Go fishing! "Wisconsin's Walleye Initiative" will fill Wisconsin's lakes with larger fish

RHINELANDER (WITI) -- The number of Wisconsin lakes stocked with larger walleye will skyrocket in the next two years as the state harnesses a $12 million funding plan to boost walleye populations statewide, state fisheries officials say.

“Giving a much-needed boost to our walleye population is great news for our fishing community and it’s also great for our tourism industry and state economy,” Governor Scott Walker said.  “The success of the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative is thanks to a great, cooperative effort by private, public, and tribal entities.”

Under the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is enlisting state, private, and tribal hatcheries to produce an expected 750,000-800,000 extended growth or large fingerling walleyes for stocking in each of the next two years, 2014 and 2015.  The six- to eight-inch fish will be stocked in 275 lakes statewide (about 140 different lakes each year).

That compares with the 35 or so lakes typically stocked with larger walleye each year prior to the initiative and a further increase beyond the nearly 450,000 large walleye fingerlings stocked in 2013, the first year of the initiative.

“This historic effort to boost walleye populations will make fishing for walleye even better,” said DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp.  “We’ll also continue to stock 1 million smaller walleye in about 40 lakes each year where conditions still allow adequate survival of these small fish.  Where they work, small fingerlings are very cost-effective.”

The lakes planned for stocking in 2014 and 2015 were selected based on a new stocking strategy DNR finalized earlier this year with public input, said Ron Bruch, who leads the fisheries management program.  Participants in public meetings in fall 2013 and respondents to an online questionnaire overwhelmingly indicated that DNR should give priority to restoring walleye lakes with formerly good naturally reproducing walleye populations.

The second priority identified through stakeholder input was to improve walleye populations in lakes without natural reproduction, but where environmental conditions are conducive to survival of stocked walleye at a level sufficient to maintain a viable fishery, according to Steve Avelallemant, longtime northern Wisconsin fisheries supervisor who leads development of the stocking strategy.

“We’ll be using adaptive management to make the best and most efficient use of the fish produced under the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative,” Avelallmant said.  “Stocking isn’t a silver bullet, but we expect that in a few years the ramped up stocking we do under the Initiative will make more adult walleyes available for both restoration efforts as well as harvest.”

The DNR will be working over the next nine months with walleye interests to update the statewide walleye management plan.  That plan will address issues, in addition to stocking, such as habitat management and development and regulation options.  The plan will also include development of a comprehensive list of waters statewide for which walleye will be a management focus.

Links to a brief summary report on the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative, a list of all waters proposed for stocking in 2014 and 2015, as well as a sampling of more than 200 naturally reproducing walleye waters around the state may be found on DNR’s Wisconsin Walleye Initiative web page at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Fishing/Outreach/walleyeInitiative.html.