Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Research Report No. 1882, 1980
Institute for Fisheries Research 1930-1980
Fifty Years of Fisheries
Investigations
W.C. Latta
The Institute for Fisheries Research was established on February 7, 1930, by the University of
Michigan Board of Regents. In 1973, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the beginning
of fisheries management in Michigan, Gerald P. Cooper, then supervisor of fisheries research in
the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, prepared a history of fisheries research. His
accounts of people, activities, and accomplishments for the Institute are so complete and recent
that I am including them here rather than preparing another report (page 8).
However, in the 7 years since 1973 there have been some changes in fisheries research. In 1974,
the Grayling Pathology Laboratory and the Hastings Fisheries Research Station were closed. Fish
disease studies were dropped and the staff reassigned outside of research. A pathologist was
transferred to the Wolf Lake Hatchery at Mattawan to work with hatchery biologists in control
of disease problems. The Hastings staff was also transferred to Wolf Lake Hatchery but
continued to work on research projects. In 1976, Gerald P. Cooper retired and I took his place.
Included in this anniversary volumes is a list of students (page 15) supported either as employees
or fellows while they completed graduate studies in fisheries for a Master's or Doctor's degree.
(Cooper explains in the following excerpt the mechanics of the Institute fellowships.) In 50 years
the Institute has supported, guided, and benefitted from 42 Master and 39 Doctoral students. Of
the 81 graduate students supported, 22 are or were career employees with the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources.
The Institute is undoubtedly judged as to its worth on the number and quality of its publications
more than any other thing. In 50 years the Institute staff and students have published 476
scientific or popular articles or 9.5 per year. A list of published articles is included here
(page 22). Perusal of this list shows that almost every aspect of freshwater fisheries management
has been considered sometime in the past. In addition to the published reports, the Institute
biologists have prepared 1,877 in-house fisheries reports for the use of management and from which
many of the published articles have evolved.
During the 50 years, there have been four supervisors of fisheries research--Carl L. Hubbs, 1930-35;
Albert S. Hazzard, 1935-55; Gerald P. Cooper, 1955-1976; and William C. Latta, 1976 to present
(Figure 1). Unfortunately both Hubbs and Hazzard died in 1979. The present research staff,
grouped by research station, is pictured in Figure 2, and some representative staffs of the past
are shown in Figure 3.
Fisheries research in Michigan has thrived. In the early years, the Institute was a unique
organization for there were few biological groups in the country who addressed fisheries problems.
However, with growth of the fisheries profession, more states and universities developed fisheries
research staff. Today the Institute is only one of many fisheries research groups, but it has
had an illustrious history and, hopefully, it will have an outstanding future.