Re-Stocking the Salmon Population
A local fishing group is working with the DNRE to re-stock the salmon supply in local waters.
It’s a boost to not just the environment, but recreation.
ABC 10 News Now senior reporter Mike Hoey went out on the water with them in Marquette.
The South Shore Fishing Association and the DNRE are teaming up to boost the salmon catch in local waters.
They’re planting 100,000 baby salmon in the Dead River in Marquette, next to the Presque Isle Power Plant.
There are 4 holding pens in the water, each one large enough to hold 25,000 fish.
SSFA President Jim Kelly says once they do this, the salmon are more likely to return to the area to spawn in several years.
The groups have to watch out for one of the prime health hazards for Great Lakes fish — viral hemhorragic septicemia, or VHS.
DNRE fisheries technician Troy McDaniel says the pipelines they use to draw the fish from the fishery’s storage tank into the water can carry VHS from place to place.
That means the pipelines have to be sanitized immediately after every use.
The DNRE uses a compound that’s environmentally harmless but destroys the virus if it’s present.
VHS is harmless to humans but causes internal bleeding and organ failure in fish.