Nipissing Walleye fishery in 'crisis': OFAH

[kickingfrog]

http://www.nugget.ca/2012/08/01/walleye-fishery-in-crisis-ofah

 

Walleye fishery in 'crisis': OFAH

 

By JENNIFER HAMILTON-MCCHARLES, The Nugget

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:06:51 EDT PM

 

 

Lake Nipissing's walleye population has reached an all-time low.

 

That's the latest information according to a Ministry of Natural Resources review of data collected between 1967 to 2011.

 

A summary of the review indicates walleye numbers are half of what they were in the 1980s. It further states fishing is putting pressure on the fishery, which is in a vulnerable state.

 

“The abundance of walleye has declined to its lowest level and may continue to decline in the future,” the MNR states.

 

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is putting the blame on First Nations gill netting and calling for the immediate suspension of such activity.

 

Terry Quinney of the OFAH said the situation will deteriorate if gill netting remains unregulated.

 

“It's a crisis now and it's only going to become worse,” he said Wednesday.

 

He said the OFAH wants to see regulations imposed that would govern commercial gill netting operations.

 

But Nipissing First Nation said its gill netters are not to blame.

 

“It's not the Nipissing First Nation gill netters. We're putting in so much money trying to manage the walleye fishery,” said Chief Marianna Couchie.

 

“Year-round fishing is putting steady pressure on the fishery. Anglers are catching and keeping too many walleye. But what has to be looked at is the sport of fishing and the impact it's having on Lake Nipissing,.”

 

Couchie said Nipissing First Nation gill netters are having difficulty meeting their quotas.

 

Specific numbers weren't immediately available from the MNR or Nipissing First Nation. The MNR imposed a commercial licence on the native fishery in 2005 following a dramatic depletion of the walleye population which was blamed on a small number of commercial fishers. The commercial licence included 30,000-kilogram limit, but Nipissing First Nation adopted its own set of fishing management regulations which saw it set its own quotas.

 

“We haven't bothered to look at the quota because we're not meeting it. We're not finding the fish in Lake Nipissing,” Couchie said.

 

Yolanta Kowalski, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Natural Resources, said an advisory committee is scheduled to meet today and Friday.

 

She said the committee is made up of of MNR officials, representatives from Nipissing First Nation and sport fishers.

 

The OFAH was invited but refuses to attend because it says the meeting is focusing only on developing management options for recreational fishing and not implementing regulations for commercial gill netting.

 

[email protected]

 

Edit to change title after Local Mayor's response to OFAH.

Edited August 3, 2012 by kickingfrog

[Joeytier]

“It's not the Nipissing First Nation gill netters. We're putting in so much money trying to manage the walleye fishery,” said Chief Marianna Couchie.

 

Give me a break. NFN, MNR, and the OFAH are ALL doing their fair share of finger-pointing, which is absolutely pathetic. There are so many factors that have led to the lakes depletion (read: Nipissing still has lots of walleye) that is absolutely childish to try and point the finger at any one cause.

[Pickeral eater]

We had a great spring this year out there. Many smaller walleye which in my opinion indicates the slot regulations are working. But the first nations must realise that if they want this fishery to thrive they need to drop the "we're entitled to" approach as well. Please don't take what I post as a slam but we all need to do our part.

[Andy]

Interesting. My friend has a camp on Nipissing and he has seen good #s of fish this year, I found the winter fishing really slow this past winter tho. I was up last week and near the middle of June and I was very surprised how few boats are out on the lake this year. I'm not saying the recreational anglers are innocent, I just don't see the few boats I saw out making a difference like a quota (how is that determined and accounted for?)of tens of thousands of kgs. Not slinging stones, just sayin'. Andy

[Lip-ripper]

I found the figures pretty interesting. Curious to see where this goes...

 

http://www.ofah.org/fishing/nipissingwalleye

[bushart]

A good reminder why I do not want to be anywhere near anything to do with OFAH

 

Sling mud and take two steps back from solving any issues here

 

 

Funny nobody wishes to address other points---ie; how your average angler today is better informed and armed with the latest technology

 

Using new very successful methods and still keeping the old keep and catch mentality

 

Did'nt we recently read how Scugog walleyes are hurting----

 

A nearby lake has several campgrounds on it----funny how stringers of over slot walleyes slip into camp

 

Or when you know some anglers are on a targeted pattern and will not leave it alone daily----till they're looking to unload walleyes on their neighbors

 

It's the old--- if I don't keep it the next guy will attitude

 

This article is irresponsible in my opinion

[Headhunter]

I am by no means any kind of an expert on anything... I know it's hard to believe, but it's true!

That said, hasn't Nip stocks crashed in the past? Hasn't the lake rebounded in the past as well? So, let's have a look at what practices were in place...

The first crash came not long after gill nets were used on the lake... gill nets were banned, the stocks came back up.

Gill nets re-instated, stocks begin to deplete... and during both of these time frames, sport fisher types were plying the waters...

You do the math!

HH

[jedimaster]

Just ban keeping any walleye for 5 years. That'll rebound the stocks of walleye. I do like to eat walleye for sure, but it seems the answer is so obvious. Stock it heavily once, don't allow any to be taken out. Catch and release is ok. Sure some illegal poaching will occur but that's what the MnR is for. Give it time to heal itself. There are other lakes with walleye, heck even the grocery store. Why not try a spring trip to eat pike instead of walleye. Or crappie... Give em a rest I say. Everyone wants to point fingers here or there, the reality is they are all right. Everyone is to blame.

[Headhunter]

Banning walleye fishing on Nip would affect far too many folks, on both sides of the issue. The fact that NFN feel that it is ok to remove 660,000pds of walleye every year is more likely the problem. That number does not include the species that are not desirable, but caught in the nets.

Does anyone really believe that anglers can come even remotely close to catching and removing that number of fish per year.

My personal opinion, NFN missed the boat on this... if they really wanted a sustainable revenue stream, they should have used their expertese to lure anglers to their state of the art fishing/casino/lodge. That's sustainable! Instead, they built a fish processing plant.

HH

Edited August 2, 2012 by Headhunter

[Lip-ripper]

Funny nobody wishes to address other points---ie; how your average angler today is better informed and armed with the latest technology

 

Really? you think this is the cause?

 

C'mon man!

[bushart]

Really? you think this is the cause?

 

C'mon man!

 

 

Your kidding right??

 

See many wooden boats with 6 hp on them fishin bobbers on the typical spots lately---very few

 

No---hot spots are targeted by finders/info and gps--and returned to constantly---and they are hitting them daily

 

wonder why possession limits and slots were introduced?? too many garbage bags of walleyes found in trash bins at quinte--cause somebody got tired of cleaning them---etc.

 

 

Nipp is not in the same position it was even 30 years ago----exponential population growth in southern/central Ontario

 

twinned hwy now taking a fraction of the time to get there

 

expanding ice fishing businesses

 

But no---lets take ofah at their word and disregard when the Chief states their self imposed limit is less than allowed

[Lip-ripper]

I'm not saying an increase in the Ice fishing pressure or even softwater anglers taking limits isn't a contributing factor.

 

Your point was technology.

 

Your quote: "See many wooden boats with 6 hp on them fishin bobbers on the typical spots lately---very few"

 

No, I don't. But I don't see natives paddling canoes out to gill net with hand woven nets either...

Nylon is technology, and so is the aluminum boats with outboards on them.

 

Fact is, there are many causes for the lakes population being in trouble.

Gill netting is the method that takes the biggest chunk of fish from the lake so it needs to be the first looked at.

[Headhunter]

Does anyone really beleive that the Chief has an unbiased opinion?

HH

[paulyboy83]

It's funny. I know a lot of Sport anglers that have said its been one of te best years that they can remember. The only ones complaining that they aren't catching as much are the gill netters.

Would it stand to reason that if you net the same area long enough you might deplete the population of fish. If the anglers are returning to their hotspots and having success still I would seriously doubt that it more the fault of the sport fisherman than the commercial fisherman.

 

That being said, I believe all of us play a part and all of us should be working together to maintain the population of walleye as so many people depend on that for their livelyhood.

[Millhouse2020]

I've said before on this forum that I have watched this fisheries decline for a number of years now. The good old days of walleye fishing are long past on this lake right now. If people are still catching fish, its because they have the equipment and technology to be able to do it. I can recall many years ago that if you could not catch walleye pulling a crawler harness, jig & spinner or rapala, you may as well just go back to camp and play cards for the day because the fish had lock jaw. I was out on opening day this year near Lavigne and saw only a handful of boats around the hardwood islands. This place used to be teaming with fisherman every opening weekend. I can even remember MNR boats patrolling the waters with armed officers many years ago on opening day. I'm certain the decline in the walleye population has made it very hard for the lodges around the lake to keep people coming back. Not to mention the exchange on the US$ has hurt their business as well. How can you have a Canadian wilderness fishing experience with so few fish????

 

 

Gill netting has hurt the population of fish immensely in the lake in my opinion. It has been know for some time that some in the native community net plenty and do not report their catches. How can netting be monitered properly if people are not following the rules. Sport fisherman don't take anywhere near what the gill netters do, heck there seem to be so fewer of them from what I can see. Gill netters also have plenty of by-catch. I dont even want to know how many healthy bass, pike, muskies, whitefish and whatever else gets killed along with the walleye catch. I know of some fisherman personally that have witness these fish left on the shoreline of iron island after the gill netters had gone. Very little is truly being done to manage this.

 

 

Add to the above the rise of cormorant population in the last 10 years and you have a lake struggling to maintain is formerly healthy balance of fish. It has been a shame to watch for me because this lake is where I first learned to fish and hunt and I hope to see it return to what it once was. The slot limits have helped somewhat but it has not been enough to ensure the future of the fishery IMO.

[bushart]

I have a buddy who's one of Canada's best walleye fishers---likely has forgot more than any of us will ever know

 

He attributes the sustainability and increase in population to the slots and reduced limits---where even in northern communities often thought to be fish factories---has seen improvements

 

So by implementing these rules is like a forced education---and is showing on the numbers

 

And still many of these lakes have Native nets as they always have been

[kickingfrog]

Practically everyone is bias on this issue. The question is what information are you using, and is it accurate. Lakes are living things, they change even if humans don't mess with them. I grew up on/in Lake Nipissing. It is different today, but so I'm I. Is this part of an eb and flow or a problem we have created?

[Headhunter]

The eb and flow of the lake never included netting spawning fish at the mouth of the rivers in the spring.

The eb and flow of the lake never included a fish processing plant.

The eb and flow of the lake never included netting through the ice.

The eb and flow never created a dump of collateral fish, not worth processing.

That's just off the top of my head.

I have to wonder what the outcry would be if certain groups were allowed to net Simcoe... set up a fish processing plant in Barrie and have at 'er... one word decribes it... DISGUSTING!

HH

[jedimaster]

Banning walleye fishing on Nip would affect far too many folks, on both sides of the issue.

 

I didn't say ban fishing. I said ban keeping. Allow catch and release. Just let the grow and reproduce for a few years and you will see a huge bounce back almost guaranteed.

[Headhunter]

I didn't say ban fishing. I said ban keeping. Allow catch and release. Just let the grow and reproduce for a few years and you will see a huge bounce back almost guaranteed.

Unfortunately, I think it would have the same effect... all sides of the issue will feel the pain.

How many of us would go to a lake that is only catch and release? Sure there are some very isolated lakes that are that way, but there are only a limited number of lodges on those lakes. They are typically "trophy lakes". A lake like Nip, with it's bordering cities, towns, camps and lodges would see their tourist dollars drop like a stone. As it is, I'm betting that the lodge owners on Nip are hurting as a result of the last number of years and the reputation the lake is now getting.

How many members here now look elsewhere when they are planning a fishing trip. There is only one reason...they are not catching numbers or size anymore.

HH

Edited August 2, 2012 by Headhunter

[blarg]

I have only been fishing out of North Bay for 5 years, right about the time the native fishery became sanctioned by the government. The first year fishing was pretty good by my standards, i spent a number of years in Yellowknife before that so it wasn't what i would call phenomenal, but definitely good. It's gotten worse every year since, there are fewer fish, and the season along the eastern shore is shorter. Now during that time we have had low water, bad weather early in the season, and early ice off and faster warming then normal, these things could certainly have affected the early shallow water season. That isn't the only sign though, if the gill netters aren't finding fish chances are they aren't there, all of this anecdotal evidence about your buddy who lives on the lake doesn't mean anything in the face of that. I think the ice fishing season is certainly a problem, it gives too many people easy access to the lake, allowing them to get to those places they couldn't without a boat, not to mention having people on the best spots day and night for months. Of course there are anglers poaching, and there are a lot of people out there all summer as well, keeping all they can. If the limit was two fish a person that might help, but in reality people will still poach and that will just leave more fish for the gill nets, it doesn't help the lake.

 

You know it's disturbing to me that i read a lot of worry about the conservatives and the new laws or removal of old laws, and perhaps rightfully, but you're willing to gloss over the impact that gill nets have on this lake, gill nets are the most destructive form of fishing maybe aside from trawling, and we managed to basically fish out the oceans but somehow gill netting this lake is going to be just fine? I don't care if it's their right, i don't care because the fish don't care, the lake's ecosystem doesn't care either. Gill nets are never a good idea, i have personally seen a couple dozen white suckers thrown over the side from one net, all dead, multiply that by the years and the number of nets, most of us would be upset by the angler who kills unwanted pike for the sake of the walleye, but when it's death by gill net, it's a shrug at most. I promise you that the gill nets in Nipissing are doing more damage to the fishery than any new legislation will. Shrug.

[kickingfrog]

The eb and flow of the lake never included netting spawning fish at the mouth of the rivers in the spring.

The eb and flow of the lake never included a fish processing plant.

The eb and flow of the lake never included netting through the ice.

The eb and flow never created a dump of collateral fish, not worth processing.

That's just off the top of my head.

I have to wonder what the outcry would be if certain groups were allowed to net Simcoe... set up a fish processing plant in Barrie and have at 'er... one word decribes it... DISGUSTING!

HH

 

The eb and flow has had some of those activities.

 

The eb and flow never had HD side scan gps computers on boats or ice bungalows with guys "fishing" 24 hours a day. But that was not my point.

 

These are only parts of the picture and if we continue to only look at some of the pieces the whole picture will elude us. I am not interested in pointing fingers so please do not put me on one side of this.

 

BTW my bias is that I want to go to the lake and catch some fish, keep a few to eat and maybe take a couple of photos of some "nice ones", I'd also like to do it with my kids in the years to come.

[Headhunter]

I wasn't referring to you specifically in my post... not at all.

And I completely agree with your last statement...all I want is the same.

HH

[kickingfrog]

I wasn't referring to you specifically in my post... not at all.

And I completely agree with your last statement...all I want is the same.

HH

 

^

[aplumma]

What that lake needs is some "allyall".... It needs to be all of you all working together to get an answer. From an American point of view it does not matter why the fishing declines it is can you offer a product we will spend our now less valuable dollar to go fishing. With everyone trying for the same goal and the finger pointing stopped the lake has a good chance of returning to it's glory.

 

 

Art