Overview of the Symposium on Walleye Stocks and Stocking

Abstract

Rising angler interest in walleye Stizostedion vitreum, a general decline in natural recruitment in some waters, and increasing demands for stocking have produced a need to evaluate stocking strategies. Such evaluations were the subject of the Walleye Stocks and Stocking Symposium summarized herein. Among walleye stocking evaluations reported in the symposium, 32% of fry stockings, 32% of small-fingerling stockings, and 50% of advanced-fingerling stockings were considered successful. Further improvement in stocking success requires research into the factors that affect survival. Matching stocking times and places to appropriate food resources appears to be a key element in successful introductions of young walleyes. Walleye stocking should be tailored to each system, not based on a set number and size offish. Genetic and chemical markers facilitate comparisons of fry stocking with fingerling stocking under similar biological and environmental conditions. Anglers surveyed contended that fishing experience is more important than catch rate, an attitude that will help managers shift the public's attention from stocking to maintenance of habitat and water quality.