MANISTIQUE, MI -- A 94-year-old state fish hatchery is poised for a multi-million dollar upgrade that would boost output of steelhead, walleye and muskellunge.
The Thompson State Fish Hatchery near Manistique is planning to build more fish rearing ponds and expand coolwater fish production with money included in the Department of Natural Resources fiscal 2017 budget.
The DNR will also use part of the $12.2 million project money to replace a backup generator and do major renovations to the Little Manistee fish weir near Stronach, the only steelhead egg-take facility in the state.
The money represents the largest investments in Michigan fish production facilities since funding was approved in 1998 to rebuild the Oden State Hatchery near Petoskey and construct an effluent management system at the Platte River State Hatchery near Beulah, said Ed Eisch, DNR fish production manager.
Parts of each facility are being held together with "duct tape and bubble gum," said Eisch. Construction on both projects could begin next year.
The Michigan DNR stocking 13,000 rainbow trout in Mackinac County's Carp River in 2016.
Planned upgrades at the Thompson hatchery include construction of a 1,500 square-foot building with tanks to incubate walleye eggs, raceway and holding tank resurfacing, and conversion of facility power from propane to natural gas.
The hatchery plans to build dikes in an existing six-acre pond that would be separated into smaller ponds, lined, and fitted with a fish harvest kettle.
The DNR would also drill another deep geothermal well to source more heated water needed to boost production of steelhead, a migratory rainbow trout born in rivers but which primarily live in the Great Lakes.
Fishing charters have reported excellent deepwater steelhead fishing in Lake Michigan over the last couple summers.
Thompson hatchery upgrades could produce an additional 155,000 smolting-sized steelhead, about 250,000 spring fingerling walleye and 15,000 fall fingerling muskellunge. This spring, Thompson produced more than 1 million fish, including yearling steelhead and fingerling Chinook salmon.
Although the Chinook catch has been declining in Lake Michigan, Eisch said the increase in steelhead rearing is "not a response" to the drop in Chinook.
"There's always been a desire for more steelhead production," said Eisch. "We've been maxed with what steelhead we can produce for a long time."
Walleye and muskellunge rearing have also been under DNR goals because of a lack of cold water rearing facilities, he said.
The DNR stocked more than 33 million fish this spring and summer around the Great Lakes and Michigan inland waters. About 26 million of those fish were walleye spring fingerlings. In 2015, the DNR stocked about 25 million fish.
Hatchery fish grow anywhere from one month to one-and-a-half years old before they are stocked. The number and type of fish stocked throughout the year varies by hatchery due to the source and temperature of rearing water.
The DNR stocked 9 species and one hybrid this year. Brook trout, Atlantic salmon, lake sturgeon and muskellunge will be stocked around the state this fall.