The walleye-stocking debate

By Gord Ellis

Walleye have been stocked in Ontario since the turn of the century. In fact, some of our richest fisheries were created by introducing walleye where no native populations existed. A growing demand for these fish, however, has led to calls to introduce them into more lakes and for additional stocking where populations are thought to be depleted.

Despite public pressure, increased walleye stocking has not been a Ministry of Natural Resources priority. If anything, particularly in lakes with native or naturalized populations, it's been seen as potentially detrimental. This has led to friction between walleye anglers and the ministry, and many private clubs have taken matters into their own hands and built fry hatcheries and ponds with their own time and money.

In 1992, MNR developed recommendations for future walleye management. Stocking was identified as being in need of review. The ministry wanted guidelines that would help staff decide when stocking walleye was "a legitimate biological and cost-effective technique."

The outcome was a report called An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Walleye Stocking, Genetic, and Stocking Assessment References. It summarized the meeting of the Walleye Stocking Working Group, which developed 48 recommendations about walleye stocking that could be used as guidelines by MNR and private groups working under the Community Fisheries Involvement Programme (CFIP). The MNR working group supported walleye stocking as a management tool to rehabilitate degraded stocks and to create new fisheries where appropriate. The group felt walleye stocking to provide put-and-take fishing should be a low priority, to be used only where it was cost effective. Stocking on top of native walleye populations was not recommended.

MNR's White Lake hatchery is the only government facility regularly raising walleye for stocking in Ontario. The hatchery opened in 1934 and was primarily used to raise eyed-eggs and walleye fry. Since the early 1970s, the hatchery has worked on developing methods of using dried food to raise walleye to fingerling size. Fingerlings have better survival rates than fry, but growing them requires intensive fish culture. "The major problem with raising walleye is cannibalism," said White Lake Operations Co-ordinator Bill See. "If they don't have the diet they like, they'll eat each other."

White Lake's walleye target is about 60,000 fingerlings per year. Eggs collected from either Hay Bay on the Bay of Quinte or Lake Simcoe's Talbot River are hatched and about 240,000 fry are put into outdoor ponds. Due to cannibalism and other mortality, only about 120,000 young walleye are left after six weeks. They're brought indoors and raised in cones- containers that each hold about 1,000 gallons (4,000 l) of water. The fish are fed a high-protein dry food. As fall approaches, about 60,000 fingerlings weighing about one ounce (15 gm) and measuring 3 inches (10 cm) remain, ready to be stocked. Demand for them is high. See says White Lake doesn't produce enough to satisfy all areas in the province.

Enter Scott Martin. He's the founder and president of Walleye Fisherman of Ontario. This new group's primary focus is walleye stocking and restoration. Martin admits he's never raised a fish himself, but has read all the materials and seen how it's done from a private-hatchery standpoint. He was inspired to start the walleye stocking group after hearing his father talk about how good fishing was in the old days. He wants those good old days to come back. "I've pretty much devoted myself to walleye restoration," he said. "I want to see more walleye in our lakes."

To reach his goal, Martin has entered into a partnership with MNR and James Dick Construction Limited. The agreement will allow the Walleye Fisherman of Ontario to culture 60,000 more fingerlings for government restocking and rehabilitation purposes in the year 2000. Martin says James Dick, a die-hard angler from Caledon, will allow the group to raise walleye in a gravel pit owned by his company. The property has eight isolated ponds, some in excess of 100 acres (40.5 ha). There will be no charge to the walleye fisherman for use of the ponds. Fry for the project will come from clubs that already have bell-jar hatcheries. A bait dealer will supply for free the thousands of minnows necessary to feed the young walleye.

Martin plans to use a rearing system perfected by Bob and Wade Leonard of Hartington, north of Kingston. The father and son team started a walleye hatchery in 1986 with the help of CFIP money and a few volunteers. The plan was to stock 7,000-acre (2,835-ha) Bobs Lake to boost its declining walleye fishery. In the first year of production a technique was pioneered for raising large minnow-fed walleye. The Leonards were soon able to produce walleye that were double the weight of similar-aged fingerlings from the White Lake hatchery. Bobs Lake was stocked with the minnow-fed walleye, and 2 years later anglers were reaping the benefits. A 1997 study on the lake showed that a lot of those original stocked walleye are still in the fishery.

"The survival of our fall fingerlings is 85 per cent," said Wade Leonard. "Fall fingerlings from White Lake have a survival of about 1 per cent. The dry-food fish just aren't as prepared for the wild as our fish." At present, the Leonards' fall walleye fingerlings average 5 to 7 inches (15 to 20 cm) in length and weigh about 1 ounce (30 gm).

Despite the Leonards' excellent walleye production - they crank out between 25,000 and 50,000 fall fingerlings per year - their hatchery is now run as a private business. The government hasn't purchased any of their fingerlings for stocking. While cottage groups and clubs can buy fall fingerlings from the Leonards for $3 each, and stock them with MNR approval, the same CFIP funds that started their hatchery cannot be used to purchase fish for stocking.

"The MNR has a shortfall of 300,000 to 400,000 fish per year," said Wade Leonard. "And we've got a good product. We've expanded to be able to produce a lot of fish for government programmes when the time opens up, but we haven't seen that come to fruition."

Although the Leonards can't seem to sell their fish to the province, Scott Martin's group received $15,000 from MNR's protection and enhancement fund to start a new hatchery from scratch. Martin said the money will go to purchase seine nets, soybean meal (for seeding ponds with zooplankton), and possibly hatchery equipment.

Wade Leonard says he wouldn't be raising walleye if it weren't for the original CFIP grant. But he added that continually spending government money on new volunteer hatchery programmes comes at the expense of commercial walleye hatcheries like his that are already up and running. He also believes that the concept of stocking "free walleye" via a volunteer hatchery sends the wrong message to anglers. "We're worried about the investment of money into something that will ultimately reduce the value of the fish to zero," he said. "When people pay to put walleye in a lake, their attitude about those fish changes."

Martin sees it differently. He says many cottage associations and clubs can't afford to buy walleye fingerlings from a private hatchery, but they can donate time and energy to raise their own. "I'm fielding calls on a regular basis from cottagers, lodges, and anglers," he said. "They say, 'I buy my fishing licence, why aren't we getting fish?' " He says that running a hatchery doesn't give him or anyone else control over where those fish go. "If the MNR says a lake can't be stocked, it can't be," said Martin. "I can't sway the decision to either side."

While there seems to be increasing co-operation between MNR and groups like Martin's, questions still remain about the long-term effects of walleye stocking. Many fisheries scientists believe that stocking creates the possibility of genetic dilution. They argue that planting domestic walleye, especially larger fingerlings that have a high survival rate, on top of native fish might create competition between the stocks.

"Stocking is a tool for rehabilitation," said Dr. John Casselman, senior research scientist for MNR's Glenora Research station. "But we should be careful to maintain the walleye populations we have. The more we handle this fish, the more we rear it under artificial conditions, the less suited they are to the natural environment." Casselman says fish managers and private clubs need to be clear as to why a lake is being stocked and should be careful about stocking where it isn't needed. He also questions the "bigger-is-better" stocking theory, particularly when it comes to the rehabilitation of walleye in a lake .

"If you are creating a put-and-take fishery, then you want to stock big fish that have a low mortality and high return to the angler," he said. "If you want to rehabilitate, you really don't want them to be removed. Larger fish will survive better, but maybe they won't be the best qualified for that environment.

"Walleye populations in a lake naturally go up and down," he continued. "And if you get a couple of bad year-classes, that will affect angler success. It probably takes three generations to replace a stock. Three generations may be 15 years. We have to be a bit patient. But human nature isn't patient.

"Fish culture is artificial," he concluded. "And you have to look at it like that."