# Perch limit going down to 10



## cast party

> *Yellow Perch Daily Limit Reduced to 10 from Huron to Fairport Harbor*
> 
> *COLUMBUS, Ohio* – A declining population of Lake Erie yellow perch in the central basin has prompted a reduction in the daily limit to 10 from Huron to Fairport Harbor beginning Saturday, May 1, 2021, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
> 
> That's from an ODNR press release. If they don't reduce the quotas for commercial fishermen as well, we should all be letting our state representatives know about it. The state really needs to buy them out.


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## fishingful

I can't find that information anyplace.






News







ohiodnr.gov


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## Pressman

I don't know why they are changing the limit, nobody can catch 30 perch anyway. If they stop the commercial guys for a year or two you will perch numbers come back.


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## TheKing

Pressman said:


> I don't know why they are changing the limit, nobody can catch 30 perch anyway. If they stop the commercial guys for a year or two you will perch numbers come back.


Oh yes we did. Every single person on the headboats.


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## Pressman

Did you fish between Huron and Fairport Harbor ?


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## TheKing

Pressman said:


> Did you fish between Huron and Fairport Harbor ?


Yes. Drop and haul them up off of Cleveland.


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## SemperFi

"STOP," the commerical netters and we will have perch. If all anglers stop buying fishing license and protest in Columbus, you see how fast they will get off there butts and do something. I haven't caught a perch in 3 years, while trolling in Fairport.


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## Bigeyes

I would gladly mail a letter or send email to stop commercial perch fishing. Who can we send to ?


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## SemperFi

Bigeyes said:


> I would gladly mail a letter or send email to stop commercial perch fishing. Who can we send to ?


Congressmen or Senator


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## steelheadmagic

Having been an Ohio resident and buying a Pennsylvania fishing license for the last 30 years I believe we pay for a “Lake Erie stamp” to pay off the commercial netters. Definitely would do the same for Ohio. Someone can correct me if I am wrong about this.


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## Bluntman55

PA resident here, the Erie stamp funds public access, more for the land based angler, , very few benefits to boaters, originally years ago, it was used to buy out the few commercial permits, now PA sitcks it up your backside to make the steelhead fisherman happy on the streams


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## youngblood

Perch numbers on the east end are good. Fished yesterday 2 of us filled a 5 gallon bucket. Fishing was a little slow but not bad. Perch were filled with mostly Gobies.


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## Kenlow1

Early April fools joke?


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## Misdirection

I've read a few reports of guys on the east end (NY waters) pulling limits of perch.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk


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## BHAPPY

I'm with you on writing a letter. finally someone in the powers to be publicly stating numbers are down and reducing the limit. I always thought that if the sport fishing quota changed then the netters qouta would also change.


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## Seaturd

supposed to announce late april


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## hookin up

Bluntman55 said:


> PA resident here, the Erie stamp funds public access, more for the land based angler, , very few benefits to boaters, originally years ago, it was used to buy out the few commercial permits, now PA sitcks it up your backside to make the steelhead fisherman happy on the streams


I agree. Not much for us boaters. Give me a call sometime


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## Redheads

kind of funny they quit meeting west of Huron and east of Fairport a few years ago

think there's a connection here


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## Fishcat

I wish they would impose a 9 or 10 inch minimum on perch. I use bigger shiners than some of the fish I see at the cleaners.


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## KaGee

Kindly keep political comments to yourselves.
Thank you.


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## privateer

This is pointless as long as the commercial netters are still allowed to catch. and what about from Fairport east to the PA line? not like we have been hiding perch over near Geneva for the past few years either...


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## B Ron 11

Misdirection said:


> I've read a few reports of guys on the east end (NY waters) pulling limits of perch.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk


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## Ron Y

The recreational fisherman get 65 % of the perch quota and the commercial get 35%. That number was reduced to 22% last year because of the recreational not catching enough.Stopping commercial will not solve anything. When you have lots of walleye the perch stocks go down and when the perching is good the walleye is poor. 
And when they were thinking about stopping the commercial guys about 20 years agate Canadians then wanted to come down here to net perch so the state let commercial guys continue. The catch problem is about what the perch are eating, the fleas and tiny shrimp. Cut open their stomach and see for yourself. Recreational caught perch in the islands last year and the commercial guys have nets there too.


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## papaperch

I quit fishing Erie when the perch limit was 30. I can usually catch at least 30 fish in inland lakes. Not all perch mind you. But it was simple economics for me. Cost of gas , launching fees , driving distance from where I live. Made Erie unattractive to me personally. Not to mention the cost of a bigger boat needed to safely fish Erie.

Lots of people say the commercial netting doesn't hurt. Anyone care to explain how in the world it helps the situation ?


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## privateer

Ron Y said:


> The recreational fisherman get 65 % of the perch quota and the commercial get 35%. That number was reduced to 22% last year because of the recreational not catching enough.Stopping commercial will not solve anything. When you have lots of walleye the perch stocks go down and when the perching is good the walleye is poor.
> And when they were thinking about stopping the commercial guys about 20 years agate Canadians then wanted to come down here to net perch so the state let commercial guys continue. The catch problem is about what the perch are eating, the fleas and tiny shrimp. Cut open their stomach and see for yourself. Recreational caught perch in the islands last year and the commercial guys have nets there too.


you know they say that. however i am out almost every day in the summer season and i am just not seeing the perch on the electronics like we did in the past. also, if they are still plentiful, then why are the netters out there much longer in the season than they had been in the past when we were also catching perch. it just does not add up.

regardless of the catch, those nets are a dangerous nuisance the way they are set. They need much better visible indicators for location. The easiest thing would be to require them to post the coordinates of the nets. they are all set close enough to shore that a cell phone signal is available - so no signal is not a valid excuse.

when running at night or early morning, the red flashers on their markers are difficult to see and virtually invisible when against the shoreline nighttime background with many lights on shore.

any wind or wave action causes their daytime markers to be almost impossible to see as they are essentially a 6' stick with a not very large flag. if you are coming at one with or against the wind and it is blown parallel to your direction of travel - you won't see the darn thing until you are almost on it...


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## dwmikemx

So if this is true ??? Weren't we told over and over by the ODNR that:
1) Plenty of perch out there. Commercial netting doesn't effect anglers catch rates
2) Perch have changed forage base from minnows to spiny sand fleas and...
3) We as anglers just need to change our methods to catch them.

Again, if this report is true.. Then the ODNR knew all along commercial netters were over harvesting. Lyin' SOB's !!


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## Ron Y

Another post says its true. This is so stupid. So a non trailerable boat out of chagrin river runs to Perry and catches his 30 fish, then on the run home gets stopped and is busted for over ten cause he is in the waters with the 10 limit. ???If you want to help the perch then the walleye limit should be raised to 20 a day as we have more walleye now then in the 80's and they eat perch and anything they can, up to 20% their body weight a day. ODNR has never been good at managing anything. How to they enforce this?? So stupid.


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## Nauti cat

I would say a 9" size limit on perch and a 10 limit walleye with a 18" min size a 15" to 17" dose not have much meat on them


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## baitguy

Ron Y said:


> The recreational fisherman get 65 % of the perch quota and the commercial get 35%. That number was reduced to 22% last year because of the recreational not catching enough.Stopping commercial will not solve anything. When you have lots of walleye the perch stocks go down and when the perching is good the walleye is poor.
> And when they were thinking about stopping the commercial guys about 20 years agate Canadians then wanted to come down here to net perch so the state let commercial guys continue. The catch problem is about what the perch are eating, the fleas and tiny shrimp. Cut open their stomach and see for yourself. Recreational caught perch in the islands last year and the commercial guys have nets there too.


 seems like somewhere in the recesses of my fogged old brain that back in the 80s when the walleye limit was 10 that there were also plenty of decent sized perch as well and the limit was 50 or 60... used to catch a bunch just by accident every walleye trip, if you actually targeted them you could catch as many as you wanted ... ODNR would certainly drop the hammer on anyone at the docks for violations, they should do the same for commercial guys, it's real easy to convince the Canadian guys to stay there, confiscate a couple boats, some decent fines and a little jail time to reflect might get their attention ...



papaperch said:


> Lots of people say the commercial netting doesn't hurt. Anyone care to explain how in the world it helps the situation ?



that's a VERY good question papa, I'm sure someone in the mensa group in columbus has an answer for you  it probably won't make any sense but they'll have one


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## One guy and a boat

I would've like to see them lower the limit to 5, then I could limit once in awhile lol seriously, as long as netter's quotas reduced also then this move can only help. But it is odd that it's still 30 from fairport to PA. 

Kip


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## puge

The problem with releasing perch is that unless the are reeled in painfully slow, many/most will not survive, especially in water deeper than 30 feet. The abrupt change in pressure causes their swim bladders to expand which in turn makes them seagull dinner. And no, puncturing it is not a scientifically approved method to alleviate this issue. They will swim away instead of floating on top, but they will be doomed later.


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## cast party

Bigeyes said:


> I would gladly mail a letter or send email to stop commercial perch fishing. Who can we send to ?


Send it to your state representative, state senator and Gov. DeWine.


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## FSZ

Ron Y said:


> The recreational fisherman get 65 % of the perch quota and the commercial get 35%. That number was reduced to 22% last year because of the recreational not catching enough.Stopping commercial will not solve anything. When you have lots of walleye the perch stocks go down and when the perching is good the walleye is poor.
> And when they were thinking about stopping the commercial guys about 20 years agate Canadians then wanted to come down here to net perch so the state let commercial guys continue. The catch problem is about what the perch are eating, the fleas and tiny shrimp. Cut open their stomach and see for yourself. Recreational caught perch in the islands last year and the commercial guys have nets there too.


I disagree. Commercial fishing was banned west of the Huron river. Stocks improved and fishing improved. Commercial guys all went to central basin. The quota being reduced for one year was too little too late. For at least 5 years they had the same or similar quotas and it was all taken out of the central basin. That's why the perch are gone. 

The ODNR has basically lied...again. For years we have been given excuses that perch are eating spining waters fleas, suspended off the bottom, etc and that anglers hadn't adjusted thier tactics and this was why no one was doing well. Only when we are the verge of collapse do they admit the truth. Lets us not forget all the netters getting caught a few years back by ODNR, over quota, fishing out of season, no records, keeping walleye (with the excuse they were sport caught because they had fishing rods on their commercial boats). They just got slaps on the wrist. Their was a push to close perch to commercial fishing it didn't make it thru the General Assembly, who cited "economic impact and jobs". Everyone knows those commercial licenses are held by only a few families...who overwhelmingly only employ other family members. 

ODNR has been ignoring the problem because of the good walleye fishing. 

As a side note, I'm not sure why the moderator felt anything was getting political, I didn't read anything about partisian politics. Maybe that was preventive/cautionary post. I hope the intent was not to censure discussion about the ODNR and General Assembly, because they who are the ones to blame. They sure take credit for the deer herd, walleye population and any fishing or hunting that is good, but accept no responsibility for their failures.


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## set-the-drag

3 year shutdown of commercial perch fishing and let the commercial walleye#s go up and strictly enforced the netting rules so netters aren't catching to many perch that end up dead. Recreational perch fishing is a billion dollar industry. Commercial is a multi million. Pure example of companies greasing political pockets to get what they want.


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## puge

While increased numbers of predators (walleye) can and do effect prey numbers (perch), historical data just does not back up the claim that this is the cause of the perch decline. Young of the year perch (first year) are not surviving because of lack of food. “Zebra mussels have blanketed the lake's bottom and filtered out food web-altering amounts of its plankton, specifically diporeia, a zooplankton species that was the equivalent of a steak to an adolescent perch. After the young animals absorb their yolk sac, they drift in the main lake, searching for food. With so little available, the vast majority are doomed. The effect of trillions of mussel invaders to the lake is glaringly apparent to even the casual observer: the water is unnaturally clear. The clarity is a sign of a lack of plankton.” The spiny water fleas also consume huge amounts of plankton.


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## puge

Let’s think about this in terms of Lake Erie. Perch have made a comeback in the western basin, correct? The western basin contains more walleye each spring than any other place on earth. So if walleye were the problem the perch would not be on an upward trend in this region. What is different about the western basin than the eastern 2/3 of Ohio waters? Water clarity… Run off from agricultural fields containing the nutrients and turbidity that plankton need to establish, grow, and thrive is readily available. While we as humans do not like the effects (toxic algae) of the runoff, me included, it does not appear to affect the fish. In fact, they are absolutely thriving in it. I do not think the recent extraordinary spawning classes of walleye along with the comeback of perch in the western basin are coincidence, when you think about the explosion of nutrients entering the western basin during the same period. And no, I am not speaking about the kind of pollution from industrial facilities during the industrial revolution through the early 80’s which contained heavy metals and other toxic substances. At the OSU aquaculture facility in Piketon, they introduce alfalfa and other nutrients to the pond’s weeks ahead of stocking with fry. This both reduces clarity and helps provide the nitrogen and phosphorus needed to establish the plankton necessary for survival .


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## puge

So why are these conditions not affecting the walleye population throughout the lake? Easy, the majority of Lake Erie walleye are migratory, and they get to enjoy the best of both worlds. They get to hatch and grow in the western basin which is currently packed with the plankton needed during this vital time. Once established they then migrate throughout the entire lake to cleaner/cooler water. Meaning the effects of poor water conditions (lack of plankton) in the eastern 2/3 of Ohio does not necessarily affect numbers of mature fish in those areas. Perch are not migratory fish, they spawn, grow, and live in a relatively local area in which they were born. Currently, the eastern 2/3 of the state simply does not have the water conditions available to allow perch populations to thrive. These conditions most likely explain the decrease in emerald shiner populations as well. It only takes a few bad recruitment classes to have a huge impact on spawning success. Lake Michigan has been dealing with this since the mid 90’s and their perch population has been decimated.


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## loomis82

Draw some stripes on all those undersized walleye being caught and there you go! Nice sized perch!


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## youngblood

puge I don't know where you get your information about the Eastern Basin from. From my observations of fishing it often. Perch numbers seem good. All different sizes not just Large adults. I have had no problems catching Emeralds for bait. In fact there were many Perch fry mixed in with the Emeralds that I netted just the other day. Which I picked threw and threw back.


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## HappySnag

centrall base perch fry can not survive,bicouse they were not hatched.the adult perch are dead in nets.
our managment system work like mafia. what is in envelop ?


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## puge

Youngblood,
I'd assume you are speaking of Pennsylvania and New York waters? New York catch rates had a 12 year low in 2016, however they have indeed stabilized and actually begun to increase based on 2019 NYS annual report. I was specifically speaking of Ohio waters, however I did not word that very well. Ohio waters are broken into 3 units, Toledo to Huron, Huron to Fairport, and Fairport to Conneaut. Units 2 & 3 are what I was referring to when I said eastern 2/3 of the lake. Sorry for the confusion.


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## HappySnag

western base had no perch,till they ban comercial fishing.
the lake has big population of eyes,and perch in western base.
the eyes do not make problem for perch in western base.
what could be the problem with central base perch ?


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## SPURCHASERX

Lake Erie perch limit drops to 10 for central basin, while walleye holds steady


The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that anglers will be limited to bringing home 10 yellow perch from the central basin beginning May 1.




www.google.com





Here is the link to the article


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## rnewman

Has the commercial perch harvest in central basin been reduced or closed this year also?


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## Redheads

Over the last couple of years, Mr. Green jeans told us that the perch that ate emerald shinners for hundreds of years no longer want them because of they now prefer spiny water fleas..,,,,,,,what are you gonna believe next?


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## privateer

HappySnag said:


> western base had no perch,till they ban comercial fishing.
> the lake has big population of eyes,and perch in western base.
> the eyes do not make problem for perch in western base.
> what could be the problem with central base perch ?


perhaps they no longer identify as perch?


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## privateer

rnewman said:


> Has the commercial perch harvest in central basin been reduced or closed this year also?


you just talk'in crazy now....


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## Kenlow1

No one will even bother to fish for perch with a limit of only 10. The time you figure fuel, bait, and your time it probably isn’t worth it. The bait shops may not even be open in the fall (selling shiners). I went to a seminar about a year ago and the Lake Erie biologist stated that although the perch population was lower than normal in the Central basin (Huron lighthouse to Fairport) there were still plenty of perch. He stated fisherman were not adjusting their techniques fishing for them. Yes, they are now feeding on the spiney water fleas that are not on the bottom but up in the water column. Now they are lowering the limit? Hummmmmm?


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## fishkiller

Wasn’t a no net zone created around Fairport a couple of years ago?


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## stampman60

Fishcat said:


> I wish they would impose a 9 or 10 inch minimum on perch. I use bigger shiners than some of the fish I see at the cleaners.


Amen. know a guy at a cleaning place sat you can't believe how many 5,6,7, inch fish are brought in. make a 9 inch minimum for a few yrs. until things change. every yr of growth creates another yr. to spawn. they did it in a crappie lake in Ala. and it work.


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## privateer

fishkiller said:


> Wasn’t a no net zone created around Fairport a couple of years ago?


yes. they just moved a few miles to the East. We have had them from Perry to Red Brook since they kicked them out of Fairport.


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## papaperch

Some further point to ponder. If Zebra Mussels are causing the perch to decline. Why do inland lake like Mosquito have infestations of perch (small ) and Zebra mussels ? Lake Milton is another example.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over. While expecting different results. ODNR reactions to dwindling perch populations in Lake Erie. Has been historically to lower the angler's daily limit. This is a fact. What is also a fact is this action has done nothing to correct the problem. 

Over harvesting eradicated Blue Pike from Lake Erie. Commercial netting was the problem. Yet nothing was done to prevent the Blue Pike from becoming extinct. It is well past time to let marine biologists to study the problem. Lets get political influence out of the equation entirely.


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## baitguy

HappySnag said:


> western base had no perch,till they ban comercial fishing.
> the lake has big population of eyes,and perch in western base.
> the eyes do not make problem for perch in western base.
> what could be the problem with central base perch ?


 great answer happy, would be interested to hear ODNR response to that query


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## baitguy

stampman60 said:


> Amen. know a guy at a cleaning place sat you can't believe how many 5,6,7, inch fish are brought in. make a 9 inch minimum for a few yrs. until things change. every yr of growth creates another yr. to spawn. they did it in a crappie lake in Ala. and it work.


9" would be a good standard, but when was the last time most of you saw more than a few of those ... the one problem with that, which may have been touched on already, is that when you bring those perch up from more than 20' or so, their bladders inflate and they're seagull lunch ... throwing them back doesn't help, they're likely going to die anyway ... that said, there ain't much meat on a 6" perch


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## pitchin

On a positive note; At least the ODNR has recognized that there is a problem. Now lets see if they are up to the challenge and can find an adequate solution.


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## Matt63

If a 6 inch perch swallows the hook it goes in the cooler and not seagull food.


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## sander

Redheads said:


> Over the last couple of years, Mr. Green jeans told us that the perch that ate emerald shiners for hundreds of years no longer want them because of they now prefer spiny water fleas.. ,what are you gonna believe next?


My Friend, it's basically ecology. Perch don't rigidly rely on one food. They are opportunists, taking advantage of whatever food sources offer the greatest amount of calories and protein they can get with the least output. Look at perch taken over rocky bottoms - they're full of young of the year gobies (not counting all the shiners with hook marks). Rocky bottoms offer small gobies as the most abundant food source. In the Central Basin, especially with the annual thermocline and the reliable dead zone (oxygen availability), food sources will follow both food sources and oxygen variability; every organism on Earth does this. Ecological changes continually change in the lake. We don't understand these instantaneously; changes in nutrient distribution, temperature by season, ice cover, oxygen depletion, etc., all change food distribution patterns. We have to understand changes in the lake and adapt fishing techniques to these changes. It's not all somebody else's fault (the commercial fishermen, taking a minority of the harvest). Are perch moving mid depth to feed on spiny water fleas? Perch tend to be bottom foragers. If water quality conditions make them look elsewhere, It's not necessarily someone else's fault. If food is above the thermocline, or above a previously smothered area, then that's where I'm going.


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## BHAPPY

from what I was told today the commercial netters have taken millions of pounds of perch from the lake in the last 3 years in which time most anglers I know have given up trying to catch them. I'm guessing that if the netters weren't there catching perch from 3 inches up there would be a lot more perch for fisherman to catch. my friend, that's basic mathematics


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## KaGee

BHAPPY said:


> from what I was told today the commercial netters have taken millions of pounds of perch from the lake in the last 3 years in which time most anglers I know have given up trying to catch them. I'm guessing that if the netters weren't there catching perch from 3 inches up there would be a lot more perch for fisherman to catch. my friend, that's basic mathematics


Source?


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## HappySnag

how much sportsman and charters pay for license every year and what is there quota ?
how much comercial fisherman pay for license every year and what is there quota ?
how much sportsmen and charter spend on fishing a year ?
how much comercial fishing spend on fishing a year ?
every 1 lb. harvest comercial fisherman kill 8 perch.


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## puge

Guys most of this data is available if you just look for it. I haven't been able to find the 2020 annual report yet, but it should be coming soon as they are usually released in late March. Here is the 2019 report, it has more information than one would ever need on the subject. 2019 commercial yellow perch catch in Ohio waters was 930,963 pounds. It also shows contrary to many claims, commercial catches of perch have continued in the western basin (Toledo to Huron) at least in 2019 with 193,243 pounds from district 1.


https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/fish-management/LakeErieStatus.pdf


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## BHAPPY

thanks Puge for finding that info. also, to Sander. I apologize if my remark came off wrong. after reading it again, I'm sure it may have. all that you stated is definitely worth consideration and that is what the ODNR has been telling fishermen. in 2006 it looks like there was a long thread on this very subject. if we banned together as fishermen maybe something could be done but if we argue amongst ourselves or do nothing, then nothing will change. Kagee, I'm not that computer savvy but I'll try to find sources. the information I received was from a reputable bait shop owner in the lorain area who knows 10x as much as I do.


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## brad crappie

Redheads said:


> kind of funny they quit meeting west of Huron and east of Fairport a few years ago
> 
> think there's a connection here





Fishcat said:


> I wish they would impose a 9 or 10 inch minimum on perch. I use bigger shiners than some of the fish I see at the cleaners.


 size limits would have to be in shallow water cause of the deeper water the air bladders are hanging out of their mouths! Sandusky bay would be a good place to have the size limits!!! Some people keep every thing it’s sick!!


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## Ron Y

Blue pike were wiped out by the sea lamprey coming to the lakes in the 50's. Commercial net sizes are set for 8" fish. Small fish swim thru. Walleye do not go in their trap nets. Only Canadian gill nets will catch walleye. Any walleye you eat at a restaurant comes from Canada. ODNR inspects every commercial catch of perch at the dock upon arrival. The days of cheating ended in 2007 when they tightened the regs. ODNR monitors each boat with AIS and knows where they are and what they are doing. You should go down to where they are unloading the fish and see how it works, not just spout off without any facts.


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## Lewis

If it was a simple as Perch changing their diet to spiny water fleas and they are still there by the millions, then why lower the limit to 10? I think the ODNR realized their original theory was wrong. The perch are just not there.


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## Kenlow1

I agree with you Lewis. Even the eastern basin, the numbers are down. You used to be ablle to go to Geneva, Ashtabula, and Conneat and get your limit all the time, now it is a struggle. Heck, I can remember going to get bait @ Snugs and if you did not get there early you stood the chance of him running out of shiners. Hope this doesn’t shut down the mom/pop bait shops.


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## inchoh

I don't know why everyone is complaining me and my friends haven't caught more than 10 perch in 2 years what's the difference.


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## fishkiller

Perch #’s started dropping before the limit was raised to 40 at least from Geneva east in my opinion. I thought at the time that was the wrong direction to go. As far as length limits, anyone who has fished around a large perch pack knows what that looks like.


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## set-the-drag

Kenlow1 said:


> I agree with you Lewis. Even the eastern basin, the numbers are down. You used to be ablle to go to Geneva, Ashtabula, and Conneat and get your limit all the time, now it is a struggle. Heck, I can remember going to get bait @ Snugs and if you did not get there early you stood the chance of him running out of shiners. Hope this doesn’t shut down the mom/pop bait shops.


A lot have already shut down because of no business. No perch and no shinners the past 5 years has killed the small bait shops


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## BHAPPY

obviously I'm not going to change anyone's mind but this was taken from a Facebook post in 2018 of perch in commercial nets on lake erie. sure looks like a lot of small perch to me that are just going to be seagull food. keep defending commercial nettets and see what becomes of it. I will choose to do what I can to try to stop it


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## bridgeman

Anyone else think with walleye populations at record highs has anything to do with this?? The young of the year perch probably don't stand a chance due to heavy predation.


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## rickerd

puge said:


> Guys most of this data is available if you just look for it. I haven't been able to find the 2020 annual report yet, but it should be coming soon as they are usually released in late March. Here is the 2019 report, it has more information than one would ever need on the subject. 2019 commercial yellow perch catch in Ohio waters was 930,963 pounds. It also shows contrary to many claims, commercial catches of perch have continued in the western basin (Toledo to Huron) at least in 2019 with 193,243 pounds from district 1.
> 
> 
> https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/fish-management/LakeErieStatus.pdf
> 
> 
> View attachment 467177
> View attachment 467178
> View attachment 467179


Puge gave us the data from ODNR.
Look at 2019, 930K perch harvest is 67% of the Mean or average over time. The numbers of yellow perch caught cannot be denied. "Columbus, we have a problem!" 
During 2019, Commercial Nets caught 54% of the YP in MU1, 97% of YP in MU2, and 99% of YP in MU3.

Now the 930K harvest is about 30% of what is allowable catch that year. So 2020 must have been bad maybe even worse than 2019. I'm speculating I guess. But if Columbus is going to lower the limit anywhere, they have to lower the Commercial limits by the same amount across all regions. Otherwise, they will simply move and decimate another MU again.

The Commercial nets only caught about 30% of their quota in 2019, so even if you lower their quota to 30%, they still catch the same numbers as 2019 and be within limits. I think ODNR has to limit the take for Commercial nets from each MU for each year also, in order to keep them in check and not wreck another MU. If the limits are not severely restricted in Commercial net fishing, then we know there is "funny" business going on in Columbus.

I still believe it was the ODNR removing the Commercial nets from MU1 which allowed the YP to repopulate, then the Walleye population grew to keep the YP in check. Wasn't that around 2008 until 2015 fishing was clearly limited on the chart? There are studies in WI I think that show how populations of walleye grow right after the YP population.

All arguments about mussles affect current fishing are not reasonable. Those things came into the lake in the 80s and most expansion of growth and changes had taken place in the lake by early 90s. Their population reached a balance and we have had good YP and walleye populations since.

All reasonable arguments that walleye are eating too many young YP don't make sense because the walleye numbers are highest in WB where the perch fishing has improved recently.

Rickerd


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## fasteddy

When their gone, their gone. Won't matter what the reason/reasons. Ban taking them from Ohio water, just like sturgeon.
Pa., New York, Canada, and Michigan can do whatever they want. Perch don't migrate like walleye do.When they are accidentally caught from shore, then you can lift the ban. That should be in about 10 to 15 years in central basin if nature allows fantastic hatches.

When their gone, their gone.


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## HappySnag

best quality fish is harvest only with hook and line,it give you controll over fish and minimum waiste.
the comercial fisherman should have same rulle ,harvest only with hook and line.
that will show us how they get their quota.every one off them would quit,you wil never hear,that is there bread and buter.


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## privateer

Ron Y said:


> Blue pike were wiped out by the sea lamprey coming to the lakes in the 50's. Commercial net sizes are set for 8" fish. Small fish swim thru. Walleye do not go in their trap nets. Only Canadian gill nets will catch walleye. Any walleye you eat at a restaurant comes from Canada. ODNR inspects every commercial catch of perch at the dock upon arrival. The days of cheating ended in 2007 when they tightened the regs. ODNR monitors each boat with AIS and knows where they are and what they are doing. You should go down to where they are unloading the fish and see how it works, not just spout off without any facts.


I would like to have a 3rd party camera on board the net boats and then make the films public. I am not concerned with what they are doing at the docks... I am not saying they are breaking the law either. Only that all fish caught in those nets are handled and there will be a certain percentage of by-catch death. Otherwise why do the seagulls love the net boat! Follow a boat out some time and watch them haul the fish. They can't prevent you from observing from a safe distance.

"Walleye do not go into their trap nets." I forgot how intelligent those Erie walleye are... I can hear them now "oh, those trap nets are not for us... Lets head over to Canada, they have our nets."

"The days of cheating ended in 2007 when they tightened the regs." Come on. this is too low hanging. Because a law or regulation exists, no one is breaking it. How fast did you drive to work today...


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## fasteddy

Wouldn't it be cool to catch 500-800 lb sturgeon, 8 to 12 foot long. Lake USED to be full of them. Talk about a lost fishery.
I'm done, I'll get off my soapbox.


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## cast party

inchoh said:


> I don't know why everyone is complaining me and my friends haven't caught more than 10 perch in 2 years what's the difference.


The difference is we would like to see the perch come back. That's why we have to band together and make noise, like someone suggested earlier. I haven't caught 10 perch in the last four years off Lorain, either. If we get rid of the commercial netters, there is a good chance they will come back in a few years with one good hatch. It happened in the western basin when they banned perch netting out there. Call, e-mail and/or write to your state representative, your state senator and the governor for starters. I did.


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## baitguy

part of the problem is that your "concerns" do not outweigh the "honorariums" the lobbyists give to out elected legislators for their "consideration" ...


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## Ron Y

Walleye will not go into a black hole like a trap net. The Canadians using gill net catch everything that swims through. 
If commercial gets caught 3 times cheating they loose license for 10 years. Not worth risking their livelihood.


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## dwmikemx

I read it this way: Commercial netting of perch has been banned at Fairport and a 10 fish daily limit for anglers. Now the commercial fisherman have moved east of Fairport and will continue their netting until they decimate the perch population in that area Then the ODNR will reduce angler's perch limit to 10 also. Sounds about right.(sarc)


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## privateer

Ron Y said:


> Walleye will not go into a black hole like a trap net. The Canadians using gill net catch everything that swims through.
> If commercial gets caught 3 times cheating they loose license for 10 years. Not worth risking their livelihood.


"Walleye will not go into a black hole like a trap net" really. can you point me to a study on this. seriously... i'd like to check out the science. (i am a bit of a scientist myself...)

what fish are the netters tossing back into the lake if not walleye? i think i may have to pull on the dive gear this summer and take out the cameras on a nice calm clear day. i have seen the nets from above but not from below. wonder what they look like down there?


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## HappySnag

every net work as gill net,when you have 1" mash,every fish with size 1" head swim in the mash to go true,cen get true and cen not get back it is stuck in the mesh with gils.
i wonder what hepen to every fish like that ?
i know the fish get realesed when they pul the trap net and relesing the fish with baisbol bat ,beting the net wing.
i am sure they live fine.
did you ever use dip net for minows ?how many minows you had stuck with gils in neting ?


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## portney

puge said:


> Guys most of this data is available if you just look for it. I haven't been able to find the 2020 annual report yet, but it should be coming soon as they are usually released in late March. Here is the 2019 report, it has more information than one would ever need on the subject. 2019 commercial yellow perch catch in Ohio waters was 930,963 pounds. It also shows contrary to many claims, commercial catches of perch have continued in the western basin (Toledo to Huron) at least in 2019 with 193,243 pounds from district 1.
> 
> 
> https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/fish-management/LakeErieStatus.pdf
> 
> 
> View attachment 467177
> View attachment 467178
> View attachment 467179


Thanks for sharing this - longtime fisherman, first time reader. Be good to read the 2020 one, and see the changes. I think it’s all about finding the right “balance”. Adjusting the perch limits lower is probably the right thing to do for awhile. I quit fishing for them a few years ago. Purely based on low catch rates. Not worth the effort. Trade off is more eyes, less perch.


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## hookin up

When will it get back to normal?


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## Ron Y

Just talk to the trap netters, they do not get walleye in their nets. Ask ODNR as they trap samples too.


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## MUTHERLODE

I have to follow the logic that good Perch fishing returned in the Western Basin when the jets were banned. The netters moved east, Perch fishing declined in the central basin. Sorry for the netters, but I do feel they are at least a big part of the problem and should be reduced or eliminated. Or change the rules so that any hook & line fisherman can sell his legally caught fish, then the letters need to change to hook & line fishing also.


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## Ron Y

The netters are still setting in the western basin.


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## rickerd

Ron Y The netters were prohibited from WB around 2008 and not allowed back until 2016 or so. With just a few exceptions a couple of those years. They have been limited in the WB since allowed back.

This is fact and can be seen in the charts posted by Puge on page 3 of this post.
















Rickerd


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## rickerd

and mysteriously the perch population in the WB rebounded in 5 years, followed by great hatches of walleye which are never caught in the nets either. I'm just sayin.....









So it took 5 years for the perch in WB to rebound after nets prohibited. Successful perch hatches began again in 2013, and it is clear to me the hatches since have been better than the previous hatches prior to 2008 when the nets were in the basin. Then walleye also rebounded in 2015 until the present. The expanding lake levels recently might also help but the higher lake levels have been only last 3 springs I believe.

Keep in mind, during that time, I may not be able to see the wind, but I can tell you the direction its blowing from.
Rickerd


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## joekacz

Some very interesting statistics are being shown on this posting. But there’s one that’s missing and that is the one that was taken by the state survey workers at the ramps and marinas. I would think that those stats should of made the state aware that something was going on with the perch population in specific areas.I know a lot of you have been asked about your catch for the day by them. Just wondering if those stats were ever recorded or even considered. Most of us don’t have any type of degree but one thing we all have and that is in the field experience and that should of been used as a parameter over 5yrs ago.Just my most humble opinion.


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## pitchin

ODNR has a Contact page where you can leave your comments on various issues. Let your voices/opinions be heard on the perch issue in the Central Basin if you have strong feelings one way or the other. They are the ones that have the power to affect change.


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## Eyeonthefly

joekacz said:


> Some very interesting statistics are being shown on this posting. But there’s one that’s missing and that is the one that was taken by the state survey workers at the ramps and marinas. I would think that those stats should of made the state aware that something was going on with the perch population in specific areas.I know a lot of you have been asked about your catch for the day by them. Just wondering if those stats were ever recorded or even considered. Most of us don’t have any type of degree but one thing we all have and that is in the field experience and that should of been used as a parameter over 5yrs ago.Just my most humble opinion.


Where do you think the sport harvest numbers come from in the provided table? It is estimated from the creel interviews that you are asking about. All of that data is public property.


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## Popspastime

It's been leading to this the past 25 years after the zebra muscle explosion. The Central basin being the worst impacted. The muscle filters the plankton, the shiners feed on the plankton, no plankton, shiners gone, no shiners, perch are gone. Very rarely are there schools of Emeralds in or around Cleveland. Thats what brings the perch, food. Even the walleye caught are skinny and undernourished due to no shiners, so what do they eat, perch. West nursery doesn't have this problem, neither does the far East due to triple digit depths.It doesn't take a degree to figure whats happening. Dropping the limit won't do squat in the Central water, their just not there and neither is the bait chain.


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## dgfidler

I’ll share a second hand account from Canada. I worked in Toronto from 2015 to 2019. A coworker fishes Lake O and Lake Erie. Anyway, he was at Port Erieau walleye fishing the summer of 2018 and normally you can buy fresh perch right there at the docks. He inquired and they told him the commercial fishermen had not been getting significant catches for a couple years out Erieau. This is directly across from Cleveland. Just one data point that same problem exists on the other side of the border. The recreational fisherman’s attitude in Canada seems to be to leave Lake Erie to the commercial fishermen because they have outstanding perch and walleye fishing on their vast array of inland lakes.


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## youngblood

In my opinion Lake Erie Perch main diet is Gobies not Emerald Shiners. Every Perch I catch is stuffed full of Gobies. Gobies are bottom dwellers no swim bladder, more meat. probably way easier to catch and more abundant.


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## TRIPLE-J

idk ive caught a boat load of walleye out of cleveland the last few years and i have not seen one perch in any of the walleye ive caught...seen gobies,shad and some shiners but no perch...but i know there are people who have


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## kdn

I have caught a lot of walleye over they years. I have never been a perch in a walleye stomach. I have seen white perch, shiners and shad...but never a perch. Not even in lakes in Northern Ontario that I fish have fished. I have seen sunfish in walleye up north but never perch. I think if you look at how many perch are taken by fishermen and how many perch are taken by netters the action should be taken on the netters. Personally I think ODNR is dropping the ball on the issue in favor of a few netters in Ohio who are profiting big time on their catch. If you look at the retail price of perch and compare that to the price of perch ten years ago they are probably killing it. I would pay a $5 fee to buy out the netters in Ohio. It may take ten years to pay for the buy out perhaps longer but I would do it.


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## bowhunter1487

Walleye hacked this perch up in the livewell, eastern central basin, July 2019. It does happen


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## kdn

Hi Bowhunter, I am not saying that it doesn't happen. I have just observed that the rate of other fish being eaten is much higher than perch. In the fall the walleyes stomachs are bulging with shad. I have never seen a walleye stomach bulging with perch. Nowhere. I still look at the netters for a solution not the hook and line guys. There was one suggestion to make commercial guys use hook and line....but they would probably get permission for 1000 hooks per line and be able to run 100 lines so that hook not an option I would offer them. I think a total ban for 5 years would show if the population could rebound. Perch fry and fingerlings will roam much shallower water than walleye fry and fingerlings. I see schools of baby perch in a foot of water in Canadian lakes. I would imagine they would hang around the shoreline of Lake Erie just the same. Perhaps 5 years could make an impact. I do know that nobody that I fish with or that I know tries for perch. Now nobody will with a 10 limit


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## Fishcat

Dear KaGee, Which post is political? I find that I am completely " tone deaf " in this new society evolving around us. I honestly can't tell what someone is going to find offensive.


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## Fishcat

Hey Bowhunter 1487, That could have been the difference between a new boat and nothing in the Brawl. If you catch a big one in the fall should you knock it on the head right away to avoid a tragedy like this?


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## Ron Y

I will look for and post pic of dead cormorant guy cut open with 100 baby perch in it. Its in computer somewhere,I will post as soon as I find it.


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## GlennD

puge said:


> So why are these conditions not affecting the walleye population throughout the lake? Easy, the majority of Lake Erie walleye are migratory, and they get to enjoy the best of both worlds. They get to hatch and grow in the western basin which is currently packed with the plankton needed during this vital time. Once established they then migrate throughout the entire lake to cleaner/cooler water. Meaning the effects of poor water conditions (lack of plankton) in the eastern 2/3 of Ohio does not necessarily affect numbers of mature fish in those areas. Perch are not migratory fish, they spawn, grow, and live in a relatively local area in which they were born. Currently, the eastern 2/3 of the state simply does not have the water conditions available to allow perch populations to thrive. These conditions most likely explain the decrease in emerald shiner populations as well. It only takes a few bad recruitment classes to have a huge impact on spawning success. Lake Michigan has been dealing with this since the mid 90’s and their perch population has been decimated.


The perch fishing on Lake Michigan is great and has been great for a while now the problem for most anglers is being able to get out to where they’re at. The winds on the south end are a constant battle for the right conditions. But when conditions and water clarity are good it is game on.


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## baitguy

Ron Y said:


> I will look for and post pic of dead cormorant guy cut open with 100 baby perch in it. Its in computer somewhere,I will post as soon as I find it.


 the Comorants do eat a crapload of them, but most of those buggers are in western basin, the islands in particular, don't think they like to fly very far for dinner, and that perch population at least seems to be holding its own ... the netters must pay lobbyists a boatload to keep their permits and licenses, it's a few jobs but can't be that many, and they're not even 12 month jobs, 7 - 8 months tops, and not particularly high paying either ... the results are obvious, but we're talking government agencies here, so takes a year or 6 for them to filter thru all the facts  and if Canada continues to abuse, it doesn't make a lot of difference in the long run ... enforcement of existing rules for the netters and consequences for breaking them would go a long way, the pictures of dead fish floating around that were to small to keep is a shameful waste ... we could stop it ourselves if we just stop buying the perch for $17+ a pound, let them sell it in Canada ...


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## KaGee

Fishcat said:


> Dear KaGee, Which post is political? I find that I am completely " tone deaf " in this new society evolving around us. I honestly can't tell what someone is going to find offensive.


That's because the offending posts were removed.


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## kdn

Ron Y. I have posted such pictures of cormorants with dozens and dozens of small perch in their guts. Your point is well taken as they eat everyday. Shoot em


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## kdn

Bait Guy. I guess you have never been around Edgewater to see all the Comorants around C-Town. There are lots.


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## set-the-drag

Agreed the cormorant population is exploding and its showing everywhere. They are all over inland lakes in the ne. I fish ladue a lot and there are thousands there all summer. Didn't start seeing them till like 3 years ago. The lake had a huge white perch problem. My opinion that isn't the case anymore but now im betting the natural fish numbers are going to plummet the next couple years. Based on how much they eat daily it wouldn't take much for them to wipe out inland lake populations


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## baitguy

kdn said:


> Bait Guy. I guess you have never been around Edgewater to see all the Comorants around C-Town. There are lots.


 laugh no, it's been quite a while, I haven't been there in probably 20 years, I try to stay away from that insanity as much as possible ... but I know they're branching out all over ... not sure what the big conservation issue is with them, they certainly aren't in any sort of endangered species territory, ought to be able to thin that herd pretty easy ...


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## Bluntman55

Heres what a few New Yorkers did to help control them

Shoot-out at Little Galloo | Science | Smithsonian Magazine


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## privateer

Bluntman55 said:


> Heres what a few New Yorkers did to help control them
> 
> Shoot-out at Little Galloo | Science | Smithsonian Magazine


just a note that the article is from 2003. has been an issue for some time i guess... what has happened there (in NY) since 2003? more or less birds and fish status?


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## youngblood

privateer said:


> just a note that the article is from 2003. has been an issue for some time i guess... what has happened there (in NY) since 2003? more or less birds and fish status?








Regulations.gov







www.regulations.gov


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## cast party

Here is a link to send comments to the ODNR:

ODNR comments


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## puge

GlennD said:


> The perch fishing on Lake Michigan is great and has been great for a while now the problem for most anglers is being able to get out to where they’re at. The winds on the south end are a constant battle for the right conditions. But when conditions and water clarity are good it is game on.


I would love to see the data to back that up. I can provide plenty of data that says otherwise if you would like. Again the data is available if you look for it. Except for a few bays off the main lake and some very localized waters the perch fishing in Lake Michigan has been decimated for the last 20 years.


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## Beagler410

We have plenty of cormorants in PA waters too. We have had them for years. While they do eat some perch, I don't think they are the cause of the major plummet in numbers. In 2018 we were catching limits of perch with little effort here in PA. Over the last 2 years we have targeted them maybe 6 times and haven't caught more than a half dozen per trip.


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## HappySnag

Beagler410 said:


> We have plenty of cormorants in PA waters too. We have had them for years. While they do eat some perch, I don't think they are the cause of the major plummet in numbers. In 2018 we were catching limits of perch with little effort here in PA. Over the last 2 years we have targeted them maybe 6 times and haven't caught more than a half dozen per trip.


it is very easie to figure out where is the problem.
when perch comarcial fishing was baned in western base,all the quota was shifted and filed from centrall and east base .
what could be the problem ? overharvesting managment problem.


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## Beagler410

In PA, we have next to no commercial fishing, so I don't think that is the problem either.


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## HappySnag

the perch are mooving,you catch them close to shore,later you catch them 15 miles out.if they moove 15 miles then they can moove 50 miles to each side.mooving 50 miles west from PA end up in ohio and canadian nets.
in my estimate ohio comercial net kiled last year 8 milion perch and how many kiled by canadians ?
that is big nombers dead perch.


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## Petermkerling

cast party said:


> Here is a link to send comments to the ODNR:
> 
> ODNR comments


Thanks. Comments sent. I am skeptical that anything will come of it, but I think everyone who has an opinion on this matter should send in their comments. With the sharing of the link, laziness can’t be an excuse!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## pitchin

Response from Eric Weimer Fishery Biologist Supervisor Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
The Division of Wildlife policy is to allocate 35% of Ohio’s lakewide yellow perch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to commercial fishing at current population levels. By ‘lakewide’ I mean the total TAC for Ohio waters of Management Unit 1, 2 and 3 (West Basin and Central Basin). Rather than move commercial effort into MU 1 or MU3, we are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2. The MU2 quota for 2021 is the smallest quota allocated to the commercial fishery in MU2 since commercial quotas began in 1996 and represents a 70% decrease from the 2020 quota (which was the smallest until this year). Allocating a very small quota in MU2 is intended to reduce crowding/conflicts in MU1 and avoid increasing harvest in MU3 where population trends are declining as well


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## joekacz

pitchin said:


> Response from Eric Weimer Fishery Biologist Supervisor Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
> The Division of Wildlife policy is to allocate 35% of Ohio’s lakewide yellow perch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to commercial fishing at current population levels. By ‘lakewide’ I mean the total TAC for Ohio waters of Management Unit 1, 2 and 3 (West Basin and Central Basin). Rather than move commercial effort into MU 1 or MU3, we are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2. The MU2 quota for 2021 is the smallest quota allocated to the commercial fishery in MU2 since commercial quotas began in 1996 and represents a 70% decrease from the 2020 quota (which was the smallest until this year). Allocating a very small quota in MU2 is intended to reduce crowding/conflicts in MU1 and avoid increasing harvest in MU3 where population trends are declining as well
> View attachment 467624
> View attachment 467625


Thanks for the info.


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## privateer

pitchin said:


> Response from Eric Weimer Fishery Biologist Supervisor Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
> The Division of Wildlife policy is to allocate 35% of Ohio’s lakewide yellow perch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to commercial fishing at current population levels. By ‘lakewide’ I mean the total TAC for Ohio waters of Management Unit 1, 2 and 3 (West Basin and Central Basin). Rather than move commercial effort into MU 1 or MU3, we are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2. The MU2 quota for 2021 is the smallest quota allocated to the commercial fishery in MU2 since commercial quotas began in 1996 and represents a 70% decrease from the 2020 quota (which was the smallest until this year). Allocating a very small quota in MU2 is intended to reduce crowding/conflicts in MU1 and avoid increasing harvest in MU3 where population trends are declining as well


thanks for the info...

i was unable to expand or extract the docs you posted. will you post or PM me the links to them? thanks


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## MUTHERLODE

If commerical fishing is going to continue, shouldn't commerical fishing be restricted to 35% of the actual sport fishing success?


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## KaGee

pitchin said:


> Response from Eric Weimer Fishery Biologist Supervisor Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
> The Division of Wildlife policy is to allocate 35% of Ohio’s lakewide yellow perch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to commercial fishing at current population levels. By ‘lakewide’ I mean the total TAC for Ohio waters of Management Unit 1, 2 and 3 (West Basin and Central Basin). Rather than move commercial effort into MU 1 or MU3, we are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2. The MU2 quota for 2021 is the smallest quota allocated to the commercial fishery in MU2 since commercial quotas began in 1996 and represents a 70% decrease from the 2020 quota (which was the smallest until this year). Allocating a very small quota in MU2 is intended to reduce crowding/conflicts in MU1 and avoid increasing harvest in MU3 where population trends are declining as well
> View attachment 467624
> View attachment 467625


Thank you!


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## gw2kpro

Sadly this is probably 2-3 years too late, and blows a huge hole in the silly "yellow perch numbers are just fine in the central basin, it's just that you guys aren't good at catching them" story we have been told for years.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk


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## rickerd

This is the problem I have with OHIO changes. They added 20% to the allowable commercial catch in Western Basin for this year.
SEe this document;











http://www.glfc.org/pubs/pressrel/LEC%20news%20release%202021%20TACs%2003-26-21%20FINAL.pdf



So we as voters think the state is treating recreational fishing persons the same as commercial by lowering quotas in MU2 by the same percentage, while in MU1, the WEstern Basin, they increase commercial TAC by 20% and keep recreational anglers at 30 fish per day. IMHO they should not be raising quotas in MU1. They are playing with fire. The Media are decieving the public into thinking we are all being treated the same. This is not true. I'm glad I wrote the scathing comments to ODNR. This stinks of "kickbacks." We cannot believe anything a journalist writes. They think we are too stupid to catch them in lies. 

Any comments about this Darcy?

Rickerd


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## Ron Y

And recreational still gets 65% of the quota set by fishing commission not by Ohio. If you want to bitch at someone it should be the international commission and the Canadians who still use gill nets to kill everything.


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## PBsQuest

Can’t wait to dodge all of the nets that will be moved to the western basin. 


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## Ron Y

The 16 net licenses have their set zone to fish in, so boats will not flock to the Islands and since zone 2 has restrictions. The state regulates how many licenses in each zone. When they catch their quotas then they are done for the season. You all think its the Wild West and they can do whatever they want, NOT.


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## HappySnag

Ron Y said:


> The 16 net licenses have their set zone to fish in, so boats will not flock to the Islands and since zone 2 has restrictions. The state regulates how many licenses in each zone. When they catch their quotas then they are done for the season. You all think its the Wild West and they can do whatever they want, NOT.


who is labyist,goverment oficial payd with kik back to make regulation.
if you have regulation,you have to look how much money sport fishing bring in a year,and you have to set quota by that.
comercial fishing do not bring to state 10% of money what sport fishing bring.
but comercial has biger quota.
it is not wild west it is mafia reguletion.


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## TRIPLE-J

HappySnag said:


> who is labyist,goverment oficial payd with kik back to make regulation.
> if you have regulation,you have to look how much money sport fishing bring in a year,and you have to set quota by that.
> comercial fishing do not bring to state 10% of money what sport fishing bring.
> but comercial has biger quota.
> it is not wild west it is mafia reguletion.


Commercial doesn't have a bigger quota
The commercial quota is at 35% if I remember right and sport anglers are at 65%


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## privateer

I just have to wonder how many times a netter has been inspected during active fishing on the water. The ODNR folks are spread too thin. Just thinking of how many fishing and pleasure boats there are out of just my marina... And they have to cover all of Erie - oh, and don't forget all the rest of the state too... I wonder if the commercial license costs could support a dedicated ODNR staff to monitor the netters? There is such a difference between sport fishing and commercial fishing that there should be some focused over site there.


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## HappySnag

1983 fishing license cost $7 sport fishing,no limit on perch.
now fishing license price increase 300% and perch limit is 10,that is good improvment.
what was improved ,goverment salery and benefits.
how much cost comercial license in 183 ? and do they pay now 300% increase ?
i suport charter busines but no comercial fishinh,it destroyed fishery in all world.
the sport and charters did not destroy perch fishery.
i do not care what is the quota,the comercial fishing destroy leke erie perch fishing.
they fish for profit from public water,they should be completly shut down.
sport and charter fishing should have limit 30 perch,not 10.


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## romo753

When I was a kid in Erie, Pa, there was a hatchery on the bay that hatched perch to stock the lake. When the coho became popular they stopped the perch hatchery.


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## Mickey

I know I'll get hammered for this thought. But how about a closed season for a couple months a year during the perch spawn? For everybody in the Central Basin. I'm a veteran Bula perch fisherman and haven't gone there for 4-5 years now. Last two trips there I caught one perch and got skunked the other time. So personally I've already quit.


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## Petermkerling

So these were comments I left with ODNR:

Is this normal? 
In the recent past I have driven my boat to go fishing and made my way though an area that perch nets were just pulled. What I saw was absolutely horrific. Thousands or tens of thousands of perch dying or dead on the surface. I was disgusted, and after sharing my story with other fishermen, I learned that this is not uncommon. I guess it is, because I also learned that the Lake Erie commercial fishing industry is “closely regulated”. I understand that there are multiple things contributing to the perch decline in the central basin. I believe that most of us sport fishermen would be willing to close the season on perch for a few years in the interest of conservation, but it’s all moot if the netters continue their onslaught on yellow perch.What can be done to reduce or eliminate commercial perch netting on Lake Erie? The vast majority of non commercial fishermen in the state are motivated to do whatever it takes to greatly reduce or eliminate them. All of us Lake Erie fisherman are willing to pay a little extra to buy them out. What’s it gunna take? Hopefully it isn’t the end of the central basin perch population
.- concerned Lake Erie fishermen

This was their response:

Good afternoon Pete,

Thank you for reaching out. You are right in that there are multiple things contributing to the low yellow perch population in the Central Basin, but by far the most important issue is that there hasn’t been a good hatch there since 2012. Those hatches are what drive perch populations more than anything else, so until we get some recruitment, we aren’t going to see any improvements.

We do recognize that there is mortality when releasing fish (both commercial and recreational release mortality), and we understand how hard it is to see small fish that are unable to return to depth and die on the surface. We also recognize that release mortality varies over seasons, temperatures, and depths. The alternative is to mandate keeping those small fish, and that has larger implications. Commercial quota is regulated by weight (lbs. harvested), and if they kept small fish, they would theoretically be removing more individuals from the population (for example, 6 fish/lb. vs. 3 fish/lb.). Also, because of the 8.5” minimum length for perch, the commercial industry uses mesh sizes that select for legal sized fish. Although it isn’t perfect, if we allowed harvest of smaller perch, we could see a shift in net construction that would target smaller fish, increasing their harvest. When considering all these factors, we feel it is more beneficial to continue mandating release of small fish rather than mandating their harvest.

I appreciate the fact that anglers are very concerned about the state of yellow perch in the central basin, and I understand why some point to commercial fishing as a possible cause. I believe that if harvest (sport and commercial) remains below Ohio’s Total Allowable Catch level, there are benefits to allowing small levels of harvest even in a year like this when quota allocation is very low, especially if it means we don’t have to shift harvest to other management units. In 2021 the commercial allocation to MU2 is 70% less than last year, and last year was the lowest allocation in the history of quota management. Commercial quota is at most 35% of the Ohio TAC; at least 65% is first allocated to recreational anglers.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,


Division of Wildlife logo
Eric Weimer
Fishery Biologist Supervisor
Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
ODNR Division of Wildlife
305 E. Shoreline Drive
Sandusky, OH 44870
Office Phone: 419-625-8062


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Petermkerling

Actually a little surprised that I a response at all...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dontknowmuch

Petermkerling said:


> So these were comments I left with ODNR:
> 
> Is this normal?
> In the recent past I have driven my boat to go fishing and made my way though an area that perch nets were just pulled. What I saw was absolutely horrific. Thousands or tens of thousands of perch dying or dead on the surface. I was disgusted, and after sharing my story with other fishermen, I learned that this is not uncommon. I guess it is, because I also learned that the Lake Erie commercial fishing industry is “closely regulated”. I understand that there are multiple things contributing to the perch decline in the central basin. I believe that most of us sport fishermen would be willing to close the season on perch for a few years in the interest of conservation, but it’s all moot if the netters continue their onslaught on yellow perch.What can be done to reduce or eliminate commercial perch netting on Lake Erie? The vast majority of non commercial fishermen in the state are motivated to do whatever it takes to greatly reduce or eliminate them. All of us Lake Erie fisherman are willing to pay a little extra to buy them out. What’s it gunna take? Hopefully it isn’t the end of the central basin perch population
> .- concerned Lake Erie fishermen
> 
> This was their response:
> 
> Good afternoon Pete,
> 
> Thank you for reaching out. You are right in that there are multiple things contributing to the low yellow perch population in the Central Basin, but by far the most important issue is that there hasn’t been a good hatch there since 2012. Those hatches are what drive perch populations more than anything else, so until we get some recruitment, we aren’t going to see any improvements.
> 
> We do recognize that there is mortality when releasing fish (both commercial and recreational release mortality), and we understand how hard it is to see small fish that are unable to return to depth and die on the surface. We also recognize that release mortality varies over seasons, temperatures, and depths. The alternative is to mandate keeping those small fish, and that has larger implications. Commercial quota is regulated by weight (lbs. harvested), and if they kept small fish, they would theoretically be removing more individuals from the population (for example, 6 fish/lb. vs. 3 fish/lb.). Also, because of the 8.5” minimum length for perch, the commercial industry uses mesh sizes that select for legal sized fish. Although it isn’t perfect, if we allowed harvest of smaller perch, we could see a shift in net construction that would target smaller fish, increasing their harvest. When considering all these factors, we feel it is more beneficial to continue mandating release of small fish rather than mandating their harvest.
> 
> I appreciate the fact that anglers are very concerned about the state of yellow perch in the central basin, and I understand why some point to commercial fishing as a possible cause. I believe that if harvest (sport and commercial) remains below Ohio’s Total Allowable Catch level, there are benefits to allowing small levels of harvest even in a year like this when quota allocation is very low, especially if it means we don’t have to shift harvest to other management units. In 2021 the commercial allocation to MU2 is 70% less than last year, and last year was the lowest allocation in the history of quota management. Commercial quota is at most 35% of the Ohio TAC; at least 65% is first allocated to recreational anglers.
> 
> Let me know if you have any additional questions.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Division of Wildlife logo
> Eric Weimer
> Fishery Biologist Supervisor
> Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
> ODNR Division of Wildlife
> 305 E. Shoreline Drive
> Sandusky, OH 44870
> Office Phone: 419-625-8062
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It all comes down to the right people in the right places getting their pockets filled.The ODNR new their was a major problem by 2015.They knew what the outcomes would be if a couple good hatches did not come along.They did nothing!!!.The ODNR can not control the hatches but they sure as hell could have slowed the depletion down.Instead they have flat out lied about what was going on.The ODNR is a sad joke.


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## HappySnag

i suport sport and charter fishing and who buy license should vote what is done.Not politician, he has no idea what is going on,and he do not care.he only care how much he get in envelop.
same scam like power plant help for 1 bilion from publick.
from the leter it say nothing will be done,sombody give us order what we have to do,if we wanet to be on payroll.
that is caled dictatorship not managment.
after destroing pech in lake erie,all ohio goverment should be striped from benefits and retierment pension.after that they will do perfect job.


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## privateer

Perhaps what it will take is pressure from a general public outcry at the wasted fish floating on the surface to finally eliminate the nets. I guess that means we will have to chase the net boats and get video of the waste that occurs from the netting process. Then get these aired on TV and social media to get a public outcry of the netting waste.

As for the ODNR response that a change for netters to keeping all fish in their trap would result in net mesh size changes... It does not have to as ODNR can mandate a mesh size for the net. Then those perch dumb enough to stick around get eaten, those smart enough to swim through go free. How hard was that solution to think up?

We can even modify the "keep all that you catch" with a seasonal and condition change that allows for release when conditions are favorable. Mandate that they video the entire process for every net haul for public review - this is neither difficult or expensive today.


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## youngblood

If you haven't watched _*Seaspiracy*_ on Netflix you should. It is a documentary about commercial fishing in the Oceans and what little is being done about it.


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## rickerd

My note to ODNR:
The decision by state of Oh to let the commercial netters increase their catch of yellow perch in the western basin of lake erie is ludicrous. You are putting the entire fish population of Lake Erie at risk to fill 7 months of work for 4 families of commercial fishing. There is an effect which you cannot deny that the last time you prevented their activities in the western basin 2008, the yellow perch and walleye populations rebounded within a few years to amazing levels. You are risking all of this to save a few dozen low paying, half year jobs which doesn't bring much money into Ohio State compared to the sport fishing people and industry. This stinks of corruption and favoratism. When are you going to wake up and protect our lake from commercial net fishing. Every ocean and body of water in the world loses fish stocks to these activities. Lake Erie cannot survive your increases to net fishing. STOP 
Richard Pichola

I received a response to my email also which is below;

Good afternoon Richard,

Thank you for reaching out. I understand that commercial fishing and yellow perch management are hot topics right now. Let me explain how and why we manage as we do:

Based on interagency survey work from the previous year, the Lake Erie Committee estimates yellow perch populations in each Management Unit (MU) in Lake Erie. This includes a safe level of harvest for each MU, called a Total Allowable Catch (TAC). A portion of that TAC is allocated to Ohio; DOW immediately gives at least 65% of the TAC to recreational anglers (depending on yellow perch abundance, that percentage can increase). The remaining percentage, up to 35%, is allocated to commercial fishing. As population sizes decrease, so does the Ohio TAC, resulting in decreases to commercial quota. When the TAC is low enough in a particular MU, we allocate all harvest in that MU to recreational anglers and have to re-distribute commercial quota elsewhere. The point I’m trying to make is that as long as we stay under our TAC, we can allow for some small level of recreational and commercial fishing in a MU, and that recreational angler harvest is always the priority.

Regarding the relative value of commercial fishing, I will say that the Division of Wildlife manages the Lake Erie fishery for all Ohioans. Some Ohioans choose to partake of that resource by angling, and others choose to access it through restaurants and fish markets. As I mentioned above, recreational anglers get priority over commercial fishing, but there is a place for the commercial industry at the table.

You mentioned the commercial closure in the West: that was a different scenario that the one we currently face in the Central. In the West, our prediction of angler harvest was so high in those years that we had to allocate all the MU1 quota to anglers, and even then it came with a 25-fish daily limit. But to accomplish that we had to move commercial quota into MU2 and MU3. We are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2 this year because we think moving quota to MU1 or MU3 could cause other problems (on-water conflicts, etc.).

At the end of the day, the driving force behind yellow perch populations (and walleye and most Lake Erie fish) is hatch and recruitment success. When we get good hatches we have good populations. I’ve included an informational brief that talks about the current status of perch in Lake Erie. You will see that a string of poor hatches in either Management Unit can lead to low populations, and the only way out is through good recruitment.

I’m also including other briefs. I hope this gives you some additional information to consider. If you have any other questions let me know.

Thanks,


 






Eric Weimer
Fishery Biologist Supervisor
Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
ODNR Division of Wildlife
305 E. Shoreline Drive
Sandusky, OH 44870
Office Phone: 419-625-8062
Work Cell: 419-345-5080
Email: [email protected]
  
Ohio Division of Wildlife: More than 140 years of professional fish and wildlife management in Ohio. Learn more at wildohio.gov.

I have a couple other questions I will send to Eric and ODNR, but I am happy they answered my email. I know the tone of my email was confrontational and emotional with facts and figures thrown in for a basis. I'm impressed with the professionalism of Eric and his answers. I don't have to agree with all of the answers, but thankful Eric is touching those points I tried to make.

Rickerd


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## rickerd

Here is my reply to Eric;
Eric,
I am super impressed you took time to answer my comments. I was emotional and confrontational and you remain professional and I respect that.

I would still challenge the science you are reviewing in the Western Basin. The yellow perch flyer shows YP in WB Hatch is barely creaping up to average over the last 30 years. The water levels lowering again will effect the hatch and you are upping the allowable catch for the commercial nets in WB. If recruitment in WB for YP were recently great, I could see how you feel there is an abundance and time to give options to bring in more. But, the hatch for YP in WB is still trying to recover and commercial nets will negatively impact this. 

Not to mention reasonable assumption that some young of year walleye are caught in the same nets. It might seem like a small number of walleye now, but at anytime a low hatch year of walleye occurs, the percentage of that by catch of walleye will be a detriment to the walleye hatch. 

According to the commercial fishing flyer, $4.5 Million dollars a year is the average dockside value of the Ohio Commercial net industry. Offer them $20 Million to buy out the licenses and end the net fishing on Ohio waters. Charge each license holder a "lake erie stamp" fee to fish lake erie of $7 each until the buyout is complete. IF any one of those businesses would not take 5 years of revenue as a buy out, they are foolish. Heck even let them fish with current regulations until the buyout is complete.

I guess I just need to get out fishing. Good day,
Rick


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## stampman60

several months ago there was an article on here about the perch fry. they were swallowing the spiney water flies and would get stuck in there throats and die. maybe why they aren't here anymore. along with increase in wally's.


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## Popspastime

There's very little bait, shiners, shad, between Lorain and Grand River, why, I'm still guessing. As the fish start moving East they have a bit of weight and look good. As the season progresses the local schools are skinny and starving. A 29.5 fish will "on a bet" go around 9.5 lbs. I caught quite a few 28 to 29.5 inch that didn't make 6.5 lbs, they were starving not eating. There's something going on in the Central area clearing or killing the base plankton which doesn't support the bait fish. You can say or hear what ever theory you want, there's something more then harvest going on here.


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## set-the-drag

That pops is the algae die off creating dead zones in the central basin when it dies it sinke to the bottom and rots completely zapping o2 in the water there is a bunch of articles on it nothing can live in the central with these huge blooms every year


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## Popspastime

Fishing the Central hard as I have the last 5 years and as yet never seen a large bloom. The West turns green.


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## set-the-drag

When it dies in the west the current drags it to the central where it settles and becomes the problem. Look up the articles i cant think of them off the top of my head but they have been studying it since the blooms been getting bad its turned the central deep water into a wasteland


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## privateer

set-the-drag said:


> When it dies in the west the current drags it to the central where it settles and becomes the problem. Look up the articles i cant think of them off the top of my head but they have been studying it since the blooms been getting bad its turned the central deep water into a wasteland


i have seen algae on surface 20-miles out before - but we were still catching fish throughout the water columm. perhaps does not get to me as i don't venture west much beyond Fairport Harbor.


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## cast party

rickerd said:


> My note to ODNR:
> The decision by state of Oh to let the commercial netters increase their catch of yellow perch in the western basin of lake erie is ludicrous. You are putting the entire fish population of Lake Erie at risk to fill 7 months of work for 4 families of commercial fishing. There is an effect which you cannot deny that the last time you prevented their activities in the western basin 2008, the yellow perch and walleye populations rebounded within a few years to amazing levels. You are risking all of this to save a few dozen low paying, half year jobs which doesn't bring much money into Ohio State compared to the sport fishing people and industry. This stinks of corruption and favoratism. When are you going to wake up and protect our lake from commercial net fishing. Every ocean and body of water in the world loses fish stocks to these activities. Lake Erie cannot survive your increases to net fishing. STOP
> Richard Pichola
> 
> I received a response to my email also which is below;
> 
> Good afternoon Richard,
> 
> Thank you for reaching out. I understand that commercial fishing and yellow perch management are hot topics right now. Let me explain how and why we manage as we do:
> 
> Based on interagency survey work from the previous year, the Lake Erie Committee estimates yellow perch populations in each Management Unit (MU) in Lake Erie. This includes a safe level of harvest for each MU, called a Total Allowable Catch (TAC). A portion of that TAC is allocated to Ohio; DOW immediately gives at least 65% of the TAC to recreational anglers (depending on yellow perch abundance, that percentage can increase). The remaining percentage, up to 35%, is allocated to commercial fishing. As population sizes decrease, so does the Ohio TAC, resulting in decreases to commercial quota. When the TAC is low enough in a particular MU, we allocate all harvest in that MU to recreational anglers and have to re-distribute commercial quota elsewhere. The point I’m trying to make is that as long as we stay under our TAC, we can allow for some small level of recreational and commercial fishing in a MU, and that recreational angler harvest is always the priority.
> 
> Regarding the relative value of commercial fishing, I will say that the Division of Wildlife manages the Lake Erie fishery for all Ohioans. Some Ohioans choose to partake of that resource by angling, and others choose to access it through restaurants and fish markets. As I mentioned above, recreational anglers get priority over commercial fishing, but there is a place for the commercial industry at the table.
> 
> You mentioned the commercial closure in the West: that was a different scenario that the one we currently face in the Central. In the West, our prediction of angler harvest was so high in those years that we had to allocate all the MU1 quota to anglers, and even then it came with a 25-fish daily limit. But to accomplish that we had to move commercial quota into MU2 and MU3. We are allocating a very small commercial quota in MU2 this year because we think moving quota to MU1 or MU3 could cause other problems (on-water conflicts, etc.).
> 
> At the end of the day, the driving force behind yellow perch populations (and walleye and most Lake Erie fish) is hatch and recruitment success. When we get good hatches we have good populations. I’ve included an informational brief that talks about the current status of perch in Lake Erie. You will see that a string of poor hatches in either Management Unit can lead to low populations, and the only way out is through good recruitment.
> 
> I’m also including other briefs. I hope this gives you some additional information to consider. If you have any other questions let me know.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Eric Weimer
> Fishery Biologist Supervisor
> Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
> ODNR Division of Wildlife
> 305 E. Shoreline Drive
> Sandusky, OH 44870
> Office Phone: 419-625-8062
> Work Cell: 419-345-5080
> Email: [email protected]
> Ohio Division of Wildlife: More than 140 years of professional fish and wildlife management in Ohio. Learn more at wildohio.gov.
> 
> I have a couple other questions I will send to Eric and ODNR, but I am happy they answered my email. I know the tone of my email was confrontational and emotional with facts and figures thrown in for a basis. I'm impressed with the professionalism of Eric and his answers. I don't have to agree with all of the answers, but thankful Eric is touching those points I tried to make.
> 
> Rickerd


 The ODNR talks a good game, but the simple fact is, the more yellow perch there are in the central basin, the greater the hatch will be if we ever get a good one. The reduction in this years MU2 commercial quota accomplishes nothing. All they did was lower the quota to what the commercial netters caught last year. They won't be catching any less fish. They will still be taking all the fish they can catch out of the central basin. And the increase in the western basin quota is despicable and defies any explanation.


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## set-the-drag

privateer said:


> i have seen algae on surface 20-miles out before - but we were still catching fish throughout the water columm. perhaps does not get to me as i don't venture west much beyond Fairport Harbor.


Well the problem is not from live algae its when it dies off and really its the bottom that gets o2 zapped off. I guess that's why the eyes are fine but stuff that hangs more to the bottom is suffering


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## rickerd

set-the-drag said:


> That pops is the algae die off creating dead zones in the central basin when it dies it sinke to the bottom and rots completely zapping o2 in the water there is a bunch of articles on it nothing can live in the central with these huge blooms every year


Set the Drag, We have NOT had a bad harmful algal blume, (HAB) in the WB since about 2015. Algae is a natural occuring thing in the WB, its the Harmful Algal Blumes that are monitored at this website;




__





Lake Erie HAB


description here



tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov





Some algae is natural and not harmful. Last year was supposed to be a huge HAB with all the spring rains, but it never was as much as 2019 even. Farmers are learning how to minimize runoff of furtilizer and might be the major reason the HABs have been down.

Rickerd


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## privateer

rickerd said:


> Farmers are learning how to minimize runoff of furtilizer and might be the major reason the HABs have been down.


The technology being used on modern grain farms is rather impressive. they now have the ability to fertilize only the actual seed bed. It costs them $$ to spray fertilizer and chemicals over ground that is not producing for them. Thus they have a financial incentive to do better too.

i have heard that lots of the issue is the factory style animal farms located in the western basin watershed areas. not sure how they can easily eliminate that runoff unless using some form of capture system. i guess we could all just eat less chicken, port, beef too... or an effective EPA that sets reasonable and attainable requirements on producers. of course you know this will cost the producers $ which in turn they will pass along to us and will increase the price we pay for their product. nothing is free...


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## hageman.2

rickerd said:


> Set the Drag, We have NOT had a bad harmful algal blume, (HAB) in the WB since about 2015. Algae is a natural occuring thing in the WB, its the Harmful Algal Blumes that are monitored at this website;
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lake Erie HAB
> 
> 
> description here
> 
> 
> 
> tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Some algae is natural and not harmful. Last year was supposed to be a huge HAB with all the spring rains, but it never was as much as 2019 even. Farmers are learning how to minimize runoff of furtilizer and might be the major reason the HABs have been down.
> 
> Rickerd


The 2020 HAB was lower due to reduced precipitation levels during the critical spring run-off period after fertilizer has been added, but before crops begin to absorb them. Despite your assertions of small HAB's since 2015







, the HAB's in the Western Basin have been above healthy target levels most years. See attached chart of the annual HAB biomass.


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## KaGee

This thread is exhausted. Time to let it rest.


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