walleye and perch limits 2017 increase!

[dirtball]

Total Allowable Catch(TAC) is an agreed upon number of maximum harvest levels for the whole of Lake Erie. That TAC is then broken down further into the number that is allowed in each of the areas that are under the jurisdiction of the States of Ohio, Michigan, Pa, New York and the Providence of Ontario. It is based upon the scientific approach to determining the total population of the desired species of fish(Perch and Walleyes).

The ODNR has to wait until the TAC figures are released before they can set the daily creel limits for the upcoming season. That is why they usually wait until the calendar has ran out on the 4 fish limit during the spawn before releasing the current years daily limits. It gives the Lake Erie committee the needed time to set the TAC for the coming year, then after those numbers are released the ODNR can either leave the limit the same or reduce the limit if the Ohio Quota falls under a certain level. In reality the ODNRs hands are tied and they must follow the law as written, they do not have any options on this subject it has already been predetermined.

The daily bag limit for walleyes is set in stone and is law as it was passed by the state legislature. It is determine by the amount of the TAC that is allotted to Ohio by the GLFC(Great Lakes Fish Commission). As written the maximum number of Walleyes allowed in Ohio cannot exceed 6 per day during the regular season and 4 per day during the spawn. The daily limit can and will be reduced in direct relation to the TAC(Quota) allotted to Ohio. Those numbers have been predetermined and if the numbers fall into any of the lower brackets the limits will be reduced accordingly. Here is a copy of the chart that was released when the law as it is today was written. It was originally a proposal and it was adopted into the law by the state Legislature.



I can never remember when Ohio has reached their TAC quota allotment on Walleyes. Ontario on the other hand almost always reach their quotas of the TAC for both species simply because their side is geared more to the Commercial Fishing industry for both perch and walleyes. Ohio allows the use of trap nets for the commercial harvest of Perch but walleyes are totally off limits to the commercial fishing industry in the Ohio waters of lake Erie.

FYI Walleye and Yellow Perch Have Changed Beginning May 1, 2017
Updated limits will be announced through a news release, and a publication with updated limits for walleye and yellow perch will be available at wildlife district offices and license outlets beginning in April.

[wakina]

FYI Walleye and Yellow Perch Have Changed Beginning May 1, 2017
Updated limits will be announced through a news release, and a publication with updated limits for walleye and yellow perch will be available at wildlife district offices and license outlets beginning in April.

Yes the TAC went up! No one is arguing that Fact. But the daily limit will not go up! The daily limits are set in a predetermined way and are based on the TAC numbers.

An more educated statement would have been along the lines of~~ FYI Walleye and Yellow Perch limits will be released before May 1, 2017 just as they have been for at least the past 10 years.

FYI The ODNR cannot release or set the daily limit until the Lake Erie Fish commission releases their numbers for TAC and the allotted amounts for each state and Ontario, those numbers are released in late march. Those numbers determine what the limit will be and the ODNR by legislated law must follow the guidelines set forth in the chart. That is why every year at the end of the current limit year which runs from May 1 to April 30 they release the new limits as determined in the provided chart and limits must be in place by the start of the new limit year which is May 1. There is no provision in the current legislated law to raise the limit above 6 walleyes per day even if the Ohio allotted amount would be 100 million walleyes. As I stated the ODNR hands are tied.

[wakina]

You are right, so I went back and checked my email and sure enough it was received last Saturday. LOL, I guess I need to be a little more aware and check my email more often.

[West Basin]

Here is some added information for all, straight from ODW.

The Ohio fishery (walleye) population is estimated by two main methods; a yearlong creel survey and fall trawl surveys. The creel survey is several ODW employees (usually college students or recent fisheries graduates) who travel the shoreline in zones or sections and ask fisherman when they return from fishing how many walleye they caught and hours fished. The trawl survey is run in the late summer and fall. They run the trawls yearly in preset locations and count the YOY (young of year) walleye they catch in the net.

The commercial fishery is also included. They are required to keep records of their catch. Not applicable for Ohio for walleye as we have no walleye commercial fishery.

The data from these sources and others is combined with data from all the Lake Erie partners (Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) in the Great Lakes Fishery Commission ( http://www.glfc.org/ ) and using scientific fisheries formulas they come up with a Lake wide population number. From this estimate the overall Lake harvest and individual member quotas are then determined for the season.

Each partner sets how they want to allocate their allowance. Some, like Ontario, allocate most of it to commercial fishing. Ohio on the other hand allocates our allowance completely to the recreational fishery.

The yearly limit for the allocation change is 20%, meaning no matter what the data says the allowable harvest can’t go up or down by more than 20% of last years allowance.

The walleye daily bag limits were done legislatively because the commission thought that was the best way to standardize the process. Legislatively it can be raised if circumstances warrant so, but it would take some time to do so (legislature vote). This is more of a long term act, not something that would probably happen as a result of one or probably even two year's population estimates.

Lake Erie walleye management plan 2015-2019:
http://www.glfc.org/lakecom/lec/LEC_...gment_plan.pdf

Lake Erie Walleye Task Group:
http://www.glfc.org/lakecom/lec/WTG.htm

Lake Erie Yellow Perch Task Group:
http://www.glfc.org/lakecom/lec/YPTG.htm

[West Basin]

Fisher_i_am – read my previous post below, it tells how ODW estimates the recreational catch on Lake Erie.

Fisheries Management have several options to use to increase or decrease recreational fish species catches, or otherwise manage a fishery, besides daily bag limits. They include establishing open and closed seasons; open and closed sections of the waterway; daily time restrictions (night and day usually); fishing method (artificial or live bait for example); size limits (above 15 inches for example); and slot limits (can’t keep fish between 10 and 15 inches in length), amount others. Even if they can’t raise or lower the creel limit (daily bag), ODW has methods to use to increase or decrease the potential number of walleye caught. Whether or not they use any of these tools depends on the situation in the fishery being managed.

One of the biggest factors in Lake Erie is weather. The more days of bad weather (especially windy), especially on weekends, the lower the potential yearly catch will be simply because there were less hours fished. The ice fishing season also has a significant effect. Three winters ago we had a very long and stable ice fishing season which resulted in a lot more overall fishing on the Lake, increasing the potential total catch. This last winter we had no ice fishing, thus no winter increase in the total hours fished, which will likely reduce the potential total yearly catch.

A lot goes into both the effect on and estimating Lake Erie’s Walleye and other fish species populations. A fishery population in a body of water the size of and as dynamic as Lake Erie is very difficult to predict, or estimate. ODW and their counterparts in the other States and Ontario do a pretty good job, and technology and increased knowledge potentially make their estimates more accurate over time.

[wakina]

Fisher_i_am – read my previous post below, it tells how ODW estimates the recreational catch on Lake Erie.

Fisheries Management have several options to use to increase or decrease recreational fish species catches, or otherwise manage a fishery, besides daily bag limits. They include establishing open and closed seasons; open and closed sections of the waterway; daily time restrictions (night and day usually); fishing method (artificial or live bait for example); size limits (above 15 inches for example); and slot limits (can’t keep fish between 10 and 15 inches in length), amount others. Even if they can’t raise or lower the creel limit (daily bag), ODW has methods to use to increase or decrease the potential number of walleye caught. Whether or not they use any of these tools depends on the situation in the fishery being managed.

One of the biggest factors in Lake Erie is weather. The more days of bad weather (especially windy), especially on weekends, the lower the potential yearly catch will be simply because there were less hours fished. The ice fishing season also has a significant effect. Three winters ago we had a very long and stable ice fishing season which resulted in a lot more overall fishing on the Lake, increasing the potential total catch. This last winter we had no ice fishing, thus no winter increase in the total hours fished, which will likely reduce the potential total yearly catch.

A lot goes into both the effect on and estimating Lake Erie’s Walleye and other fish species populations. A fishery population in a body of water the size of and as dynamic as Lake Erie is very difficult to predict, or estimate. ODW and their counterparts in the other States and Ontario do a pretty good job, and technology and increased knowledge potentially make their estimates more accurate over time.

I would like to point out that the Ice Fishing season good or bad goes toward the previous years catch TAC numbers ! Example had there been enough ice for the ice fishermen to get out and catch walleyes or perch this year (2017) those calculated totals would have already been included in the 2016 year since the new regulations for bag limits and the TAC run from May 1 to April 30.

[imrsmk]

I believe they released them Monday. Here is the link: http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/wildlife...ws-for-anglers