The Survey Vessel (S/V) Steelhead has operated out of the Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station since 1968 and on March 26, 2008, it broke ice to begin another year of assessing fisheries and aquatic habitats of the Great Lakes. The S/V Steelhead is 62.5 feet long, 16.3 feet in beam width, and has a draft of 6.0 feet. Its hull is welded-steel plate, with 3/8 inch forward and 3/16 inch amidships and aft and has a displacement weight of 70 tons. The S/V Steelhead is the only one of the four State research vessels that uses on-board crew accommodations and is equipped to sample with suspended and bottom gill nets, mid-water and bottom trawls, and hydroacoustic echosounders. The S/V Steelhead operates from March through December, mainly in Lake Michigan although occasionally assisting on other Great Lakes projects.