Researchers say the number of salmon in Lake Huron is unlikely to rebound and Lakes Michigan and Ontario area are following a similar pattern.
Michigan State researchers say Lake Huron can no longer support the Chinook Salmon because their main food source, the herring-like Alewife and rainbow smelt are on a sharp decline.
Fishery scientist Sara Alderstein-Gonzalez says it's not a negative scenario because it's leading to the restoration of the entire Lake Huron ecosystem and a return to the native fish population.
Chinook salmon were introduced to the Great Lakes 50 years ago to establish a new recreational fishery and to help control non-native Alewives which entered the lakes in the late 1940's.
Study statistics show the biomass of alewives have plunged by more than 90 per cent, perhaps because of more stocked salmon or because of the rapid spread of zebra and quagga mussels.
Michigan and Ontario stopped stocking Chinook salmon in southern Lake Huron two years ago but continue to stock in the northern part of the lake.
