Concerns about fishing conditions.

[Russ Hunsaker]

There was a short story on the news today attributing the fish kill on the lake could be blamed on the power plants. The numbers they were talking was killing millions upon millions of fish in the cooling water intakes. The numbers on newly hatched fish and fish eggs were in the billions.

It seems like a pretty easy fix to avoid sucking in fish and fish eggs but I guess it's not a priority to the power plants.

Russ

[dreamcatcher]

Mr. Miller,

Generally, the declining walleye population over the past few years is
associated with a couple of things. First, the very large 2003
year-class is aging, and moving through the fishery, and second, we have
had moderate to poor hatches since the large 2003 hatch ('07 and '10
were considered average). In general, however, the walleye population
is still in the 20 million fish range, which is considered a
"maintenance" level. The larger than normal walleye mortality event
that occurred this year was unusual, and probably associated with the
horrible spring weather that we had. We tested several fish for
evidence of viral and bacterial infections that may have been the cause
of the die-off, and samples came back negative, so we believe that the
fish were in a highly stressed state due to the combination of spawning,
and weather, that that opened the door to secondary infections such as
Aeromonas.

I did follow the link you provided below and I see that a whole host of
potential issues have been brought up by the posters. Rather than
address each point with the info that we have, please feel free to call
me at the number below and we can discuss (it would probably take me a
few hours to address all of them in writing....).

Regarding additional spring fishing restrictions, we have been working
extensively in both the tributaries and on the reefs exploring factors
affecting hatch strength over the past decade. As it stands now, we
have no direct evidence that spring fishing is causing the poor hatches,
it appears that it is primarily weather driven. However, we'll continue
to develop science to explore these issues and take whatever management
steps are necessary to ensure that we provide the proper types of
regulations to enhance walleye production.

Thanks for your comments and please give me a call.

Regards,