The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing to reduce the number of whitefish that commercial fishers can take from Lake Michigan as the population has seen a dramatic decline.
About 20 years ago, Lake Michigan boasted more than 60 million whitefish that were 3 years old and older, according to most recent models. The population has since dropped 75 percent or more, said Scott Hansen, senior fisheries biologist for the DNR.
As the population has fallen, Hansen said the commercial harvest of lake whitefish has dropped to record lows. The harvest has declined from a peak of about 2 million pounds in 1999 to around 150,000 pounds last year in Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan…