Carol Thompson
Lansing State Journal
LANSING Nicole Watson boarded the plane in Fairbanks, Alaska with delicate and peculiar cargo, a foam box marked live animals just small enough to fit under the seat on the long flight to Detroit.
Inside the box were thousands of gooey globular fish eggs, the future of a species that vanished from Michigan streams a century ago and has since evaded attempts to restore it in its native home.
Watson, a Michigan State University doctoral student, is part of a team of scientists working on a new effort to reintroduce the fish, Arctic grayling, to Michigan s inland streams. Biologists from tribes, universities and the state government are collaborating on a years-long project to bring back the lost icon.
Native Michigan Fish Gone For A Century Making A Comeback Soon
Artic Grayling fish, a once prominent species in the waters of Michigan are on a comeback. Their iridescent pink bodies with large sail-like dorsal fins are a native species that have been MIA from Michigan waters since the 1930 s..
So how does a once prominent native fish end up disappearing from our state for nearly a century? During the 1930 s the fish was victim of over-fishing, timber practices that stressed its native habitat and becoming victim to native species like the Brown Trout.
But thanks to the efforts of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in conjunction the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative is bringing back a Michigan native species back to its origin.
See the fish that will repopulate Michigan waters with native Arctic grayling
Updated Dec 21, 2020;
A once plentiful species of salmonid is on track to return to Michigan waters by 2025 – after nearly a century of absence.
A native species known for their large, sail-like dorsal fins and light blue and sometimes iridescent pink bodies, Arctic grayling have been absent from Michigan since the 1930s. A project to bring them back began in 2016, and hit a crucial milestone this fall.
Arctic grayling are poured from a net into a raceway at the Marquette State Fish Hatchery in Marquette County.Michigan Department of Natural Resources