Salmon Unlimited hosts Great Lakes god Howard Tanner on Tuesday

The organization will have Tanner at a special event free to the public, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Thornwood Restaurant & Lounge in Wood Dale.

SHARE Salmon Unlimited hosts Great Lakes god Howard Tanner on Tuesday
Historic photo of Howard Tanner participating in the first stocking of the non-native coho salmon into Lake Michigan. Historic photo from the Michigan DNR.

Howard Tanner at the release of coho on April 2, 1966.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Audacious.

That’s the most apt word for Howard Tanner’s vision of stocking Pacific salmon in the Great Lakes to counteract alewives, another non-native.

Others, at the time, used different words to describe Tanner’s vision.

More than 53 years after the first successful stocking of coho in Lake Michigan, Salmon Unlimited will host Tanner in a special event free to the public, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Thornwood Restaurant & Lounge in Wood Dale.

“Dr. Tanner’s leadership in the introduction of Coho and Chinook Salmon in Lake Michigan in the 1960s did nothing less than create a world class, multi-million dollar fishery that has endured for over 50 years, while at the same time providing a natural control of the non-native Alewife,’’ emailed Vic Santucci, Illinois’ Lake Michigan Program manager. “Kudos to SU for hosting the man that started it all.’’

“We wouldn’t have a salmon fishery if it wasn’t for him,’’ said Don Dubin, the Hall of Famer and one of the first SU members. “A lot of people were against stocking salmon.’’

Tanner was well aware.

At the 50th anniversary three years ago of the first successful coho stocking, he is quoted in a mlive.com story saying, “It took a little guts. I could have been the biggest bum in the world if I had screwed up the Great Lakes.’’

Occasional attempts to plant salmon in Michigan failed over a century, before Tanner made it work.

The basics come from the Michigan Fisheries Centennial Report 1873-1973: “In 1966, 394,760 coho fingerlings were planted in Bear Creek and 264,000 in the Platte River, with streams running into Lake Michigan. Also, 192,400 were released into the Big Huron River, which flows into Lake Superior. Growth and survival of the stocked fish were excellent particularly in Lake Michigan. Millions of coho have been stocked in the Great Lakes since 1966. A thriving sport fishery has developed.’’

The following year, Chinook salmon were introduced. As noted in the Centennial Report, “In 1967, 33,460 salmon fry were planted in the Big Huron River which flows into Lake Superior. In addition, 590,830 fry were released in the Little Manistee River and 210,560 fry in the Muskegon River, both in the Lake Michigan drainage. Growth of planted fish has been excellent, survival has been satisfactory, and a good sport fishery has developed.’’

The timeline in the Centennial Report included several nuggets, including these two for 1967: “Dramatic sport fishery for coho salmon in Great Lakes.” “Introduced chinook salmon showed remarkable growth and survival.’’ Then, for 1970, came this: “World’s record coho salmon, 33 lbs., 3 oz., taken by Fisheries Division in spawn operations on Little Manistee River.’’

“I grew up near Chicago and remember all of the Alewives on the beaches downtown,’’ Santucci emailed. “Man did they stink! I mostly went smelt fishing with my uncle in those years and really did not hear about the salmon stocking program until college when it was touted as one of the greatest ecosystem level fisheries management successes ever accomplished. I have learned even more about the stocking program from Dr. Tanner’s new book, “Something Spectacular, My Great Lakes Salmon Story.’’ It’s a quick read and very interesting.’’

“I looked up to him,’’ Dubin said. “He was like a God to me, the father of the Lake Michigan salmon fishery.’’

Dubin would get to fish with Tanner, including out of Dubin’s 14-foot Larson Shark on Muskegon Lake in Michigan.

Historic photo from the collection of Don Dubin.

Don Dubin saved this photo of Howard Tanner on a fishing outing in Dubin’s 14-foot Larson Shark at Muskegon Lake in Michigan.

Don Dubin

Tanner helped SU when it came to the first stocking of coho at Diversey Harbor. The late Mayor Richard J. Daley also backed it.

It’s valuable to hear what somebody in Santucci’s role sees half a century later.

Tanner helped SU when it came to the first stocking of coho at Diversey Harbor. The late Mayor Richard J. Daley also backed it.

It’s valuable to hear what somebody in Santucci’s role sees half a century later.

“I think the biggest thing that we’ve learned from Tanner’s experiment is that big ideas can be implemented and successes realized when management decisions are based on sound science and there is cooperation among partners, including management agencies, sport anglers and other stakeholders,’’ Santucci emailed. “Everything is interconnected. If commercial fishers did not push for Sea Lamprey control (which continues under the direction of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission), then we probably would not be talking about a salmon and trout sport fishery in the Great Lakes today.

“We’ve also learned that these fish (Chinook Salmon in particular) are incredibly adaptable, as evidenced by their ability to naturally reproduce in our Great Lakes tributaries. Millions of ‘wild’ smolts enter Lake Michigan each year from Michigan streams and they are making a substantial contribution to the sport angler harvest. We have also learned that too much of a good thing (e.g., overstocking) can lead to imbalance between these highly-prized predators and the lake’s prey fish populations. Something we do not want is a crash in the prey fish populations, which would threaten the very existence of the salmon and trout fishery enjoyed by so many Lake Michigan anglers.’’

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