ROGERS CITY — Rogers City will not receive Atlantic salmon from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources this year, like many city officials and anglers had hoped.

Rogers City was in the running to receive 25,000 Atlantic salmon this spring. The DNR’s Lake Huron Citizen Fishery Advisory Committee in October recommended the salmon be planted at the Swan River Weir, located on property owned by Carmeuse Lime and Stone.

Rogers City Mayor Scott McLennan said he was notified recently the salmon stocking was put on hold because the 2000 Great Lakes Consent Decree, a fishing agreement between several American Indian tribes and state and federal governments, is set to expire in August.

The decree governs the allocation, management, and regulations of state and tribal fisheries in treaty waters of the Great Lakes.

Randy Claramunt, the DNR’s Lake Huron Basin Coordinator, said the proposal for Rogers City is on hold for now.

“Those fish are already allocated to existing stocking sites and will not be redistributed to Rogers City,” he said in an email.

McLennan said that, because the negotiations are ongoing, DNR officials have indicated it would be wise to hold off and not make any changes to where Atlantic salmon are stocked this year. He said Atlantic Salmon have not been stocked in Rogers City previously, so the city would have been a new location.

“We remain optimistic that Rogers City is going to receive a salmon plant in the near future, frankly because it’s a great location for Atlantic salmon to thrive, and the community is very supportive of that plant,” McLennan said.

McLennan said he hopes the city is considered again next year.

“Even though they have never been planted in the Rogers City area, there is a high degree of migration, according to the DNR statistics, of Atlantic salmon planted elsewhere coming to the Rogers City area,” McLennan said. “They speculate that part of the reason is because there are not a lot of predators like walleye in the Rogers City area that would eat the young salmon.”

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