Lake Nipissing - MNR v.s. Everyone Else?

This article was posted in the North Bay Nugget (online site) today. I would be very interested in hearing anyone's thoughts on this as I am sure there are many, many opinions out there on exactly what the solutions can be. I am a little suprised that the Nugget would post such an opinionated article, but hey, someone has to shoot from the hip to get things going......Well done Dave Dale (nugget).

My two cents to start the ball rolling ....... make sure you get you and your kids out this year (support the various local lodges and business owners ! ) for some fishing.....if I were a betting man, I would say someone (or governing agency/group....fill in the appropriate blank there for yourself)...will close the walleye season and impose a catch and release only law for Nip for the forseeable future until restocking programs can catch up....that is if those programs ever get off the ground and around the obvious hurdle they see in front of them now. I for one would gladly contribute my time, effort, and heck ya a few bucks to support such an effort to restock walleye.

The last sentance of this article below scares the heck out of me.....this is likely what many were thinking but when someone puts it out there in black and white...it really hits home.

See you all out there this summer..... SKRAMO ........}-)))0>..........

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NORTH BAY - The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is a funny little group. Funny as in slightly annoying and fairly arrogant.

At least the top brass and wannabe brass appear that way with little regard for how they go about the business of public service.

Maybe it's the politics involved, with a revolving door of ministerial appointments and mandate changes. Maybe it's the lack of program funding.

Most of the guys and gals in the field seem more grounded. A few hard cases with bad cop attitudes give them a bad name.

But basically, MNR policies, protocols and mannerisms in general are counter-intuitive.

The Lake Nipissing Stakeholders Association certainly didn't enjoy its experience while seeking permission to ramp up its walleye restocking program. Meetings and requests started in earnest last fall and the group, involving many of the South Shore tourist operators and a broad range of stakeholders, tried to play nice.

Data and research from other jurisdictions which have built up depleted fisheries offered some hope for success.

Ontario got out of the restocking game more than two decades ago as budget tightening put the investment and science under a microscope.

Biologically, it's easy to lean toward a preference for natural reproduction. Genetic strength hinges on diverse factors.

And Lake Nipissing, with its sheer size and structure, makes it extremely difficult to manage and study to see what helps or hurts.

But the group wasn't seeking money and they were willing to do the work even if success was a long shot.

Data over the past several years showed a significantly reduced walleye fishery when it came to prime spawning age fish. There's several very strong year classes of immature walleye, the eldest of which make the best pan fry meal. Lots and lots of half-pounders, just not enough 20-inchers.

So they wanted to do something, both to show the world stakeholders were actively trying to reverse the problem (marketing benefit) while also giving Mother Nature a push ahead toward recovery.

The native blue walleye were fished to near collapse long ago and the yellow walleye seemed to do well when Nipissing was restocked, so why not?

Consider it a half-measure that keeps people busy and interested while other issues were explored, including all aspects of commercial gill netting, a cormorant population explosion, invading species and water quality changes.

The Lake Nipissing Summit organized by Nipissing First Nation last spring and involving all the community stakeholders in the area seemed promising too.

MNR participation was lacking, although they soon formed their own working committee of stakeholders meeting in private to discuss public issues.

Weeks turned to a month and more with no answer from the MNR, although it was clear they were not warming up to the idea.

And then, out of the blue and down from the MNR mount came the reactive decree that the possession limit was going to drop from four to two walleye. It was embraced like a chunk of coal found in a Christmas stocking.

If they were open and honest, they'd admit they took the easiest route as part of a political strategy to put pressure on Nipissing FN to reduce its commercial quota.

Smarter science would have considered more strongly the idea of changing the slot size to protect the next generation of spawners. Reducing the limit merely forced the meat-eating ice fishermen to become small walleye gluttons.

And by all accounts, the fishing was good this winter and I'd love to see how many people were caught taking more than allowed with increased enforcement effort.

Yet there was still no official answer to the association's request to go big on restocking as an immediate short-term part of the overall plan.

Even the Municipality of Callander asked through official resolution for the MNR to reconsider its reduced limit decision, suggesting instead a multi-prong collaborative approach that includes restocking. Nothing but silence followed.

Finally, the MNR brass saw fit to inform the commoners last week, although they didn't bother flexing their bulging public relations muscles to do it.

Instead, they let it leak out at a North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce that the MNR has ruled out restocking, as well as the idea of culling the nearly 3,000 nesting pairs of cormorants.

One day later, they arrived at a previously scheduled meeting with the stakeholders' association and gave them their answer.

Whether you agree with restocking programs or not, it's just plain rude to treat a willing and eager group of stakeholders in that manner.

Let's hope they grow some better manners and come to the next Lake Nipissing Summit this May with a more collaborative approach to forming the next MNR management plan.

Truth be told, the only thing keeping the walleye fishery afloat is very good spawning circumstances and poor fishing weather these past four or five years.

dave.dale@sunmedia.ca

Thanks Skramo, interesting article but nothing truly surprising. I agree the last sentence is scary.

Quite interesting......


ever get the feeling that a once grat organization is nothing but the "delivery Boy now"

There is a pattern, provincially.....not good as far as I am concerned

MNR stands for ministry of no results!

The mnr is just a bunch of college grads with no outdoor experience trying to keep there jobs. If they fix the problem, then we don't need all of them anymore

Spend some time with some of them and you might change that shortsighted opinion.

The MNR as a whole is a mess. Lots of good people on the inside. The techs doing the grunt work especially.. in person, they'd walk up one side of you and down the other with a comment like that Sandy.

Ill have to take issue with the statement "is very good spawning circumstances and poor fishing weather these past four or five years." as inaccurate.

Early and quick warm springs are very bad for walleye, where they will lay eggs based on water temps and end up spawning not on the proper beds. (it is good for a smaller black fly season)

I think this year might be the best spawning year in the last 4 or 5 years.

Bright sunny days with months of no rain (the last 2 years with fire bans) make for a great time to go fishing.

just like the spring bear hunt
now the northerners can't get rid of them
they are everywhere
way to go to the government and the MNR
take a look how the states manages their wildlife maybe can learn a few things