03-10-2014, 04:58 PM
[quote rancid_crabtree]Yeah, I hear that. At teast there are some forage fish base in willard. I dont understand why Bioligists think the way they do. Years ago they were trying to take out walleyes from starvation to boost the growth with the ones they left in ther so that they werent in competion with one another. Gill netted a ton of small walleyes out and spent alot of money. Problem was, there wasnt any food in there period for the remaining walleyes. Then came the perch by bucket biologists and the DWR saw that perch were in there and abandoned that program real fast. Why didnt they just plant perch in there the first place. Go Figure. They waste alot of money on studies.[/quote]
a couple things: 1) prior to the illegal introduction of perch into starvation and prior to the DWRs attempt at reducing the number of walleye, it was a trophy walleye fishery because the walleye were preying on Utah chubs. But, as biologists knew and warned, the reservoir was going to crash because the number of walleye was increasing and the amount of predation on chubs was increasing, which, in turn, was going to reduce the chub/forage population. 2)Though, the DWR warned that the gill netting project may not prove fruitful for several years, after two short years it was already reaping benefits and walleye sizes were improving as chub numbers increased. 3) Once perch were discovered, the DWR knew that the perch would also prey on chubs and virtually eliminate them from the reservoir. And, they also knew that the reservoir would revert back to what all other walleye reservoirs in Utah revert to--a boom/bust cycling water that goes from high prey numbers to high predator numbers. Such cycles leave the DWR with little alternatives other than to change harvest regulations or completely rotenone the lake and remove everything and start over….
Why doesn't Utah stock perch? Because you are talking about a program that results in very little bang for the buck….a high cost with a low reward.
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a couple things: 1) prior to the illegal introduction of perch into starvation and prior to the DWRs attempt at reducing the number of walleye, it was a trophy walleye fishery because the walleye were preying on Utah chubs. But, as biologists knew and warned, the reservoir was going to crash because the number of walleye was increasing and the amount of predation on chubs was increasing, which, in turn, was going to reduce the chub/forage population. 2)Though, the DWR warned that the gill netting project may not prove fruitful for several years, after two short years it was already reaping benefits and walleye sizes were improving as chub numbers increased. 3) Once perch were discovered, the DWR knew that the perch would also prey on chubs and virtually eliminate them from the reservoir. And, they also knew that the reservoir would revert back to what all other walleye reservoirs in Utah revert to--a boom/bust cycling water that goes from high prey numbers to high predator numbers. Such cycles leave the DWR with little alternatives other than to change harvest regulations or completely rotenone the lake and remove everything and start over….
Why doesn't Utah stock perch? Because you are talking about a program that results in very little bang for the buck….a high cost with a low reward.
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