I understand very well that Steelhead, Browns, etc., are not as dependent on Alewives as King Salmon. However, I also understand that they ARE somewhat dependent on Alewives, because as soon as the Alewife populations declined, so did the numbers and sizes of Steelhead @ Huron. The same thing is happening on lake Michigan, right now. When was the last time anyone heard of an 18# Steelhead coming from lake Huron? Lake Michigan? They are pretty rare these days, and just 7 years ago there were quite a few caught in MI waters every year - in both lakes Huron and Michigan.
The fact remains that the Mussels don't just out-compete Alewives for food. They are sucking the nutrients out of the entire Great Lakes system, which reduces the amount of food for everything - including bugs, small minnows, and other invertabrates. And their numbers are constantly increasing - they haven't decline since they were introduced.
Steelhead and Browns are a more viable option than Salmon, for planting purposes. But we are talking about a small stream that does have decent natural reproduction of Steelhead. And the issue is that the stream is small, and its "carrying capacity" is likewise small - it simply does not support a whole lot of Steelhead, in addition to the Trout that live there year-round. It does support some Steelhead, though. Allowing more Steelhead into it, to spawn, won't really increase the numbers that smolt and return as adults - because the Pine simply won't support significantly higher numbers. That is the exact reason the DNR has planted the Ausable heavily for 40 years. The plants used to support an incredble fishery for Salmon and Steelhead - one of the best in the entire World. The Mussels changed all that.
I can appreciate the city of Oscoda needing improvements to attract visitors and commerce. I cannot fathom why they need to build a new pier, which will be about .5 miles from the current pier - but they are getting Federal money to put one in. Yippee. Likewise, I feel that adding a fish ladder to the Van Ettan dam is an exercise in futility for the purpose stated. I just don't think it will do anything to significantly increase the amount of Steelhead that return to either the Ausable or Van Ettan Creek/Pine Creek. But that just is my opinion.
It was my opinion for a number of years that the Mussels were killing the ecosystem of lake Huron, and lots of people disagreed with me - some to extreme levels. Sadly, my opinion turned out to be supported by facts, and some of those former disagree-ers now share my opinion. None of us are happy that I was right. I have never wanted to be wrong as badly as I wanted to be about the Mussels. :rant: