Bringing back the grayling begins with May 12 ceremony at Oden State Fish Hatchery



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Jan. 24, 2025
Contact: Ed Eisch <[email protected]>, 231-922-6055 or Jay Wesley <[email protected]>, 269-204-7057

Save the date! Arctic grayling reintroduction begins with May 12 ceremony at Oden State Fish Hatchery

The effort to reintroduce Arctic grayling to Michigan waters will enter its next phase with a ceremony Monday, May 12, at the Oden State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Alanson, Michigan.

At this event, the Department of Natural Resources will provide a total of approximately 400,000 grayling eggs to the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. These partners will reintroduce the eggs at locations along the North Branch of the Manistee River, the Maple River and the Boardman-Ottaway River.

What are Arctic grayling?

Arctic grayling illustration courtesy of Joseph R. Tomelleri and copyrighted.

Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) — often referred to simply as “grayling” — are a freshwater fish in the salmonidae (salmon) family. They have a unique and striking appearance, with a prominent, sail-like dorsal fin and often iridescent markings. Grayling can be found in the Arctic Ocean and Alaska, as well as in rivers and streams of the northern U.S. and Canada.

Native to only Michigan and Montana in the Lower 48 states, grayling historically were found in coldwater streams in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and were common in the Manistee and Au Sable rivers — the city of Grayling, Michigan, along the Au Sable, is named after the Arctic grayling. Despite the importance of grayling as a food source, sport fish and cultural resource, habitat destruction, unregulated timber harvest and pressures from non-native fish species led to the extirpation (local extinction) of grayling from Michigan by 1936.



Why are Arctic grayling being reintroduced?

Arctic grayling reintroduction begins with May 12 ceremony at Oden State Fish Hatchery.

In 2016, the DNR, in partnership with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, announced a proposed initiative to reintroduce Arctic grayling to the state, creating the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative, or MAGI. Consisting of more than 50 partners, the MAGI seeks to establish self-sustaining populations of this historically and culturally significant species within its historical Michigan range.

Previous attempts have been made, without success, to bring back Arctic grayling to Michigan waters, but new technologies and methods have improved the likelihood of effective reintroduction. The grayling eggs being reintroduced will be placed in streamside incubators that will allow them to imprint on the waters in which they are placed, helping them thrive. MAGI partners will closely monitor the hatching and development of the fry, as well as follow up on how they move through these systems as they grow.

The return of grayling to Michigan is a yearslong process, and this initial handoff of eggs begins the reintroduction phase of this effort. In November 2023, three Michigan lakes were stocked with Arctic grayling [ [link removed] ] that were surplus from the DNR’s grayling broodstock. While establishing the broodstock was an important milestone in the reintroduction process, this stocking did not (and was not intended to) establish a self-sustaining wild Arctic grayling population.  

More details on the Arctic grayling reintroduction event will be released as available. Learn more about the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative at migrayling.org [ [link removed] ], or plan your visit to the Oden State Fish Hatchery at Michigan.gov/Hatcheries [ [link removed] ].



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*Note to editors: *The Arctic grayling illustration included above is courtesy of Joseph R. Tomelleri and copyrighted. The accompanying photo is available below for download. Caption information follows.


* *Grayling [ [link removed] ]*: The effort to reintroduce Arctic grayling to Michigan waters will enter its next phase with a ceremony Monday, May 12, at the Oden State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Alanson, Michigan.

 


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