The Red Lake Walleye Story

The Red Lake Walleye Story. . , The Red Lakes have a long history of walleye production that supported a successful commercial fishery, a constant subsistence fishery, a popular sport fishery, as well as provided a source of walleye eggs for introducing or enhancing walleye populations in other lakes throughout Minnesota., 1. Commercial Fishing , In the early 1900s, the State of Minnesota operated a commercial fishery on Red Lake., 2. Sport Fishing , The 48,000 acres of Upper Red Lake open to non-reservation anglers represents one of the largest and best walleye lakes in Minnesota., 3. Fish Hatcheries , State fish hatcheries at Redby and Waskish utilized the abundant source of walleye eggs from spawning runs in the Blackduck and Tamarac Rivers. Since walleye were sustained by natural reproduction, these hatcheries were not intended to maintain the Red Lake population. The surplus of eggs were used to propagate walleye elsewhere., 4. Modern Technology and Over-Fishing , Over time, it may have been our technological improvements that eventually resulted in the collapse of the fishery. At one time the vast size of these lakes probably provided the best protection from over harvest. Small wooden rowboats and early outboard motors were no match for the dangerous winds and waves a lake of this size produces., 5. Boom / Bust Cycles , By the 1970s, the walleye population fluctuated widely. This cyclic pattern is described as a "boom and bust" fishery. A boom condition creates the false impression of an excellent fishery and masks the dangerous instability of a population with reproduction totally dependent on the maturing of occasional dominant age classes. It is difficult to be convinced of the need to restrict harvest levels during bust conditions after experiencing record harvests during boom conditions only a couple of years earlier!, 6. The Collapse , In the early 1990s, the boom/bust cycle was finally broken when the last dominant walleye year class was harvested before it had a chance to replace itself., 7. The Crappie Boom , The exceptional 1995 black crappie year class benefited from the lack of predation and competition to, at least temporarily, become the dominant game fish species in Red Lake. Unfortunately the crappie fishery that developed, primarily dependent on one exceptional year class, could not be expected to last. Environmental factors rather than over harvest were stacked against the sustainability of this fishery., 8. Was the collapse preventable? , The largest obstacle to preventing the eventual collapse of this fisher was a split in jurisdictional authority over a common resource. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources had management authority for off-reservation waters and the Red Lake Band (under the authority of the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs) controlled harvest on reservation waters. Without a collaborative agreement and cooperative sharing of information, independent management efforts on either side of an imaginary line were ineffective., 9. The Recovery Plan , The Red Lake Walleye Recovery Plan, officially signed and implemented in 1999, consisted of , , total suspension of walleye harvest , , enhanced enforcement efforts , , aggressive fry stocking , The ultimate goal is to achieve complete recovery to a healthy self-sustaining population with no need for additional maintenance stocking in the future., 10. What is Being Done to Prevent Future Collapse? , Once harvest is resumed, safe harvest levels need to be identified and strictly enforced. Continued cooperation between agencies will be crucial in developing effective regulations as well as enforcing compliance., 11. Looking Ahead... , As he begin the new century, the status of the walleye recovery is very optimistic. Two fry stocking efforts in 1999 and 2001 were very successful, with good survival. As more and more of these young walleye mature, egg production will again reach levels adequate to replace natural mortality as well as sustain a safe level of harvest., , Frequently Asked Questions. , Since the crappie boom created such a popular fishery, why not just manage the lake for crappie?, There are some very distinct biological differences that give walleye and advantage over crappie in the Red Lakes. It is no coincidence that the fish species most common in this community (walleye) spawn by casting their eggs over suitable habitat and deserting them. Nest building species such as bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed and crappie are at a disadvantage in large, shallow, wind-swept basins. These species are much more successful in smaller lakes protected from wind., The excellent 1995 crappie year class proved that, under optimal conditions, crappies can beat the odds. A combination of low predator abundance and optimal spawning and/or nursery conditions probably contributed to their success. Actively managing for crappie would require an attempt to duplicate the same 1995 conditions that existed in nature, an impossible undertaking!, If millions of eggs were removed from the Red Lakes for stocking other lakes, didn't that contribute to the collapse of the walleye population?, The spawning method walleye use, scattering eggs over suitable habitat and then allowing them to incubate unattended, results in very low hatch rates. This is not a problem with natural walleye populations since they compensate by producing far more eggs than are expected to hatch. Fish culturists have long capitalized on this surplus of eggs produced by collecting a portion of the production and greatly improving the rate of hatch. Common practice returns a portion (generally about 10%) of the eggs taken as fry back to the parent lake. This results in a net increase in fry since only about 1% of those eggs would hatch naturally., ,

"1927 letter from Ranger L. J. Noyes". , F-Education , District #11 , Waskish, Minnesota , May 14, 1927, Editor of Smoke Screen , Old State Capitol, M , St. Paul, Minnesota., Dear Sir:, I have an item that may be of some interest to readers of the Smoke Screen regarding the taking of fish spawn from the Tamarac River at Waskish., The Fish and Game department had a crew of from six to eight men under the direction of Hugo Hensel of Redby and spent about twenty days here at Waskish. In this time (they) took about 93,000 pike (walleye) from the nets which netted them 620 quarts of fish spawn or equivalent to 50,000,000 pike eggs., This is the first time they have attempted to take spawn from the Tamarac River. In totaling up the spawn from other places they found that they received as much spawn as from all the field stations combined. In fact, every catch from the Tamarac River was a record catch. One morning on raising the net they found they had 20,000 pike in the net not including rough fish., I believe this to be a good argument against the popular belief that fish in Red Lake are about to be depleted., Perhaps Mr. Gould could add to this somewhat., Yours very truly, , L. J. Noyes, Ranger