Great Lakes Blue Pike May Not Be Extinct After All

Biologists say the Great Lakes blue pike, declared extinct more than 20 years ago, may not be gone for good after all.

Just a generation ago, the blue pike was a staple of fish fry dinners in western New York and accounted for the majority of commercial catches from Lake Erie. But in 1975 the blue pike was declared extinct after years of extensive fishing and pollution made it disappear from the Great Lakes region, its only known habitat.

Now evidence suggests that stocks of the blue pike may have survived in northern Canadian lakes, raising hope the fish could someday be returned to Lake Erie.

“That is not farfetched. I would say it’s a much better chance than buying a lottery ticket,” said Dieter Busch, head of the federal government’s Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Office, located in this Buffalo suburb.

No fish has yet taken over the ecological niche occupied by the blue pike, which is smaller--and old-timers say tastier--than the yellow pike, or walleye, which is common today.

“The blue pike is a cousin to the walleye, as is the sauger,” Busch said. “They’re all part of the perch family.”

Busch began to suspect that blue pikes weren’t extinct after hearing stories from fishermen who traveled north and seeing brochures from a Canadian fishing camp promising “both yellows and blues.”

Anglers have brought in samples of what Busch calls the “blue pike suspects” for DNA testing, but finding a genetic sample from an old pike for comparison has been difficult.