In a crucial step toward the reintroduction of Arctic grayling to Michigan waters, 4,000 young, healthy fish were moved this month to a facility with conditions that will trigger spawning.
Known for its large, sail-like dorsal fin and light blue and sometimes iridescent pink bodies, the native grayling has been absent from Michigan waters since the 1930s. Native populations are now found only in Montana - where they were reintroduced using a program that Michigan is now replicating - Alaska, Russia and Canada.
Michigan’s first year-class of future broodstock, averaging 6.5 inches long, was transferred in September from the well-fed Oden State Fish Hatchery near Petoskey to the Marquette State Fish Hatchery where fish are reared in water that mimics the grayling’s natural habitat.
Another crucial step was taken in the effort to reintroduce Arctic grayling to Michigan waters. The first year-class of future broodfish were transferred from an isolated rearing facility at Oden State Fish Hatchery near Petoskey to Marquette State Fish Hatchery. Approximately 4,000 fish, averaging 6.5 inches long, made the trip to Marquette.Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The occasion marked a significant milestone in the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative – a collaborative effort to bring this native fish back to the Great Lakes state. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced the project back in 2016.
It will likely be 2024 or 2025 before grayling are hatching in Michigan streams, said Ed Eisch, fish production program manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division.
Arctic grayling was the dominant salmonid species found in the state’s cold-water streams before it went extinct in the Midwest during the 1930s due to over-fishing, habitat loss from timber practices, and competing with and being preyed on by non-native species like brown trout.
The fish that were moved this month came to Michigan from Alaska as eggs in spring 2019. Because the eggs originated from outside of the Great Lakes basin, they had to be quarantined and pass three health exams before being moved to the Upper Peninsula hatchery.
The move was important because grayling need water temperatures and daylight that change with the season, and the water source at the Marquette hatchery, Cherry Creek, does that, Eisch said.
Now that the fish have arrived, staff will care for the group until the fish are ready to produce eggs, usually at 4-6 years old.
At that time – likely 2024 or 2025 – the DNR will collect eggs and milt from the fish, Eisch said. The fertilized eggs will be placed in instream incubators. When they hatch, the fry will emerge into the stream in almost the same way as if they had been spawned naturally. The site of the initial reintroduction has not yet been selected.
“Had we kept them at Oden, it’s highly likely that the timing of their spawning readiness would have resulted in a very staggered and prolonged spawning season, making it very difficult to get the number of eggs we need for the reintroduction effort,” Eisch said.
While COVID-19 pandemic forced a hiatus in growing the Arctic grayling broodstock, the DNR plans to send staff to Alaska in 2021 and 2022 to collect more eggs.
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