MICHIGAN STUDY MUSKIE NUMBER ROSE AND CRAPPIES BECAME SCARCE

   Crappies as well as walleyes are popular fish in Gull and other Minnesota lakes. In Michigan a study by the DNR showed that as muskie populations rose black crappie populations crashed. In Iron Lake muskies were stocked starting in 1962 and white suckers and black crappies were abundant, however by 1979 "black crappies and white suckers continued to be scarce." The study concluded "with the advantage of hindsight two lessons to be learned from this management experience are: carefully consider beforehand all the possible consequences of any major change imposed on a fish population and intensely monitor any fish populations being subjected to novel management techniques." Fisheries Division Technical Report, Introduction and Management of Northern Muskellunge in Iron Lake Michigan - Dell H. Siler and Gerorge B. Beyerle, Michigan DNR, 1984.

MICHIGAN WARDEN EXPRESSES CONCERN

   The current fish populations/species took thousands of years to evolve into a compatible environment where the present species control each other. Muskies are an invasive, introduced species. Muskies were originally an ocean species, indigenous only to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Until all the canals were built, they couldn't make it into the Great Lakes. Later, they were only found in the Lower Great Lakes and connecting waters. Then man screwed things up and introduced them into "inland" waters. They are huge consumers of forage, i.e. other fish. Will or does introducing them into new waters hurt the ecology of those lakes? Ask the DNR what research they did on the current body of water to come to the conclusion that muskies will be compatible with the current species. And, better yet, is the musky introduction wanted by the people? Mike Holmes, Retired Game Warden-State of Michigan