Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wisconsin Fishery
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Lake whitefish abundances have declined throughout the Great Lakes. Statistical catch-at-age models are used to monitor abundances; however, these models have several assumptions that are difficult to evaluate. We are implementing a close-kin mark-recapture framework to estimate lake whitefish stock sizes in Lake Michigan. This work will provide an alternative means of quantifying abundances for evaluation of current catch-at-age models. This project is being performed with researchers and agency managers from U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Results from this work will help managers assess the catch-at-age models that are routinely used to determine harvest rates of lake whitefish throughout the Great Lakes.