Submitted by the Lake Nipissing Stakeholders Association
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The controversy surrounding the Lake Nipissing Fishery has existed for decades. With no resolution in sight, the Lake Nipissing Stakeholders and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli approached the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce to undertake an independent third-party, science-based review of the fishery. The Chamber of Commerce was awarded $75,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in March 2016 to review and assess methods of ensuring a sustainable walleye fishery in Lake Nipissing.
At the funding announcement in April 2016, Fedeli said the study will focus on answering some important questions; "Is Lake Nipissing truly stressed? We've heard from the government that it is but we want to know. Number two, what caused it? And what can be done to remedy that?"
Fedeli said that it would be a peer review that would give definitive answers. It would be an independent third-party, science-based review that would tell us if something is wrong with the lake.
Dr. Doris Smith spent ten months researching, participating with stakeholders and forming recommendations to improve the health of the Lake Nipissing Fishery.
Timeline
On April 13th the final report was released to the partners and stakeholders with an expected media release date of April 20th.
On April 18th an email was sent out advising that the release date was moved to May 4th because the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry would like more time to review the document and to potentially sit with Dr. Doris Smith for clarification or review. It was however noted that the document was final and has been submitted to the Ontario Trillium Foundation, funders of the study.
On May 3rd the Chamber of Commerce again advised of a delay in release to ensure the report was clear and concise.
On May 11th I contacted the Chamber of Commerce to get some clarification on the delay in the release of the report. I expressed my concern about the delay. The report was independent and final and the hope was that it would provide much a scientific third party review and recommendations to improve the state of the fishery. I was assured that the recommendations would not change and that both Dr. Smith and the Chamber of Commerce had been clear with the MNR on this point. The delay was based only on misinformation related to mortality rates.
On May 25th I contacted the Chamber of Commerce about the status of the report. On the same date, the report was again sent out to the partners and stakeholders along with a draft press release slated for issue on May 29th.
After its release on May 29th, I contacted Peter Chirico, the Chamber of Commerce President and CEO to ask about the discrepancies in the final report sent out to the stakeholders and the final report released to the media. I was told that the MNRF had to make some changes to ensure the report was accurate scientifically. When I asked about changes to sections of the report that talked about NFN, Mr. Chirico advised that those additions to the report were his.
I have not been able to contact Dr. Smith but understand that she met with the MNRF and the FINAL REPORT was then revised.
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The problem is that the purpose of the Ontario Trillium Foundation Investment of $75,000 was to obtain an independent, unbiased review of the Lake Nipissing Fishery.
What happened between April 13th and May 29th? The unbiased, independent review became biased and influenced.
The recommendations from the Final Report Dated March 2017 are listed below in contrast to the recommendations from the Final Report Dated May 2017. The following are the stand out discrepancies
- The fact that mature females are under-represented suggesting that they are persistently being removed through overfishing; they are the target size for both the commercial and recreational fishery.
- The May report now also suggests the MNRF revisit the regulation allowing a high perch catch and possession limit.
- The recommendation to test restocking at an appropriate level has been completely removed as is this very appropriate comment: Decades of intensive management efforts to recover walleye stocks have had mixed results. The value and effectiveness of restocking Lake Nipissing should be explored.
THE LNSA WOULD LIKE ANSWERS
Why did the MNRF make changes to this document?
Why did the Chamber of Commerce allow changes to be made to this document?
Why not allow restocking at an appropriate level?
Why doesn't the MNRF work with the NFN to find alternative revenue streams to replace netting and therefore eliminate the problem of over-harvesting altogether?
Why doesn't the MNR revisit the recreational regulations to ensure anglers have a better opportunity to keep a fish, while keeping the breeding sized females in the lake and reducing the hooking stress placed on fish being caught and released?
Recommendations from Final Report Dated March 2017
The walleye population appears to be rebounding, with a strong cohort of recruits that have become vulnerable to the recreational fishery and the stresses associated with catch and release. Anglers need to be mindful of all angling stresses and try to minimize their effects. It is also important for management to develop more reliable, local estimates of hooking mortality so that this can be incorporated into estimates of total mortality.
DELETED FROM MAY REPORT
Mature females are currently under-represented in the walleye population, suggesting that a disproportionate number are persistently being removed through fishing. Since females sustain higher growth rates than males after sexual maturation, they become vulnerable to this fishery at an earlier time than males. OMNRF and NFN Fisheries Managers should carefully monitor or consider further reductions in harvest yields until the female adult walleye population recovers.
REMOVED FROM MAY REPORT
It is likely that total walleye fishing mortality has been consistently underestimated, which will continue to slow walleye recovery on Lake Nipissing. This may be attributed a variety of sources, including under-reporting of harvests, hooking mortality, bycatch and predation by cormorants. Taken together, the cumulative effects of these factors may be significant. Better estimates of total mortality would allow for more informed management decisions.
Recommendations from Final Report Dated May 2017
The walleye population is rebounding, with a strong cohort of recruits expected to mature in the next few years. Fishery managers and commercial and recreational fishers must resist overexploiting this cohort once they reach regulation size so that the adult population, and the fish population as a whole, can continue on its course to recovery.
This strong cohort of juveniles has become vulnerable to the recreational fishery and the stresses associated with catch and release. Anglers need to be mindful of all angling stresses and try to minimize their effects. Fisheries managers should develop reliable estimates of hooking mortality to help gauge overall effects on the walleye population.
ADDED TO MAY REPORT
The OMNRF should re-evaluate its’ strategy of allowing such a high catch and possession limit for yellow perch (i.e. 50 fish/day). Given that yellow perch, abundance has been declining and angling preference is shifting to yellow perch, it will be difficult to account for subsequent declines, given the other pressures on this population [e.g. predation from cormorants and other environmental stressors (see section IV)].
RECOMMENDED STOCKING AT AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL
The feasibility of supplemental stocking at an appropriate stocking density using hatchery-reared walleye fingerlings from Lake Nipissing broodstock should be tested. A community-based initiative would provide all interested stakeholders (e.g. LNSA, First Nations communities, educators) with the best opportunity to interact in a positive and supportive manner towards the renewal of the fishery. Decades of intensive management efforts to recover walleye stocks have had mixed results. The value and effectiveness of restocking Lake Nipissing should be explored.
DO NOT RECOMMEND STOCKING AT AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL
It is not recommended that the Lake Nipissing stocking efforts go beyond what is currently being done. Lake Nipissing does not possess the characteristics that would support a successful stocking effort at this time. Supporting the current abundant natural population of juvenile fish to spawning age provides the best chance of recovering the walleye population in the lake as a whole.
Samantha Simpkin, President LNSA
