Jim Johnson

Science is the eyes and ears of fishery managers. Without science, managers would be groping in the dark as they try to solve resource problems and enhance fisheries.

Let’s define what I mean by “science”. Dr. Greg Corace nicely summarized what science means in forest and wildlife management in his January 31, 2026, column in the Alpena News; about the same definition applies to fisheries. Science is a method for testing ideas (hypotheses in science jargon) and measuring outcomes. It is also a body of knowledge tested and proven by scientific scrutiny, usually available in the form of published results in peer-reviewed journals. Peer review, in turn, involves subjecting the results of your research to the critique of other leaders in your field. The whole point of science is to deliver answers defined by bounds of certainty. Measures of certainty tell us how sure we can be that an answer is correct.

State natural resource agencies, like the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), ask very practical questions. We are not talking about rocket science here. Examples are, when salmon were introduced, could they cope with life in fresh water (they were from the Pacific Ocean). Would they eat the invasive alewife? Where did they roam? Where are the most important spawning sites for trout, salmon, walleye, lake sturgeon? What is the annual toll of sea lamprey depredation on lake trout, how many fish are harvested each year, and most importantly, are these harvests sustainable? How may fish need to be stocked to make up for reproduction shortages? These are the kinds of questions the Research Vessel Chinook and her crew addressed from 1968-2016. The new RV Tanner, which replaced the old Chinook and is based at the DNR’s Fishery Research Station in Alpena, pursues these questions today.

I often think of the stewardship of Lake Huron’s fisheries as doctor-patient relationship. Lake Huron was in robust good health until two major events of the 20th century: industrial-level commercial fishing and the arrival of invading species from the oceans. Suddenly, the lake needed help. It seemed to early settlers that the Great Lakes teemed with so many fish that they could not be overharvested. Finally, years of research yielded an unequivocal diagnosis of overharvest. Meanwhile, sea lampreys, aquatic vampires from the Atlantic, were killing off the remaining larger fish and other scientists were busily searching for a way to control this new invader. Reduction in commercial netting and application of lampricides were prescribed, based on findings by researchers. Finally, as prospects for survival rose, it was time to restore the lake’s fish populations and managers prescribed (managers actually call a stocking plan a “prescription”) the stocking of millions of salmon, trout, and walleyes from yet another discipline of the DNR – its fish hatchery system. Now the questions became: did the prescribed remedies work and for how long it would be necessary to continue stocking? As other problems and new invaders arose in Lake Huron, new research/science questions would need to be addressed, such as the effects of zebra and quagga mussels on the ecosystem and how to overcome the failure of most trout and salmon to reproduce?

Unfortunately, with our Great Lakes being subject to so many human-induced changes, especially the continued threat of invasive species, new ailments arise almost annually requiring further science-based diagnostics and remedies. Such is the life of DNR fisheries workers – Managers asking questions, Researchers doing the scientific diagnostics and developing remedies, and Hatchery Workers delivering fish for stocking, as prescribed by the Managers. All three disciplines are crucial for the future of our fisheries, all guided by science.

Too often, there are simply not the funds to do important diagnostic work. The Michigan DNR is the most underfunded state fisheries resource agency in the United States. Our Great Lakes are the reason why. According to the American Fisheries Society and the U.S. Census Bureau, the average state has a little less than 1.3 million acres of lakes and streams to manage; Michigan has jurisdiction over 23.5 million acres! And most of that work is funded by fishers and hunters via licenses and other fees. Unfortunately, very little is funded by tax dollars. There simply is not enough funding to meet the needs of our vast Great Lakes, plus the thousands of inland lakes, and countless rivers and streams.

Management not adequately guided by sound science can prove costly, ineffective, and in worst cases, counterproductive and damaging to our fisheries. On the other hand, investment in science often results in breakthroughs and opens doors to new possibilities. Example: years of investment into sea lamprey control during the 1950s at the Hammond Bay Biological Station north of Rogers City uncovered a means of controlling sea lamprey, which in turn became the foundation of the Great Lakes fisheries we enjoy today.

Based in Alpena, the RV Howard Tanner and her crew continue the RV Chinook’s legacy of serving as the eyes and ears of fishery managers on Lake Huron. Together with fishery managers, researchers at the Alpena Fishery Station scientifically test how different species are coping with the dramatic changes wrought by invasive species to Lake Huron’s food web, and what species can adapt to these new conditions. They are measuring the fully recovered walleye population of Saginaw Bay and the progress of recovering lake trout, now that both species can reproduce again. And they are mapping critical spawning habitats in Lake Huron so they can be protected and helping to build new habitats where spawning sites have been crippled. And, as always, the Tanner will be measuring Lake Huron’s health and whether, and how well, prescribed improvements to Lake Huron’s fisheries are working.

Alpena can be proud to be the home of the RV Howard Tanner and the center of DNR’s fishery science on Lake Huron.

Be sure to visit the new Besser Museum Fishery Heritage Exhibit this June, where you can learn more about our shared Great Lakes fishery heritage.