Ice shanties & ear stones: A day in Lake Michigan’s last whitefish stronghold

  • As whitefish disappear from most of the lower Great Lakes, southern Green Bay is a remarkable exception
  • Once almost nonexistent in the bay, whitefish have boomed since first returning in the late 1990s
  • The reasons why aren’t clear — but finding answers could aid whitefish recovery efforts throughout the Great Lakes

It’s one of the lower Great Lakes’ last whitefish strongholds, in one of the unlikeliest locations:

Southern Green Bay — a water body once so polluted the fish that managed to survive often weren’t safe to eat, where nutrient-laden runoff still leaves the water murky, anoxic, and algae-choked in summer.

Bridge Michigan published a story today on the mysterious whitefish renaissance in Green Bay — and the consternation over early signs of decline…

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS