Research Biologist and Station Manager for Lake Huron, Jim Johnson, was honored as the 2015 Dr. Howard A. Tanner Award recipient for his achievements in furthering the understanding of anadromous fish in the Great Lakes.

Jim received his B.S. Degree and M.S. Degree from Michigan State University and after working both for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife Resources as statewide Fisheries Research Coordinator, he returned to Michigan as Research Biologist and Station Manager for Lake Huron.  He has spent twenty five years studying and leading research efforts on Lake Huron becoming an expert on lake trout and their recovery efforts as well as the role stocking and the management of Chinook salmon has on the sport fishery.  His expertise expanded to Lake Whitefish as well. He has accumulated scores of published scientific articles over the years.

One of Jim’s most memorable findings was his documentation of much greater levels of Chinook natural reproduction in Lake Huron via OTC marking than was previously understood.  This helped make sense of the events that lead to the profound food web changes in the early to mid-2000.

Jim has been at the forefront of bringing Lake Huron back from the abyss.  Lake Huron has never looked as good in its come back as it does today; providing a diversity of fishing opportunity not seen in the other Great Lakes.