Walleye Stocking Leads to Recovery

Fishy Fridays

Weekly spotlight on fisheries science journal articles

 

Jeff Kopaska
AFS Executive Director
[email protected]

A new week, a new AFS Chapter Meeting attended. I had the pleasure of representing AFS at Minnesota Chapter Meeting this week. As I stated last week, chapter meetings are one of my favorite aspects of AFS, so having the opportunity to visit even more of them now in my position as AFS Executive Director is wonderful.

Today’s paper is a shout out to Minnesota DNR fisheries staff, and Minnesota AFS Chapter award winner Dale Logsdon. Dale, recently retired, received the Dennis Schupp Award of Excellence, the most prestigious award granted by the Minnesota Chapter. It is bestowed upon up to one individual each year who personifies exceptional professionalism in natural resources and fisheries. The candidate will have spent the better part or all of a career in which they have demonstrated dedication beyond their regular duties, a substantial skill set, a collection of impactful achievements, and consistent support for the Minnesota Chapter.

The paper is a review of the Walleye recovery efforts and assessment for Red Lakes, MN. The Walleye population was overfished to the point that natural recruitment was no longer adequate, and stocking was required to enhance the recovery. A variety of techniques were used to determine the relative contributions of stocking and natural reproduction, and stocking was discontinued once broodstock recovery occurred. I think this is a great example of adaptive management. Enjoy, and keep up the good work everyone!

https://doi.org/10.1080/02755947.2016.1167143