Huron-Erie Corridor Initiative

Lake Whitefish in the Detroit River

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, spawning runs of lake whitefish into the Detroit River from Lake Erie sustained one of the most profitable commercial fisheries in the Great Lakes. However, by 1925, destruction of their spawning grounds to facilitate commercial shipping and extensive water pollution coincided with cessation of lake whitefish runs into the river. In 2005, USGS scientists at the Great Lakes Center discovered lake whitefish spawning in the lower Detroit River, for the first time since 1925. In May 2006, USGS scientists collected eyed eggs of lake whitefish on spawning grounds that were recently constructed at Belle Isle in headwaters of the Detroit River and hundreds of lake whitefish larvae throughout the lower reaches of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge that were reared successfully at the Center and released by elected representatives into the Trenton Channel in October 2006. In November and December 2006, USGS scientists collected fertilized lake whitefish eggs throughout the Detroit River, particularly in Canadian waters near the head of Fighting Island. Catches of spawning lake whitefish in western Lake Erie by the Ohio Division of Wildlife just prior to the appearance of lake whitefish in the Detroit River in 2005 and 2006 indicate that lake whitefish are migrating 225 miles from deep, cold waters of eastern Lake Erie off Buffalo, New York to spawn in the Detroit River. Because lake whitefish are a clean-water fish and their eggs and larvae are very susceptible to all forms of thermal and chemical pollution, survival of their eggs and larvae all winter in the Detroit River indicates that pollution of the river by industrial and municipal wastewater discharges has been reduced enough to sustain this sensitive fish species. USGS scientists are therefore formulating strategies for restoring spawning habitat for lake whitefish throughout the Detroit River and gathering basic biological information about the present day lake whitefish that have begun using the Detroit River for spawning again. This fishery research is part of a broader effort by the USGS and its partners to provide fishery managers with the scientific information they need to enhance the reproduction and recruitment of valuable native fish species in the Huron-Erie Corridor Initiative for the use and enjoyment of the public.