SGP Program - A note from Nick Peterson, DNR Migratory Fish Specialist

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Hello again!

 The 2017 spring steelhead season will be here soon! We will again be looking for avid anglers to help collect scale samples from steelhead for the second year of the Steelhead Genetics Project. 

I would really appreciate your help in collecting scale samples from adult steelhead you catch this spring. If you would be interested in helping out again (or for the first time!), please let me know as soon as possible so I can get you a new permit and more scale envelopes, if needed.
 A few notes for those who want to participate in 2017:

 All anglers need an updated permit. I have permits ready to go and can email or mail them to anglers who participated last season. Please let me know what delivery method would work the best for you. Anglers who did not participate last year will need to contact me or another Lake Superior Area Fisheries staff to receive a permit and training on how to collect scales.

 Goal for 2017: Collect more scales from smaller rivers. We had a good number of scale samples that were provided last year, but most samples were collected from 8 of the larger rivers on the North Shore. We would really appreciate if anglers could target some of the smaller rivers on the North Shore. This information will help to better evaluate the spatial distribution of Kamloops reproduction, to determine if steelhead populations are genetically unique, and to compare genetic population size among North Shore rivers. Our target is 30 to 50 samples per river, if possible.

 Tips for collecting scales. Anglers who participated last year provided tips for collecting scales. Please let me know if there are any other tips you discovered last year. You can View Scale Collection Tips Here

I really appreciate your efforts and look forward to working with many of you again in 2017. I wish you all the best of luck in the upcoming steelhead season! Don’t hesitate to contact me with questions.

Nick Peterson: Migratory Fish Specialist, MN DNR 
nick.peterson@state.mn.us  |  218-302-3264

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