Nov. 9, 2026
DNR to begin whitefish egg collection this month
| To help support conservation and restoration of Great Lakes whitefish, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources starting this month will collect lake whitefish eggs in the nearshore areas of Lake Michigan between South Haven and Muskegon.
During this monthlong effort, DNR crews will deploy nets across nearshore and reef habitats in southern Lake Michigan to capture lake whitefish for spawning. To collect mature fish, electrofishing will be used in river mouths.
Anyone fishing or boating in the area are advised to watch for flags and buoys indicating nets, and to follow best practices for net safety. When on the water or wading during electrofishing work in river mouths, use caution and follow any instructions from staff to exit the water.
Fertilized eggs from these collections will be incubated and hatched at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Van Buren County. Funding for this work is provided by the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust and a $350,000 general fund appropriation by the Michigan Legislature for fiscal year 2027. |
Why whitefish?
Lake whitefish are native to the Great Lakes and have immense ecological, cultural and economic value in Michigan. In lakes Michigan and Huron, threats including pollution, habitat loss and invasive species have changed the food web, causing whitefish population decline. Invasive quagga mussels have had a particularly negative effect on whitefish by filtering out the plankton that larval whitefish depend upon for food and making the water much clearer, reducing their survival.
Changing environmental conditions could result in lake whitefish populations surviving in limited places, possibly leading to the species lacking the genetic diversity necessary to adapt and thrive. The egg-collection project will preserve some of that genetic diversity by allowing these whitefish eggs to be raised into hatchery broodstock (parent) fish.
In turn, the broodstock will allow the DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or other partners to raise lake whitefish in controlled conditions in a hatchery system. Some fish will also be stocked back into Lake Michigan, in drowned river mouth lakes, and possibly inland lakes as other means to preserve genetic diversity until ecosystem changes allow for better survival of naturally spawned fish. This will keep these genetic lines going, even if the wild population suffers further decline.
Learn more about lake whitefish monitoring and management by visiting the DNR’s lake whitefish webpage.
Note to editors: An accompanying photo is available below for download. Caption information follows.
- Lake whitefish: A lake whitefish on a measuring board, captured during a fisheries survey.
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