stocking the bay

wulf · **Joined:** Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:51 pm **Posts:** 22

There are at least 4 excellent fish hatcheries on the BOQ right now. These are the Trent, the Moira, the Salmon, and the Napanee Rivers. All have dams on them below which fish of many species congregate each spring to spawn. We need to ensure that when the fish get there they are safe,
that they have proper spawning beds and that there is sufficient water volume for them to do their thing. Non of these criteria are being met right now.
Let,s make sure what we have is working as well as it can befor considering alternatives.

GHoroky · **Joined:** Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:48 am **Posts:** 25

Prime spawning females are 19"-24" any protection of the plus 25" fish is misdirected. Please look at the discussion board at OHIO STATE SEA GRANT and read the posts by Fred Synder, who is one of the most repected guys in the field. For anyone interested in this or related subjects this website is a god send. Just search ohio state sea grant and find the discussion board and get answers based on science and experience. These people have both not just the science.
In a nut shell young females produce good viable young. Old females produce less viable off spring. It is the same with apple trees, cattle, humans, etc. Just because the 13 1/2 pounder is filled with eggs doesn't mean she will spawn successfully and chances are she won't. About 1 in a thousand eggs survive even healthy young females. The older ones just are not successful.
Also this web site is full of nice to know facts about growth rates, walleye and perch, spawning trawl census and alike.
Please look and get the facts right from the horse's mouth.
Sincerely
Greg

steve-hamilton · **Joined:** Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:40 am **Posts:** 1776

i'd like to see you ONLY be able to keep a fish less than 19"

no need for a fish over 25"s

tuftsb · **Joined:** Sun Nov 10, 2002 2:44 pm **Posts:** 10

Greg,
Thanks for the tip on the Ohio State Sea Grant site. Looks like it has lots of interesting information. However, I think you want to be a little careful how you interpret some of it, especially for others. Releasing fish over 25 inches on Quinte is not misdirected. The vast majority of the eggs from those fish are indeed viable and the big females produce a lot more eggs than smaller females. Those big fish are also a very important component of the gene pool because they represent the "best fit" for that environment in terms of natural selection.
I'm a fisheries scientist (on holidays this week fishing the Bay and chatting on this site) that also has first hand experience conducting research on Quinte walleye. Please trust me on this one because a lot of people may view this discussion. Returning those big females is a good conservation strategy. BT

GHoroky · **Joined:** Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:48 am **Posts:** 25

I'll stand corrected if required. I've been a student of the walleye game for more than 35 years and through that time almost every law or rule about the life of the walleye has been turned on it's head and reversed. My question about catch and release of big Quinte walleye is. Where is the research on the survival rate of the big fish that are released? We have had private conversations about what others and I have personally experienced. In private, we admit that many of these fish probably won't survive, but publicly in forums such as this we talk of the advantages of catch and release.
In life I say, Never say never and never say always.
I can go on for hours about what I have seen across the U.S. and Canada visiting the "Walleye Capitals of the World". Without a doubt everyone of these Capitals think that the rules apply to everyone else's fishery but their's is different because their fish are different. We role our eyes back then smile and say "You're right" just to be polite and not to be accused as being a know it all smart___.
Sincerely
Greg

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stocking the bay

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