The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will begin collecting lake whitefish eggs this month in nearshore Lake Michigan from South Haven to Muskegon to support conservation of the native Great Lakes species. Crews will set nets over reefs and nearshore habitat and use electrofishing at river mouths to take mature spawners; boaters and anglers should watch for marker flags and buoys and follow staff directions to leave the water during electrofishing.

Fertilized eggs will be hatched at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Van Buren County, funded by the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust and a $350,000 Michigan Legislature general-fund appropriation for fiscal year 2027. The effort will produce hatchery broodstock so the DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or partners can raise and restock fish, keeping genetic lines alive while wild numbers fall from habitat loss, pollution, and quagga mussels that strip the plankton larvae need.