Madison Reporter

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released the fish stocking numbers for 2024, detailing the efforts to enhance fish populations in both inland waterbodies and the Great Lakes. The department raised over 5 million yearling and fingerling fish to meet quotas set by county fisheries biologists.

Stocking is a crucial strategy used to support natural fish populations where reproduction alone is insufficient, as well as to maintain or restore fisheries and promote recreational fishing. It also serves as a tool for evaluating management actions or fish culture techniques.

Biologists at the DNR determine stocking needs by analyzing data from current and past surveys, considering factors such as public input on species-specific management plans, experimental fisheries strategies, and watershed goals aimed at restoring self-sustaining populations or creating recreational opportunities.

In 2024, DNR crews stocked various species across Wisconsin's inland waters, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and their tributaries. The totals included:

- Inland Waters: 231,685 brook trout; 288,290 brown trout; 10,945 lake sturgeon; 86,552 lake trout; 59,112 muskellunge; 243,588 rainbow trout; and 1,195,570 walleye.

- Lake Michigan: 50,184 brook trout; 475,045 brown trout; 1,361,857 chinook salmon; 517,166 coho salmon; 1,139 lake sturgeon; 15,495 muskellunge; and 446,150 rainbow trout.

- Lake Superior: 199,885 brown trout; 60,732 lake trout; and 54,743 splake.

This summary does not account for newly hatched fry or those stocked by private farms under permit agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or tribal partners.

For more detailed information on past years' data or specific water bodies' stocking figures visit the DNR’s Fish Stocking database.