Lake Nipissing anglers are being warned not to start pulling walleye fish nets out of the lake. It's all part of a project to study and save the fish.
The Province, in partnership with Nipissing First Nation, will be conducting research and data collection on Lake Nipissing again this fall. Nets will be placed in the water during October. This fisheries survey supports the objectives outlined in the Lake Nipissing Fisheries Management Plan.
"This annual project, now in its 20th year, will allow for the collection of important information to help the recovery of the walleye population in Lake Nipissing," says an MNRF news release. "Over the course of three weeks, standardized nets are set for 24 hours in randomly chosen locations. Nets will be identified with orange and white buoys labelled 'MNRF' and boaters should avoid travelling between these buoys."
It is an offence under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to interfere with or tamper with gillnets set for commercial or scientific use.
Fish will be sampled for length, weight, sex, maturity, and age. The data collected from this and other research is used to guide fisheries management on the lake.
In November 2016, an independent panel of biologists released a report suggesting the current Management Plan was showing signs of success but the walleye population in Lake Nipissing has faced significant challenges recently with the current population dominated by young fish.
