Healing Ogaa (Walleye Sander vitreus ) Waters: Lessons and Future Directions for Inland Fisheries Rehabilitation

Le résumé fourni par la source

Culturally, economically, and nutritionally valuable inland fisheries face many new challenges on top of chronic disturbances. In the upper midwestern United States, declines in cool- and coldwater fisheries have been observed, including ogaa/walleye Sander vitreus. In response to population declines, agencies have implemented rehabilitation efforts, and the frequency and intensity of efforts have increased recently given declines. Evaluating intervention outcomes is critical for institutional learning and to understand strategy effectiveness, but is difficult to do when multiple interventions are applied concurrently and in the absence of replication or controls. This review documents walleye rehabilitation efforts in the upper Midwest U.S., where a rehabilitation effort was defined as a coordinated effort with the stated intention to restore a self-sustaining population such that it required limited-to-no further intervention. We discuss: (1) strategies used; (2) similarities and differences in metrics of success; (3) factors leading to success; and (4) recommendations that may increase future successful rehabilitation. Strategies included harvest regulation changes, stocking, fish community manipulations, habitat enhancement, and partner discussions. Overall, evaluations of environmental, habitat, and fish community factors causing walleye population declines were not included in most rehabilitation plans before implementation. This review highlights an increased need for ecosystem-based fisheries management principles and cultivating ecological conditions that favor walleye as a potential path for future rehabilitation plans. Lessons drawn from rehabilitation plans are applicable to global inland fisheries to inform the conservation of declining fish populations.

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