It is with regret that the LNSA will not be restocking at Wasi Falls in 2015. As a committee and a volunteer group of committed tax payers we have been working every spring to do our part in taking care of the natural resource we all rely on...Lake Nipissing. The volunteer organization has been in existence for over 30 years and most recently formed as a non profit organization with the mission statement that reads:
“To provide for the long term health and sustainability of Lake Nipissing and its fishery, primarily through an extensive walleye re-stocking program.”
In 2012 we met with the MNR in an attempt to work with them on the issue of growing and sustaining the walleye population. As concerned citizens and tax payers, we have been met with resistance at every turn.
The MNR North Bay tells us we are diluting the genetics of Walleye in the lake. The only way we can dilute the current genetics is if the fish we artificially spawn are significantly more successful than they would be in nature. How can this be an issue if restocking doesn’t work?
Dedicated volunteers have been restocking Lake Nipissing since 1984. Keep in mind that the original Walleye in Lake Nipissing were the Blue Walleye. The Blue Walleye population was decimated through commercial fishing at which point the Yellow Walleye were introduced to the Lake through fry restocking back between 1920’s and 1944 and became the dominant species, a fact the MNR seems to regularly forget. In our 30 year history we have released over 32,000,000 fry and over 1,000,000 fingerlings into Lake Nipissing.
In the past, local FAU staff would assist in restocking by setting the net and supplying the fish for egg harvest, no restrictions were in place. This continued until 1996 when Lake Nipissings FAU was dissolved. Lake Nipissing is the only large lake in Ontario without its own FAU. The MNR continues to identify how important Lake Nipissing is to our region but we still lack a full time Biologist committed to Lake Nipissing.
The LNSA attended the meeting requested by the MNR and were extremely disappointed in what the MNR were planning. First, they tell us that they will be putting their net in the location we have been using for over thirty years. Then they tell us they will allow us just two ripe females per day. We explain how difficult that would be for volunteers, not to mention the added burden on the hatchery with fry hatching over a two week period . We would have to spend all the set up time with no volume to justify it. Listening to the local MNR biologists, it is clear they have no experience with restocking. No other volunteer stocking group has ever been forced into this type of egg collection. Our volunteers have spent thousands of dollars preparing for this year’s restocking and due to the MNR it’s just not feasible to restock this year. Typical MNR – make changes the last minute and don’t give those with a vested interest any lead time.
The MNR expressed concern over genetic dilution. LNSA members recently attended a two day Aquaculture Workshop in Sudbury. Unfortunately none of the MNR from North Bay decided to attend this workshop. (There were MNR personnel from other Ontario districts attending the workshop). A question was asked to two of the guest speakers, who are recognized experts in the Walleye industry, if they had ever seen evidence of genetic dilution or selected specific genetic strains when considering a specific lake for restocking. Their answer, “We don’t even consider it”. In all their years of experience they have seen no evidence of genetic dilution. Who would you believe? If it weren’t so disappointing it would be funny.
Let me share a little of the history.
There is a long history of data collection at Wasi Falls that ended in 1997. It ended because the Lake Nipissing FAU (Fish Assessment Unit) was disbanded in 1996. Restocking continued at Wasi Falls, without waiver, (and without the MNR) until 2013 when the MNR decided to start collecting spawning data at Wasi Falls after a fifteen year gap. When the MNR told us they would be starting collecting data at Wasi, our small group of volunteers willingly offered to help. We set our net in the same location we have for the past 32 years, retrieving the fish, harvesting the eggs and making sure the MNR staff had the opportunity to gather info and tag them before release. It seems a little suspect that the MNR renewed their interest of collecting data at Wasi Falls when the LNSA started to strenuously object to planned changes to the Sports fishing regulations. We understand short term pain for long term gain but we fail to see how the lake could rebound without harvest reductions to the unregulated commercial fishery. The unregulated commercial fishery harvests have been increasing since 2000 as documented in great detail by data reviewed by the OFAH. The LNSA decided to research other Provinces and States to find out how they resolved similar issues.
One example of a success story is Red Lake
Here is a “Reader’s Digest” version of what occurred at Red Lake. (If you’re interested in the full story please go to our website lnsa.net for details). Red Lake, a slightly larger lake than Lake Nipissing, had suffered an almost identical demise. The Walleye population was fished to zero by overfishing from both the sports and commercial fisheries. Red Lake was closed to both fisheries for quite some time which created an economic hardship for both communities. Red Lake was restocked with large numbers of fry. Greg Fischer, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, was sceptical that it would work. We met Greg while attending the two day Walleye Aquaculture workshop in Sudbury. When I mentioned the success of the Red Lake stocking story, I was blown away when Greg spoke up and mentioned how the First Nations involved called him for help first. He said he was sceptical that it would work because in the Walleye’s absence, a strong Black Crappy population had developed. He
said “It worked! I didn’t think it would, but it did”. In fact it worked so well the lake is open to both fisheries again and with a few compromises looks like a sustainable resource.
What does the MNR plan to do if six year old Walleye don’t show up in the spawn? History on Lake Nipissing has shown that angling has never wiped out a year class prior to achieving spawning age.
The LNSA has no desire to stop restocking and hopefully in the future we will be able to continue this successful means of sustaining this resource. The MNR have made it clear that they do not want our group stocking Lake Nipissing and now they have bullied us out of it