It’s not just whitefish: 407 Michigan species on brink amid historic die-off

• Lake whitefish are disappearing from much of the Great Lakes, but they’re not alone
• Invasive species, habitat loss and climate change have wiped out dozens of Michigan species and pushed hundreds more to the brink.
• Experts say society can avoid further losses, but it’s going to take political will that has so far proven hard to come by

Before the lake whitefish there was the blue pike, the Arctic grayling and the lake sturgeon.

One went extinct. Another disappeared from Michigan. The third has avoided extinction because regulators and advocates took action before it was too late.

Those three divergent outcomes lay the stakes for lake whitefish and countless other species amid a global biodiversity crisis that leading scientists have described as “unprecedented.”

“The past has shown us that we, as humans, have a lot of impact on the world we live in,” said Michael Monfils, director of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, which monitors the state’s species. 

“We can also make change, and there’s still a lot of opportunity to have a positive impact on what’s here for future generations.”