A public hearing has been approved for a plan to speed up action when a walleye population is in trouble.
Kari Lee-Zimmermann, Fisheries Regulation and Policy Specialist with the DNR, told the Natural Resources Board recently that putting special protections in place is currently about a two-year process.
They’re looking to allow for faster action.
“We're looking at a walleye lakes of concern where under very specific circumstances, biologists would like to apply a certain regulation to help in the rehabilitation of the walleye fishery,” said Lee-Zimmermann. “The very specific condition under which this would be able to be used is when there's less than 15 young of year, walleye per mile in the shoreline.”
Mark Luehring, Indian Fisheries Section Leader with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, told the board when waters are doing well and fish populations are doing well, everyone is thriving.
However, Luehring says walleye populations are declining.
“It's been a big concern, both of ours and of the Department of Natural Resources, “said Luehring. “What we found in the last few years is that the current processes that we have, have not been adequate to reverse these declines or even slow it. So we keep adding more and more lakes each year that used to be good, naturally reproducing walleye lakes and now are declining.”
Luehring says the current process for implementing special walleye rules is long and onerous.
“When we see walleye populations decline, the DNR biologists aren't able to make regulation changes quickly. And we think that's important for the health of these populations. Because we have good data, we might as well use it right away, if we see populations declining,” said Luehring.
The Natural Resources Board voted in favor of holding a public hearing on rule changes to allow for quicker action on special fishing rules for lakes where walleye populations are not doing well.
