Help the DNR.

Schnauzer forwarded this on to me and I sent in my note as a volunteer for this effort. More so to observe what the heck is going on. I did have an initial thought…How much mortality occurs from a walleye being caged for an extended period of time??? Here is the text of the message from the Minnesota DNR:
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Hooking Mortality of walleye on Mille Lacs Lake in 2003

We request your help in collecting fish for a Minnesota DNR-Fisheries
study on the fate of walleye following release by anglers. The study
begins in mid May and continues through early October 2003. We will set
up holding cages on productive fishing spots and ask volunteers to fish
nearby. Volunteers will catch walleye, signal to a DNR employee, record
some basic information, and turn the fish over to the employee. The
employee will mark and then immediately transport the fish to the
holding cage. Walleye will be held in the cages for several days to
observe delayed deaths. Bring your own boats and fishing equipment, if
available, and fish with your preferred methods. There are legal issues
with retaining protected-size fish, even briefly, so volunteer anglers
must receive temporary permits prior to each day’s fishing trip. We will
use the data to evaluate potential regulations, so volunteers will be
asked to submit all walleye, of legal size or not, to a DNR employee
during each volunteer trip. Our goal is to obtain an estimate of walleye
hooking mortality for Mille Lacs Lake and to determine which factors
most influence the survival of released walleye. The more fish anglers
catch for this study, the more accurate and useful the information.

Fishing event days are scheduled as follows: May 17, 20, 25, 30, June
9, 14, 20, 21, July 5, 11, 15, 19, August 3, 8, 9, 29, September 7, 8,
19, 29. Other days are available upon request.

For more information, or to set up dates and times to volunteer, please
call, write, send a fax, or send an e-mail. Also, please indicate errors
regarding your name or address.

Sincerely,

Keith Reeves, Assistant 1837 Treaty Biologist
MN DNR-Fisheries
P.O. Box 138
Aitkin, MN 56431
218-927-7505 (phone)
218-927-4121 (fax)
[email protected]

I don’t know what to think, as I recieved the same e-mail?

What are they going to do with the fish that die?

Quote:

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What are they going to do with the fish that die?

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That may be one of the benefits of helping out…???

It seems like a weird deal. That’s one reason I’d like to be there taking pictures. I can’t imagine how they will pull this off in August. Cage up an August walleye after getting dragged up off a flat, run to shore in a live well, measured, handled, on a 85 degree day!! That all adds up to a dead fish. Wonder if that same fish would survive if let go immediatly?

J.

I see the email states that the cages would be strategically located near popular fishing areas, but I doubt cages would be set up on the flats somewhere. Good point.

I think the study has some validity to it, but it sounds like a study to help justify the numbers that were estimated for last years mortality from sport anglers?

I will sign up to help as well.

i read something about this last fall. i think it was in the mille lacs digest, i can’t remember for sure. the way that i understood it was like this. thje cages will be set out at some of the most popular spots. if it is on a flat, the cage will go from the surface to the bottom, and if i remember right about 12ft X 12ft. if it is on a rock pile it will be the same from surface to the bottom. there will be folks standing by at the cages to put the fish into the cages. you don’t have to put the fish into your livewell and go all the way in. you might just have to go to the other side of the flat or rock pile. this is how i understood it, i may be wrong. i also think that this was just proposed, not approved yet. somebody correct me if i am wrong.

I wonder what said fish will eat in this caged environment, I doubt a school of baitfish will hang out near a cage full of walleyes???? If its only for a day or two it wont matter. And what happens when someone drives their boat into a cage?