Robert G Yonkee

Independent Study
Blog #6

Dan Stephenson Blog Post

If you need to learn anything about the lakes and rivers in Illinois, Dan
Stephenson more likely than not has the answer for you. Dan Stephenson is the
Chief of Fisheries here in Illinois. This means that Dan is the head person over the
entire division of fisheries. Just a few of his responsibilities are the Lake Michigan
Program, the 3 hatcheries here in Illinois, and manages over 30 field biologists in
the state! Dan Stephenson was a zoology major and graduated from Eastern Illinois
University with his bachelors and masters. He began his career by being hired on
part time by Illinois DNR in 1979, later being brought on full time in 1980 giving him
over 30 years of experience.
With Dans years of experience he has seen many changes in fish populations
over the years. Dan stated that the fish population has really improved state wide. A
big factor in keeping the populations so healthy is the incredible stocking effort
made by DNR. Dan stated that the Jake Wolf Memorial Fishing Hatchery near Pekin
Illinois produces 25-30 million fish a year of 19 different species. These hatchery fish
are stocked throughout lakes and rivers in the state including Trout and Salmon in
Lake Michigan and various Bass throughout the rivers. Dan later mentioned how
much the Clean Water Act that came in effect in 1973 has helped. Upon further
investigation, The Congressionally stated objective of the Act is "to restore and
maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." With
the interim goal of making all waters of the United States fishable and
swimmable. The Clean Water Act has made a huge impact on the soil erosion and
silt in our waters as well as chemical contaminants. With the clean water and
stocking efforts, the fish populations have flourished throughout the state. Dan
stated that not only are the numbers of fish healthy, but we are seeing an
improvement in species diversity and the increase in numbers of sport fish in
particular.
Although the fish population has really improved in the past 30 years, they
still face various impacts the DNR works to minimalize. Dan talked extensively
about the time it takes to combat the Asian carp in the Illinois River. Many people
are aware of the Silver carp or jumping carp as they are the most talked about in
media. However, there are 4 different invasive carp species in Illinois waters
including the Silver, Big Head, Black, and Grass carp. Although carp and our native
sport fish do not compete for the same food source being filter feeders, they still
make a great impact in the food chain. Carp are filter feeders meaning they mostly
eat plankton and sediments in the water. However, they are so big and eat so much
they practically wipe out everything in their paths. Silver Carp can reach up to 39
inches and 60 pounds. They can also eat up to 40% of their body weight a day filter
feeding! Not only do they spawn multiple times a year, but can spawn up to a
million eggs per spawn, all while being able to jump up to 10 feet out of the water.
With the decrease of plankton smaller feeder fish struggle to strive, ultimately

killing off an integral part of the food chain for our native species. Dan said that the
Asian carp is one of their major problems they are facing. The biggest problem is
how much time it takes them to combat this invasive species because of the time it
takes to coordinate with the Fish and Wildlife Service as well as neighboring states.
Dan had also talked shortly about the climate change we are now facing in
Illinois. Although it hasnt made an impact in the numbers or health of our native
fish, it has changed their activity. One of those impacts is the spawning times of
fish. An example would be the spawning times of Bass and Blue Gill. Typically, these
fish spawn around the 3rd week of May. Now we are seeing them spawn in the last
week of April and first week of May in northern waters. A benefit of this early spawn
time is the longer active growing time for our native species creating bigger fish
state wide. However, within the next 30 years this can be problematic. Dan
mentioned that in northern neighboring states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota
they are seeing Bass displace the cold water species such as Walleye. Dan is
concerned about smaller fish in our streams being displaced just like the Walleye
getting displaced by Bass in northern sates.
Lastly, there is always the problem of poaching in Illinois. Dan had stated that
this is not as big of a problem as one might think. He said that it is not really
damaging the fishery. The reason it has not made such a big impact is because our
fisheries are so healthy now compared to prior years. He also believes that the
angling public is fairly conscious and he has seen an increase in anglers obeying
limits as well as preaching catch and release.
Overall, Dan was confident in the health of not only the fish populations but
the condition of the water as well. He believes we can continue the current health of
our water systems by getting young people involved in fishing and preaching the
importance of catch and release. In order to continue our efforts we need to
continue fishing and getting people involved in the recreational activity of fishing.
This is because it is the educated individuals that make a positive impact on the
water and help maintain the healthy population.
I am very excited to have the opportunity to discuss these factors with such
an influential professional in the field with so much experience. Dan gave me plenty
of wisdom and had an answer to everything I threw at him. Before we closed our
discussion he had also given me a lot of advice as I progress into the professional
field. Dan had told me to continue my degree, and in doing so do as many
internships as I can to meet and network as much as I can. Through networking, get
in contact with parks and wildlife areas and talk to site superintendents to find out
what experience I need to set myself apart from the rest of the field. He ended with
that he loves going to work every day, and loving your job is everything.