Hoping to capitalize on a growing Atlantic salmon fishery, DeTour Village will host its second annual DeTour X Atlantic Salmon Derby Saturday, June 2, with a shotgun start at 6 a.m. The derby will end at 4 p.m. Eighty-five percent of registration fees will be paid out in prizes, and remaining funds will be donated to the DeTour community fish cleaning station.

The entry fee is $50 per boat. Contestants must drop off coolers or fish boxes containing Atlantic salmon between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the DeTour Village marina. Coolers will be sealed until the public weigh-in at 5 p.m., also at the marina. Contestants and the public can watch the weigh in and participate in a barbecue and beverages that will be offered for a donation.

"This should be another fun event this year," said coordinator Gary Dudeck. "We hope to increase the number of participants by running the event one week earlier than last year for better fishing and to avoid overlap with other local derbies."

A growing Atlantic salmon fishery based in the St. Marys River was started by fisheries students at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. By planting the salmon for a number of years, Mr. Dudeck said, students are creating another fishing opportunity for anglers who visit the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

"We want to make sure people are aware of it, and let them know it's a real up-and-coming fishery here," Mr. Dudeck said. "That's the reason we started this derby last year, and it was pretty successful."

The first-time derby in 2006 attracted 23 boats, and paid out approximately $1,000 in prize money. Entry fees and food donations raised approximately $350 that was donated to the fish cleaning station, which provides a place for people to clean and freeze catches from northern Lake Huron and the St. Marys River.

Similar to last year, the top three Atlantic salmon will win the first, second, and third place prizes, and the largest combined weight caught on one boat will win a prize.

Derby information is available at the following sponsoring businesses: Marinelock LLC, River Bend Resort, and North Country Sports, all in DeTour Village. Entry forms and rules are at North Country Sports.