Derek LaVigne
5/2/2011
At the 2011 Conservation Congress Spring Hearing in Wisconsin a question on the ballet asked voters if they were in favor of raising walleye, sauger, and all hybrid bag limits to a minimum-length size limit of 18 inches and lower daily bag limits to three fish per person in 19 counties in the lower portion of the state. This provides anglers with fewer opportunities to harvest walleyes in these counties. With walleyes being the most sought after game fish species in the state, it comes to me as a shock that majority rule voted to pass this regulation. In fact, 51 counties supported the idea, with only 17 counties rejecting it. Could this be a shift in ideology from the meat hungry anglers of the past to the sustainable anglers of the future?
In many of the 19 counties in the state, walleye lakes are being sustained solely by WDNR stocking efforts. This means that many of the lakes in this region lack natural reproduction of walleyes and saugers. Although northern Wisconsin has a higher density of walleye lakes, the southern portion has numerous rivers and bodies of water that can be considered good walleye lakes. However, with most of these lakes being put-grow-take fisheries, sustaining healthy walleye populations can be a tricky, expensive, and time consuming task. A put-grow-take fishery consists of a lake with no natural reproduction where juvenile and adult walleyes are grown at different facilities and stocked into the water for the sole purpose of growing and being harvested. This means that funds, usually provided by the state, are being used to fulfill the needs of walleye anglers instead of compliment mother nature.
In this lower portion of the state walleyes don’t seem to thrive like they do in northern Wisconsin. This can be attributed to numerous reasons like competition from centrachid species, water temperature, boat traffic, forage base, and eutrophication. It is important that the WDNR do something with regulations to protect the fisheries that are already in place. If nothing is being done, more money will be wasted on stocking efforts for put-grow-take fisheries and also in supplemental stocking on water bodies that can’t sustain natural populations due to high harvest rates. However, with the already bad reputation the WDNR has, it is extremely difficult to convince the public that more regulation is needed.
The new walleye regulation will restrict walleye anglers to three walleyes per day. Common sense would leave me to believe this would be an unpopular idea among most anglers. However, the results show just the opposite. Anglers are in favor of harvesting fewer walleyes in order to preserve future fishing opportunities. They are also in favor of having higher length limits which mean an elevated of catch per unit effort will have to be used in order to harvest a legal fish. I would be willing to bet that ten to fifteen years ago this regulation would be strongly shot down, but honestly, I am pleased with the results.
If this is an indication a newer, less greedy generation of anglers, everyone who enjoys fishing will benefit. There is nothing wrong with harvesting fish, but it is important to do so with a watchful eye on the future. Generally anglers have a reputation for destroying fisheries, but this could be a step in the right direction. It could represent a shift in ideology that could provide even better angling opportunities and reduced spending by everyone! And remember please practice catch and release!
