The D-N-R plans to close its fish hatchery on the French River just north of Duluth, saying it uses too much energy and it’s too expensive to repair failing equipment. Fisheries chief Don Pereira says only about four percent of Kamloops trout raised there and put into Lake Superior end up being caught by anglers, and “that results in a price tag on a harvest of fish of somewhere between 160 and 200 dollars, for one fish.” Pereira says they’ll try stocking Kamloops trout from another source, but isn’t sure whether that will be economical either. But he says the D-N-R remains strongly committed to providing great fishing opportunities along Minnesota’s North Shore.
Pereira says another option for anglers is some inland lakes on the North Shore which are now stocked with trout. He says, “Those programs are highly efficient. The fish are cheap to raise, a large fraction are caught, and we found out from recent socioeconomic surveys that they’re very, very popular.”
More in this interview with Pereira: