possible more walleye cuts for nipissing

[jimmer]

Thanks for sharing your opinion Big Jack. You make some very rational points.

[captain cotton]

Choosing to sample the same areas over and over again is fundamentally flawed. Reason: natural selection. Your putting all the pressure one a subset of the species that spawns in a specific habitat while possibly ignoring a different subset that could be prospering. Although subtle initially, I think the changes add up over the course of 40 years.

I won't claim to know more than the MNR techs but I certainly believe in "the proof is in the pudding" and for the past several years my pudding has always been filled with walleye when I travel to the Nip. I think Im going to take a look at the actual data they have collected and the statistics they offer.

[captain cotton]

Here is a link to the most recent report I could find for those interested. Of special note: Figure 4.
Any one care to comment?
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...rod_109410.pdf

[35wailin]

(Quote) The MNR`s data is terribly flawed. (Quote)
You have absolute proof of this?

I put my faith in the fishery techs that run the nets and come up with what they come up with. What advantage do they have to fudge numbers?
Fish move around great distances on any water body so setting nets on consistent locations time and time again over a number of years is the correct way of determining population fluctuations. Fishery history on that lake goes back at least 60 years so theres certainly enough base data to determine the state of the fishery in comparison to other years.
My only issue with MNR is that they're putting the onus on the sport fishery to correct population issues while apparently ignoring the commercial fishery by not reducing their quotas accordingly.

I agree with with you sawbill, with the exception that the MNR should be doing more to help the fishery by allowing the various groups that want to help with stocking, spawning beds, etc.

[redd foxx]

Stocking is a Band-Aid solution to a bigger problem. If there is something or someone causing a decline in the populations, you can stock all you want and you'll still get a decline in the populations. Address the problem that causes the
decline and then you can hopefully rely on natural reproduction to take care of the resource.

The theory behind the MNR setting in the same locations is to be as consistent as possible with the sampling methods to indicate "relative" abundance over time. Increase in catches at the same location during the same period each year should indicate an increase in population.

[35wailin]

I have several relatives on my wife's side that fish Nipissing regularly. These are not expert anglers, but "average Joes" that are not seeing the walleyes come out that they used to see. They are complaining and rightly so. I agree with whoever said that the true measure of a fishery is not what the experts can jig up. If the average Joe can't find and catch fish, then most people who go there will not catch fish and cannot be considered a good fishery.

the MNR needs to get the stick out of their collective butt and allow the public to assist them in bringing back this and other fisheries to their former greatness. We also need to bring the First Nations back to the table and negotiate an agreement where there is either one set of rules or one where we can at least minimize the differences between the two groups as well as bring some accountability and responsibility to manage the resources for everyone who uses them.

We cannot continue on a path where one group has apparent immunity from the conservation laws that most of us have to follow as well as no accountability or responsibility to assist in the management. This applies not only here in Ontario, but across the country.

Don't get me wrong. If I was on the other side of this debate, I would be fighting tooth and nail to protect what I had. On the other hand, I have several FN friends and none of them depend on traditional hunting and fishing activities to survive. The FNs in the arctic, the ones deep in the bush, yes, they do hunt, fish and trap to survive. There's are many though, that have good, well-paying jobs with full benefits that do not need the traditional lifestyle rights any longer.

The FN problem is a tricky one and will not be resolved in the near future.

[Bonkers]

Yup and the MNR can't do squat about the FN issue. Only the Fed's can

[JoePa]

Using North Woods Law as an indicator of what's happening is kinda stu--- me thinks - come on man - gives us a break - any form of netting has to have an effect on the fishing -

[icecap]

People on this message board need to stop blaming the Natives or minority groups for depleted fish/game population. The people who often blame Natives or minority groups are often the guilty party. Here's the proof on the MNR website http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business...ge/279300.html. These guys are certainly are Native or minority. Those convicted for poaching on the show " North Woods Law" are certainly not Natives nor minority people. The article http://www.nugget.ca/2014/03/09/new-...fies-operators did mention commercial fishing. Who owns these commercial fishing operations in Nippissing? I am guessing probably the same groups of people accusing the Natives and minority groups of overfishing.

[blasted_saber]

People on this message board need to stop blaming the Natives or minority groups for depleted fish/game population. The people who often blame Natives or minority groups is often the guilty party. Here's the proof on the MNR website http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business...ge/279300.html. These guys are certainly are Native or minority. Those convicted for poaching on the show " North Woods Law" are certainly not Natives nor minority people. The article http://www.nugget.ca/2014/03/09/new-...fies-operators did mention commercial fishing. Who owns these commercial fishing operations in Nippissing? I am guessing probably the same groups of people accusing the Natives and minority groups of overfishing.

The natives own the commercial fishery on Lake Nipissing.

http://www.ofah.org/fishing/nipissingwalleye