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Superiorland residents, indeed residents of the Upper Peninsula in general, who are of a certain age, cringe when the word alewife is mentioned. That's because even an average memory will vividly recall U.P. beaches in the 1960s and 70s being a foot deep in dead alewives, reeking to high heavens, making swimming all but impossible.
Where did they come from? These little invasive fish found their way into the Great Lakes from the ocean in the 19th and 20th centuries via canals. Once here, and facing no natural predators, they ate massive amounts of zooplankton, starving native fish populations and exploding in number.
Alewives were only brought under control in many areas with the introduction of certain types of salmon, which provided new species for anglers to catch while bringing the invasive population to heel.
But let's be clear, these salmon didn't just magically appear. The entire matter was studied, specific species were selected and finally planted in great numbers under a program known generally as fish stocking.
Principally run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the agency stocks lakes and streams each year with millions of chinook, coho and Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout (and steelhead) brown, brook, lake trout and splake plus walleye, muskellunge and lake sturgeon.
Put another way, the DNR is responsible for supporting the fishery in the Great Lakes and adjacent waters to a significant degree through it's research and stocking program. That said, it seems to us the collective memory of the State Legislature is starting to misfire as the department that oversees this program -- the Fisheries Division -- may undergo budget cuts.
The Michigan Legislature reports that more than 50 positions may be eliminated and $5 million cut from the fish production and fisheries resource management areas next year. DNR insiders say reductions of that size would be devastating.
According to concise reporting from Mining Journal media partner Capital News Service, the division relies on licenses for much of its budget, but the price has remained consistent for more than a decade. During that time, costs, of course, have gone up.
And speaking of money, it's appropriate to consider the impact the program presently has. Stocking brings in over $4 billion to local economies in Michigan. Much of this can be attributed to salmon and other sport fish that attract tourists and anglers. While some fish are able to keep up their populations naturally, stocking is still necessary in many fisheries across the state.
Needless to say, this is an enormously complicated issue, involving failed proposals to find new money for the program, unpaid state general fund reimbursements for discounts provided and, of course, political considerations.
But the consequences of stopping, or significantly cutting this program, should be carefully weighed. Remember what those thousands of tons of rotting alewives smelled like. No one we know wants to go back to that.