The state has decided to end most salmon stocking in Lake Huron next year. The loss of the popular fishery has been a huge blow to tourist towns along the coast.

But the state officials say there's nothing they can do to bring it back. Fisheries biologists say Lake Huron is just not hospitable to Chinook salmon anymore. The fishery in Lake Huron was wiped out soon after 2003, following major shifts in the food web caused by invasive species.

There's no food salmon like and the young fish the state puts in the lake are eaten by walleye, so Chinook or king salmon will only be stocked in a few rivers next year.

One place the state hopes to keep a decent sport fishery for kings going is the in the Cheboygan River.

Todd Grischke, who manages Lake Huron for the state Department of Natural Resources, says there might be more food for salmon out in the Straits of Mackinac.

"There is the possibility that those fish that are planted there are finding forage that is not available to other parts of the lake to the south," he says. The state has not taken any official surveys of the area.

There are some wild salmon left in Lake Huron, but the DNR believes most of the stocked fish get eaten by walleye.

If Chinook are doing better near Cheboygan, it might be because it's closer to Lake Michigan where there seems to be more food for salmon these days. Anglers on Lake Michigan report a banner year this fall.

Salmon are not native to the Great Lakes, they were introduced from the Pacific Ocean but quickly became the most popular sport fish in the region.