MACKINAC COUNTY, MI — As once-abundant Great Lakes whitefish slide toward population collapse, biologists are trying something that would have sounded far-fetched a decade ago: hauling live fish upriver and simply letting them go.

This month, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and partner scientists released nearly 200 adult whitefish into the upper Carp River. The “translocation” effort aims to get the fish to do what their ancestors did before the logging era destroyed Michigan river habitat — spawn and produce babies that eventually return on their own.

“We’re trying to get whitefish to imprint in the rivers,” said Matt Herbert, a senior aquatic ecologist with The Nature Conservancy who helped coordinate the project. “Our rivers can produce a lot of fish. Every walleye in

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