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The commercial fishery for walleyes in New York waters of Lake Erie, 1959-1978

D.R. Wolfert
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Abstract

A limited commercial gill-net fishery for walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) in New York waters of Lake Erie was established in the 1950's. Since then year class strengths have varied considerably; four have been outstanding- those of 1959, 1962, 1964, and 1971. A rapid rate of rise in water temperature during spawning and incubation was positively correlated with the strength of these year classes. Each time a strong year class appeared, small-mesh gill-net effort was markedly increased, and an average of 46% of the fish of each year class was harvested at age I before they were sexually mature. If the smallmesh gill-net fishery had not been operating, the total annual production by the largemesh gill-net fishery could have been increased by an average of 35%.

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North American Journal of Fisheries ManagementArticle

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BibTeXRIS

D.R. Wolfert. 1981. The commercial fishery for walleyes in New York waters of Lake Erie, 1959-1978. https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1981)1%3C112%3Atcffwi%3E2.0.co%3B2

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