Quote:
Originally Posted by The Spank
I used to work in the fisheries section of the OMNR years ago doing trap netting and creel surveys on Lake Ni****ing. As the lake received more and more pressure the fish showing up in catches became smaller and smaller to the point fish of about 350-450 grams weight were the average. What was discovered through years of study was that the more pressure the lake received the younger and younger the fish got to reach spawning maturity. The average dropped from 7 years old to 3-4 years old. Though the fish responded to the fishing pressure by spawning at a younger age recruitment of young fish was lower due to the younger spawners not yet reaching their prime and producing the # of eggs a prime fish could. A series of proposals for regulation changes varied from everything from reducing harvest rates to ending ice fishing to disallowing wheeled vehicles on the ice etc., etc.
First applied was a reduction in limit from 6 to 4. That didn't change much if at all? Then came a slot limit. No retention of fish between 40cm & 60cm in length. It didn't take long to see the effects. Within two years the average fish being caught was getting larger. Still for a couple more seasons very few over 60cm were being caught however more and more 40+ were being caught and there was still ALOT of fish under 40 being caught and retained as thats what they wanted the fishermen to keep. The limit was still 4 too. So then something unexpected happened in that the 60+ started to be caught more frequently but during ice fishing primarily? So the question became why were these fish not showing up in open water seasons? So it came to be discovered shortly where these bigger fish were during an index survey dragging seine nets for an invasive species that suddenly started showing up, the spiny water flea. The spiny water flea if you have ever seen them has a tendency to get stuck on fishing lines and people were reporting and asking what this strange stuff was stuck to their lines? Alot of changes were happening in the span of about a decade. The water clarity was improving and as it turned out spiny water fleas eat zooplankton which caused the water clarity to improve. The worry became that baitfish and young gamefish also rely upon zooplankton hence the index survey. Well another change was the perch were getting much larger and much brighter coloured fins etc? The index survey showed that the perch were now suspending in the water column over their deeper summer haunts and gorging thenselves on spiny water fleas. The bigger Walleye in turn were suspending now too and gorging themselves on the Perch. The whole eco-sytem had taken a complete turn in a span of about 15 years and the quality and quantity of fish had improved drastically between environmental changes and regulations. The whole thing is in turmoil again due to overharvesting of the prime spawners thanks to the ON Gov't allowing indegionuos peoples to have free reign even though they have set restrictions but thats another story....slots do work though!
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There are some here who wouldn't believe you, I was arguing with them just a couple weeks ago. I'm very glad you posted this, like moose said, very interesting findings and proof slot sizes work.
Thank you.