Michigan fishing regulators to discuss Great Lakes whitefish crisis

• Michigan’s iconic whitefish are nearing collapse in lakes Michigan and Huron because of invasive mussels that have gobbled up a key food source
• Bridge Michigan is spending the summer covering the crisis and its impact on Michigan’s economy, culture and environment
• On Thursday, state fishing regulators will receive a report on the fish’s struggles that could inform future policymaking

Michigan fish and wildlife regulators will receive an expert presentation this week on the troubles facing lake whitefish as populations of the iconic Great Lakes species plummet in lakes Michigan and Huron.

The presentation to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission comes amid a summerlong Bridge Michigan reporting project on the fish’s imminent collapse.

In waters once considered among the world’s most productive for whitefish, catch rates have declined from 6.9 million pounds in 2009 to less than 2 million in 2024, with no end in sight.

Natural Resources Commission Chairperson Becky Humphries said the presentation could help inform commissioners as they consider future policies and research priorities that could help protect the fish. 

“It’s important that we hear from the (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) in terms of how those pieces come together, so that we better understand our component of it and what decisions we face,” Humphries said. “What are options out there so that we can play a part in, hopefully, the successful management of this species?”

Long revered for their taste and abundance, whitefish are disappearing from lakes Michigan and Huron amid an invasive species crisis that has upended the food web with dire consequences for native fish.

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Thumbnail-sized quagga mussels that arrived decades ago in the ballast water of oceangoing freighters have since colonized the entire lakebed. The voracious filter-feeders have stripped away the algae and plankton that once underpinned a thriving underwater ecosystem, leaving behind lifelessly clear water.

For decades, adult whitefish have been spawning on rocky shoreline reefs, only for their tiny offspring to die of starvation soon after hatching. 

The stunning water clarity caused by the mussels’ filter feeding may be causing yet more problems by allowing sunlight to penetrate deeper into the water, burning the tiny juvenile fish alive.

“If you don’t have that recruitment, then there's only one direction the population can go,” said Steve Lenart, a fish biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources who will deliver Thursday’s presentation.

After walking commissioners through the troubles facing whitefish, Lenart plans to stress the need for research and monitoring of the state’s fish populations.

“This is not just a lake whitefish issue,” he said.

Indeed, lack of food caused by the quagga mussels has dramatically limited the lakes’ ability to sustain large populations of all sorts of fish species, from salmon to suckers. And a broader global biodiversity crisis threatens the future of 1 million species.

State, tribal and federal scientists are conducting a number of experiments to boost whitefish numbers and combat invasive mussels. But while scientists have successfully killed off mussels in small-scale trials, they have yet to identify a weapon that can quell the invasion on a lakewide scale.

State and tribal regulators have repeatedly tightened fishing limits in hopes of protecting the dwindling population. This year, they slashed commercial catch limits in central Lake Michigan by 94% in a single year, to just 10,000 pounds. New gear restrictions for recreational whitefish anglers also take effect this fall.
Lenart said no additional fishing limits are on the table. But some experts have predicted that if populations continue to decline, an all-out ban on catching whitefish could be on the horizon for some parts of the lakes.