11-27-2020, 07:18 PM
Love these kind of threads !! Rocky brought up a subject in his post that targets another issue, focus of the DWR. 20 years ago, I would have whole heartedly agreed with his assessment. Not so much today however. We have in the last decade, put some really fine warm water biologist's on the staff at DWR. We now have a warm water hatchery, our own Wiper and Tiger Musky programs, sterile walleye program, and an attempt to increase the warm water fisheries all over the state. True, a great deal of time and money is spent on the cold water fisheries, but I truly believe that the two programs benefit each other. I really respect the efforts of the warm water biologists at the DWR and support what they do.
In regards to managing the Perch fisheries. For the most part, our biggest problem is stunting and overpopulation, i.e. Pineview, Rockport, Echo, Jordanelle. Hence the use of Tiger Musky to help control the populations. Water quality is a HUGE problem as our lakes are being drawn down when the fry need protection and are forces out of the vegatation. Habatit is another problem. We do not have the rooted vegetation in most of our waters to provide the habitat that the YOY fry need. Pineview and Willard do have good habitat, Echo, Rockport, Jordanelle do not. The last issue is FOOD ! Perch feed on macro invertebrates and in most waters have to compete with the trout and Kokenee for the same food source. That competition is intense, especially in the colder waters. The fertility of our waters is marginal and the production of the zooplankton needed is limited.
Fisherman along with environmental factors do impact the Perch fisheries in Utah. I believe that we need to minimize our keeping of the Jumbo's, enjoy catching them, but learn to release them if possible. Learn to utilize the smaller, 6-10 inch perch. Watch the video's on cleaning a perch in 10 seconds on line. The product that technique produces allows you to utilize the smaller fish efficiently, almost without waste. I believe most people will change their processing techniques after they try it. You can cook those small fish almost the same as the larger filletable ones ! great fish taco's !! great steamed also !!
The situation is manageable, we just need to help the biologist's by being aware, practice selective harvest , and encourage others to do the same. By the way, most of the papers you read on Perch management are about the Great Lakes. They have one problem there that we do not, commercial fishing. Perch are a BIG commercial catch in the Great Lakes. Fresh perch fillets can be found in alot of grocery stores and restaurants in states bordering the Great Lakes. Try and manage that along with sportfishng, another headache for sure !!!
In regards to managing the Perch fisheries. For the most part, our biggest problem is stunting and overpopulation, i.e. Pineview, Rockport, Echo, Jordanelle. Hence the use of Tiger Musky to help control the populations. Water quality is a HUGE problem as our lakes are being drawn down when the fry need protection and are forces out of the vegatation. Habatit is another problem. We do not have the rooted vegetation in most of our waters to provide the habitat that the YOY fry need. Pineview and Willard do have good habitat, Echo, Rockport, Jordanelle do not. The last issue is FOOD ! Perch feed on macro invertebrates and in most waters have to compete with the trout and Kokenee for the same food source. That competition is intense, especially in the colder waters. The fertility of our waters is marginal and the production of the zooplankton needed is limited.
Fisherman along with environmental factors do impact the Perch fisheries in Utah. I believe that we need to minimize our keeping of the Jumbo's, enjoy catching them, but learn to release them if possible. Learn to utilize the smaller, 6-10 inch perch. Watch the video's on cleaning a perch in 10 seconds on line. The product that technique produces allows you to utilize the smaller fish efficiently, almost without waste. I believe most people will change their processing techniques after they try it. You can cook those small fish almost the same as the larger filletable ones ! great fish taco's !! great steamed also !!
The situation is manageable, we just need to help the biologist's by being aware, practice selective harvest , and encourage others to do the same. By the way, most of the papers you read on Perch management are about the Great Lakes. They have one problem there that we do not, commercial fishing. Perch are a BIG commercial catch in the Great Lakes. Fresh perch fillets can be found in alot of grocery stores and restaurants in states bordering the Great Lakes. Try and manage that along with sportfishng, another headache for sure !!!