock Atlantic salmon in the city next spring. The DNR has stocked the fish in four locations along Lake Huron — the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, the AuSable River in Oscoda, the St. Mary’s River near Detour, and Lexington Harbor in Lexington — and will stock an additional 80,000 Atlantic salmon next spring at a location yet to be determined.

Rogers City City Manager Joe Hefele said that, although the Atlantic salmon are stocked in four other locations, the fish are migrating to Rogers City and anglers are catching more of them.

Data from the DNR’s Lake Huron Atlantic Salmon Creel Harvest, an annual survey recording the number of Atlantic salmon caught in Lake Huron, shows more fish were caught in Rogers City than most other regions.

Anglers in Rogers City caught 363 Atlantic salmon in 2018, compared to 183 caught in Alpena, 118 caught in Oscoda, 523 caught in Detour, and 125 caught in Lexington during that same time frame.

Hefele said the theory is that an extremely strong Atlantic salmon fishery could be created in Rogers City if the DNR were to stock fish there. Because Atlantic salmon tend to stay close to shore, Hefele said the opportunity also exists to create a shore fishery, where people who can’t afford a boat could catch off the shore.

“The salmon are already coming here,” he said. “We don’t have the predators — the walleyes tend to pick them off, and we don’t have that predator base — but we do have six launch ramps, a bunch of slips. We have room for additional fishermen, and all of that is revenue for us and the community.”

Hefele said each Atlantic salmon caught generates about $1,000 in revenue for local businesses.

Lake Huron’s salmon fishery took a hit in the early 2000s, when trout smelt and alewives began to disappear. Hefele said it became known that the chinook salmon were “very selective eaters” who preferred the trout smelt and alewives, and wouldn’t eat the gobies or other kinds of fish. He said the chinook salmon population was “decimated.”

Hefele said Atlantic salmon aren’t “selective eaters,” like the chinook salmon, and they will eat the gobies and the bugs.

“They eat anything and everything,” he said. “So they’re the opposite of the chinook, when it comes to that which allows them to thrive, where the chinook would only eat the alewives and the smelt.”

Hefele said Atlantic salmon are a world-class fish and that they’re fun to catch.

The resolution approved by the city council has also been approved by the Rogers City Harbor Commission and will go before the city’s Downtown Development Authority board.

A petition of support, signed by area anglers, will also be sent to the DNR.

Those interested in signing the petition can do so at the Rogers City Marina, 270 N. Lake St., or Adrian’s Sport Shop, 335 N. Bradley Highway.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5687.