Fishing Forum

[#0000FF]WH2 and I have been discussing the DWR walleye hatching and planting program...including how the fry are sterilized and what happens to both sterile and non sterile fry. I posed these questions to Chris Penne (DWR) and...as always...he was quick to provide insightful intel.[/#0000FF]

We test lots of fish for their rate of sterility (i.e. - what percentage of the fish in the lot are sterile). Waters with naturally reproducing fish like Willard and Starvation do not receive any sterile or partially sterile lots pf fish. Willard has only received stockings of fertile fish and I believe Starvation has not been supplemented with fish as it has an already abundant population of walleye that is doing quite well on its own. We have agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in regards to protecting endangered fish in the Colorado River Basin that require waters like Red Fleet and Big Sand Wash Reservoirs to receive only lots of fish tested to be 99.5% sterile and higher. Now in regards to the fish in lots that are less than 99.5% sterile, those fish have been going to places like Echo and Yuba or they are shipped out of state to other state fish and wildlife management agencies as part of the normal trading we do to help each other out. In Echo, we want fish part of lots that are 95% sterile or more as we feel that is in line with our goal of swamping out natural reproduction and controlling the illegally introduced walleye. This concept is experimental and we aren't certain whether it will be effective; however we are looking into this as part of study we are conducting with fisheries scientists at Utah State University. The fish that have been put in Yuba have been more of a bonus with the intention of increasing opportunities for walleye there; thus we are less stringent on how sterile the lot of fish needs to be as Yuba is neither a brood reservoir for walleye nor do we have intentions of trying to reduce the number of naturally reproducing walleye there. When we make sterile fish, we have the goal of making the lots 100% sterile but this does not happen every time even when we use the same equipment and standard operating procedure, but we are pretty good at getting most lots comprised of over 95% sterile fish.

Chris
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Thanks for passing the information along, Pat.

The DWR is starting to use sterile walleye as a management tool in a number of new places and I think that's great for those of us who enjoy eating fish as well as catching them.[]

Chris is very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions as have been all of the biologists that I have been in contact with.
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Good info Pat. I really think the fisheries guys are trying hard to make it possible to utilize the waters available for the best fishing opportunities.
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I have to take my hat off to the DWR guys. Creative ideas like this have become routine with Chris and his crew now over the last few years. Compared to the attitude of some of the older managers like Don Andriano 25 -30 years ago. Without these young guys making things happen, we would not have programs like the Wipers in Willard, Tiger Musky in various waters, Tiger trout and Splake in others, it goes on and on. I doubt that some of the old guard would have even entertained these additions to the fishery because they were to radical. Unfortunately, some of the managers got their heads lopped off for forward thinking, Charlie Thompson for one, when he tried to do something to manage warm water species in his region. Great Job Chris and all your crew, keep up the good work !!!

[#0000FF]Thanks, ol' buddy. Good to hear from you. Hope you are getting on the water some.
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It will be interesting to see if the sterile fish are effecrive at reducing the natural spawn success rate at Echo. I talked to a few DWR folks out at Willard today who were netting eyes for egg harvest. Pretty cool
stuff.

You know if DWR is worried about how naturally reproducing eyes will effect trout populations along the Weber? As much as I like yummy wally meat I would hate to see the Browns through there take a hit for them.
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[quote Brighamfish]
You know if DWR is worried about how naturally reproducing eyes will effect trout populations along the Weber? As much as I like yummy wally meat I would hate to see the Browns through there take a hit for them.[/quote]

What makes you think the browns in the Weber river would be affected by walleye spawning? I guess it is possible those spawning eyes could get by the two sets of baffles at Willard but I'd say it is unlikely or I think we would have heard of someone catching them in the river. Walleye have been in Willard since the lake was made in the 60's.
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Sorry I was jumping from Willard harvest to Echo problems without a clear distinction in my last post. Illegally introduced fertile walleye have been found in Echo and that's where I understood DWR was looking to interupt their spawn with the sterile fish. Unfortunately I think it's not gonna be hard for fish in Echo to move downstream into the Weber River.
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OK, I see where you are coming from. I guess it could be a problem if enough got washed out of Echo or went upstream, but it would take a lot of them to have much of an impact, IMO. Maybe that is one of the reasons they are trying to reduce their numbers now before they can do any damage. From what I have read their number are fairly low right now in Echo but unless something is done that could change over a period of time.
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I hope you're right and they don't effect it much. I have no idea how well walleye would even do in a river like the Weber. Seems most rivers I've seen them do well in were bigger / deeper but that could just be my limited experience with eyes. I was just curious if anyone knew what the Bio guys at DWR thought might happen.
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I agree, never heard of them in smaller river but you never know. I know some eyes go up the Provo river to spawn and that does not seem to have had an effect on the Browns there.
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I fish the Weber below echo maybe 8-10 times a year for many years now and have caught only 1 perch. With perch being in Echo for a long time I've wondered why they don't seem to show up in the Weber. Do they not do well in a small river or do fewer escape than we might think?
In Utah other than at spawning time no river seems to be a Walleye or Perch hot spot..
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Walleye have been in Deer Creek for around thirty years and perch even longer, In that time the fishing below the dam really hasn't changed much.

I wouldn't worry to much about it.
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