DNR publishes 2024 fish stocking summary

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released the 2024 fish stocking numbers for inland waterbodies and the Great Lakes. The DNR raises millions of yearling and fingerling fish to stock into Wisconsin waters every year. More than 5 million fish were stocked in 2024, which helped fulfill the quotas submitted by county fisheries biologists. Stocking helps boost natural fish populations where natural reproduction can no longer support the fishery, maintain or restore existing fisheries and support recreational fishing opportunities. Stocking is also used to evaluate management actions or fish culture techniques. DNR biologists analyze data collected from present and past surveys to determine which species and quantity should be stocked, along with other factors such as public input received during the development of species-specific management plans, experimental fisheries management strategies and specific watershed goals to restore selfsustaining fish populations, maintain existing fisheries or create recreational ones. DNR fish crews stocked fish in inland waters, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and their tributaries across the state in 2024. In inland waters, stocking totals by species included 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 walleyes. In Lake Michigan, stocking totals by species included 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. In Lake Superior, there were 199,885 brown trout stocked, 60,732 lake trout and 54,743 splake. This data does not include the stocking of newly hatched fry, fish stocked by private fish farms under a stocking permit, fish stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or fish stocked by the DNR’s tribal partners. Visit the DNR’s fish stocking database (https://apps. dnr.wi.gov/fisheriesmanagement/Public/Summary) to view stocking data from previous years or specific waters.