How Did Pacific Salmon Find Their Way to Door County?

Bu Coggin Heeringa, Crossroads at Big Creek

Crossroads at Big Creek is honored to host Lee Kernen for a very special Fish Tales Lecture titled, “How Did Pacific Salmon Find Their Way to Door County?” on Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Mention his name anywhere in the fishing community—from government fisheries biologists to commercial fishers, charter captains, and weekend anglers—and the response is immediate: “He’s a living legend!” or else “He’s a heck of a storyteller!”

Kernen has been inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame—sort of the Grammys of the fishing world. His 33-year career with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began in 1964, included time in Green Bay during the early years of the Great Lakes Pacific salmon program, and culminated with his service as Director of the Bureau of Fisheries Management in Madison, overseeing fisheries management statewide.

His work helped shape one of the most remarkable ecological interventions in Great Lakes history—the introduction of Pacific salmon to control exploding populations of alewife and to revive a struggling fishery.

Many of us recall when the lakes were literally filled with alewife and the beaches were lined with windrows—sometimes mountains—of odiferous dead fish. It was not pretty. Kernen will take us back to those days and explain how Pacific salmon changed both the ecological and economic story of Door County’s waters.

And remember, much of this work happened before computers, electronic tagging, underwater telemetry, or cell phones. The slides in this presentation have been scanned from old snapshots, offering a rare glimpse into hands-on fisheries science in its formative years. This promises to be an evening of vivid storytelling from someone who witnessed—and helped influence—a turning point in Great Lakes history.

The next day, February 27, is a vacation day for many area students, so we are offering a School’s Out Excursion from 2:00–3:30 p.m. If weather cooperates (and this winter, that is a rather big IF), kids will experience sliding using sleds and kicksleds. If we lack the snow needed to slide, the lab will be set up with ice- and snow-related interactive demonstrations.  These activities are geared for elementary-aged students, but learners of all ages are encouraged to take part.

On February 28 at 2:00 p.m., our Science Saturday activity, “Leap Year in Nature,” will explore some of the math and folklore behind why February usually has 28 days and why we add an extra day every four years (the next Leap Year arrives in 2028). We’ll also look at something nature seems to understand very well—that in most wildlife species, males do the displaying and competing, but females usually make the final choice.

New and seasoned volunteers can find out about upcoming opportunities at our Volunteer Mixer on Monday, March 2 from 5:00–5:30 p.m.

Trails at Crossroads are open all day, every day, free of charge. Check the ticker on the Crossroads website for current trail conditions and open hours for Ski-for-Free.