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| Lake Erie walleye limit in peril as international group cuts quotas for 2009 |
| Written by Cleveland Plain Dealer | |||
| Wednesday, 25 March 2009 19:13 | |||
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Ohio sport anglers and Ontario commercial fishermen were allocated about 30 percent fewer walleye for 2009 by the international Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission at its annual meeting Tuesday. The lake-wide allowable yellow perch harvest was increased by almost 20 percent. Fisheries officials around Lake Erie, including the Ohio Division of Wildlife, have been studying the spawning woes of walleye for decades. They're still looking for answers. Ohio manages the vast walleye spawning grounds of Western Lake Erie, including reefs along the Ohio shoreline and the Maumee and Sandusky rivers, the major spawning rivers of the spring season. Ohio will have to examine reducing the walleye bag limit on Lake Erie to stay within the LEC guidelines. Ohio has a Lake Erie limit of six walleye per day, with a reduced spring limit of four walleye from March 1 to April 30. The 2009 walleye fishing regulations are in place and printed in the DOW digest. The 2009 walleye fishing regulations are in place and printed in the DOW digest. Citing poor walleye reproduction over the past five years, the LEC cut the lake wide allowable walleye catch for 2009 to 2.45 million fish, down from 3.6 million walleye in 2008. Fishermen harvested an estimated 2.9 million walleye last year, about 77 percent of the LEC allocation. The walleye population in Lake Erie, estimated at 100 million fish about 20 years ago, was put at 18.4 million walleye for 2009 by the LEC. It is expected to decline to 15.7 million walleye in 2010. There was a record-setting Lake Erie walleye hatch in 2003 that buoyed the fishery. However, the 2002, 2004 and 2006 hatches were listed as weak, 2005 and 2008 were below average and 2007 was considered moderate. Ohio sports anglers are allocated 1.25 million walleye for 2009. Ontario, which gives its quota to its commercial fishery, gets 1.06 million walleye and Michigan .14 million. The LEC estimated an increase in yellow perch numbers, boosting the recommended harvest from 10.2 million pounds in 2008 to 12 million pounds this year. While walleye are managed by numbers of fish, yellow perch management figures are presented in pounds of fish. Ontario gets the most perch, at 5.7 million pounds, followed by Ohio's 5.3-million pound allocation. Michigan was allocated .19 million pounds, New York .14 million pounds and Pennsylvania .69 million pounds. Ohio officials decreased the sport and commercial yellow perch harvest in the Western Basin of Lake Erie in 2008 to protect perch populations. The DOW halted Ohio commercial fishing for yellow perch around Western Lake Erie, and trimmed the daily sport bag limit from 30 to 25 perch west of Huron. The estimated perch harvest in 2008 was 8.33 million pounds, or 82 percent of the total allowable catch.
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