By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Wildlife Council has approved changes that will affect Lake Erie walleye and yellow perch, crappies in 44 inland lakes, and Ohio River catfish, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

The changes affecting Lake Erie walleye and yellow perch means the new bag limits will become effective May 1, 2010, after the Lake Erie Committee sets quotas for these fish, said Roger Knight, ODNR Div. of Wildlife, Lake Erie Fisheries program administrator.
In the past the bag limits were set in the fall because of the rule and regulation schedule and so the information could be included in the Fish and Wildlife Digest, published March 1. Bag limit information will now be made available through press releases, the Internet, and other means.

“Previously the bag limit change would take effect March 1,” Knight said. “The total allowable catch (TAC) comes out the end of March so if we were setting bag limits that would be effective March 1 we had to anticipate what we thought the quota would be.”

Every year in late March the Lake Erie Committee – comprised of one representative from each jurisdiction on the lake: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario – meets to establish the TAC for the lake, Knight said. Each jurisdiction is allocated a part of that quota.

The committee members share assessment information of population numbers and how many fish are being removed by fisheries, Knight said.

That information goes into a very sophisticated computer analysis and other statistical analysis.

“The Lake Erie Committee sets a TAC that should represent a biologically-safe level of removals or harvest,” Knight said. “We assume that to be the case. If everybody stays within their quota then we shouldn’t exceed a safe allowable catch.”

“The bottom line is that with this we can now wait until the quotas are set the end of March by the Lake Erie Committee and we know exactly what the Ohio quota is,” Knight said.

Lake Erie is unique in that it has extensive sports and commercial fisheries in pursuit of the same species of fish, Knight said. Ontario is almost completely a commercial fishery whereas Ohio is mainly sports fishing. The agreements reached by the committee, which has been meeting since 1975, are non-binding.

“The reason people don’t walk away from the table is that they are all committed to having a healthy fish community with a broad distribution of fishery benefits to everyone,” said Knight.

In other changes, 38 lakes were added to the current list of six lakes that have 9-inch minimum size limits on crappies was also approved. A bag limit of 30 crappies on all lakes with 9-inch size limits was also passed, which now equal 44 lakes across the state.

Also, an extension of the statewide catfish regulations to the Ohio River was also passed. Ohio River anglers will be allowed only one channel catfish 28 inches or longer with no limit for channel catfish under 28 inches. In addition, only one flathead and one blue catfish 35 inches or longer may be possessed with no limit for flathead and blue catfish under 35 inches.