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The Commercial Fishery for Walleyes in New York Waters of Lake Erie, 1959‐1978
Author(s) -
Wolfert D. R.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1981)1<112:tcffwi>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - stizostedion , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , environmental science
A limited commercial gill‐net fishery for walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) in New York waters of Lake Erie was established in the 1950's. Since then year class strengths have varied considerably; four have been outstanding—those of 1959, 1962, 1964, and 1971. A rapid rate of rise in water temperature during spawning and incubation was positively correlated with the strength of these year classes. Each time a strong year class appeared, small‐mesh gill‐net effort was markedly increased, and an average of 46% of the fish of each year class was harvested at age I before they were sexually mature. If the small‐mesh gill‐net fishery had not been operating, the total annual production by the large‐mesh gill‐net fishery could have been increased by an average of 35%.