Walleye restoration and conservation in the Lake Champlain Basin 

The Lake Champlain Walleye Restoration Program 

To understand where the Walleye Restoration program is today in relation to ten years ago it may be a good idea to understand some of the terminology and past history. Here is an attempt to do just that and then explain some of the goals of the next five years and benefits of the program. 

For purposes of this discussion we will categorize fish in the following four categories and try and describe how they have been utilized.  

The “Fry” is a newly hatched walleye that is still living on the egg sack that it is born with. It has not yet developed an air bladder and basically an infant not yet feeding on food in the water column. Walleye at this stage of life have been stocked to the lake in large numbers and used to grow advanced walleye fry. 

The second stage is “advanced fry”. The advanced fry is a fry that is not living on its egg sack and is feeding on food in the water column. They are usually feeding on plankton, small bugs and young insects. They have developed their air bladder and able to swim. These fish have been used to raise walleye fingerlings. 

Walleye fingerlings are the third stage of fish. They are walleye fry that have grown to a length of two and half to three inches in length. Usually by this time they are feeding on larger food such as young of the year minnows. They are used for stocking purposes. It is extremely difficult to raise walleye any bigger. They become very carnivorous as they grow and survival rates drop radically. Raising walleye past the fingerling stage is just not practical for LCWA.   

Lastly we will talk about adult fish that are returning to the rivers to spawn. Generally we will speak about fish that are three years of age and older. 

A little bit about the history of walleye restoration in the Lake Champlain Basin. Back in the early eighties after the walleye had declined a group of dedicated walleye fisherman got together and discussed what they could do to help the walleye in the Lake Champlain Basin. From those discussions the Lake Champlain Walleye Association was born. The early days were a struggle. They went to the State of Vermont and looked for help. There was no help to be had at that time so, on there own they went. They worked on many projects. They built rearing ponds and raised some walleye fry to fingerling size to be stocked to the lake. They worked on spawning habitat projects in walleye spawning waters. These guys were truly the pioneers of the walleye restoration effort. They spent thousands of hours learning about raising fish, building ponds and establishing the beginning of the restoration effort. Incidentally, LCWA was founded as a non profit organization that has no paid employees. All work done by LCWA is done on a volunteer basis. LCWA now enjoys a Federal Government 501-C3 non profit status. 

Soon, due to LCWA’s political efforts VTF&W became involved in the effort. The Bald Hill Hatchery was chosen to hatch walleye. The State biologists would capture spawning walleye in the spring and strip them so that Bald Hill would have a supply of eggs. Later in the program they began to raise fingerlings at Bald Hill. Success in the early days was hard to come by. There was a lot to learn and the learning process took time. Stocking was taking place during this period of mostly fry stage walleye. 

In the mean time biologists were capturing walleye in the spring runs and tagging them while recording data such as length, weight, gender and general health.  

In an effort to obtain a more formal restoration program LCWA went to the administration at that time and requested that VTF&W and LCWA create a restoration plan for walleye in the Lake Champlain Basin. With the help of some in the legislature, law was established that VTF&W and LCWA would go about the task of creating a walleye restoration plan. It was agreed that the plan would be for a five year period. It took some time to develop and as you can guess there wasn’t one hundred percent agreement. Many goals were set in the plan and many of them were actually achieved. A re-cap of what LCWA thinks are the important achievements during this period of time follows. 

 At one point in time management at Bald Hill changed and the biologist that was the team leader for the walleye project retired. It should be said, take nothing away from anybody who worked on the walleye restoration effort in the past. Everyone was working very hard to make this program work and doing things to the best of their ability with the resources they had to work with. With new management at Bald Hill and the change in leadership of the Walleye Team the experimentation began. It was at this time that LCWA thinks a much more scientific approach was aimed at the program. In short they accomplished the implementation of several new hatchery techniques and management practices. In LCWA’s view four of them had a major impact on the program. Simply put, they raised the hatch rate of walleye eggs. In that one step alone they literally raised walleye production dramatically. As you can see from the charts below you can relate the changes in Fry production through out the entire program. You will also be able to see how advanced fry have changed the results of the fingerling production rate all relating to what is ending up in Lake Champlain as well as the other ponds and lakes that walleye are being stocked to. 

 Next there was the creation of the “Advanced Fry Program” at the Bald Hill facility. The benefit to the restoration effort that advanced fry have created is still not yet fully realized. Since advanced fry have never been stocked to the lake basin it will be interesting to see how they will contribute to spawning runs vs. fry. The immediate benefit was in the production of walleye fingerlings. Prior to the development of the advanced fry program, success rates raising fingerlings was low at best and certainly not consistent. After the implementation of advanced fry, production percentages jumped dramatically.

  Rates went from under 50,000 in the 1998 time frame to just less than 200,000 by 2004.  

The third item that has given the program direction was the start of the OTC (Oxytetracyclene) marking program. OTC is an antibiotic that is used to mark the otolith bone (ear bone) in young walleye. Young walleye are immersed in a bath of OTC and water mixture for extended periods of time which results in their otolith bone being marked or dyed if you will. So far this mark has been able to be found in fish to the age of four years. The current thought is that the mark disappears in time. Sounds like a simple process and today it is, well, the guys at VTF&W may it look easy. It took considerable time and effort for VTF&W personnel to make this program work. The benefit of the OTC program is priceless. Each year during the spring spawning runs a statistical sample of three year old fish are taken. Each of these fish is checked for OTC markings. From this sampling, statistical data can be compiled that tells how walleye stocking is contributing to the spawning runs. The following is the results from some of the years of sampling. Latest updates to marking information can be found on the marking page of this website.

Year                River                           Fry %             Fingerling % 

2002                Missisquoi                      0%                      41%   

                        Winooski                          0%                     65% 

2003                Missisquoi                      4%                      27% 

2004                Missisquoi                      0%                      39% 

Averages to date                                1.33%                  57% 

One can begin to form an opinion of what the advance fry program has done for walleye stocking. From these survey results you can quickly see that fingerlings are showing up at a much higher rate. This is only three years results, but they begin to paint a picture. 

Over a period of many years data has been collected on walleye. Creel surveys, tagging info and stocking information have all been collected. Due to time constraints and budget woes much of this information was never compiled in usable form. A huge effort has been undertaken by the State Walleye Committee under the direction of Walleye Team Leader Chet McKenzie VTF&W Biologist to put this data in usable form. If my memory serves me correctly, this huge task is very close to complete if not complete. This effort and the data that has been derived from it should provide very useful insight to past practices and help in future decisions. 

The information above is a short summary of events that put the restoration effort to where it is and what the current thinking and goals are. 

Currently LCWA is working with VTF&W on the completion of the second five year plan. LCWA has offered the following to the State Walleye Committee for consideration. LCWA is a member of that committee. At this point in time it appears that we are all very close in our thinking of the next plan. The plan is still being worked on and not finalized. What is listed below as goals are only those that will affect stocking and egg take over the next five years. There are many other important goals in the plan. LCWA hopes that the plan is complete for public input over the following months. The goals are; 

1. That the facility at Bald Hill will be upgraded to accomplish the following;
1. The Advance Fry System should be upgraded to a capacity of 1 million advanced fry per year.
2. The Fingerling production should be upgraded with two additional ponds and work toward production of 500,000 fingerlings in combination with LCWA ponds.
3. LCWA to increase fingerling production to 100,000.
4. For the first time, stock advanced fry to the Lake Basin and study how they impact the spawning runs. Advanced fry have not been stocked before.

 To accomplish the above several things have to happen; 

1. VTF&W has to complete the advanced fry facility at Bald Hill that will house the new advanced fry equipment. The $70,000 capital appropriation that has been requested by the fisheries division is a must to complete this project.
2. LCWA will build the two additional fingerling ponds at Bald Hill.
3. LCWA will supply the three advanced fry systems to Bald Hill.
4. LCWA will maintain their pond production and portable hatchery production.

The above goals have been set based on the best information that is available. We now know what effect stocking is having on the spawning populations. We also have an idea of what type of stocked fish are working best. The new goal recommendations are based on the best facts that are available. In a reasonably short time the value of the fry stocking program should be able to be determined. So far it appears that the best bang for the buck is stocking walleye fingerlings. We should not give up on fry stocking yet, more information is required. Advanced Fry stocking should also begin as the new recommendations are agreed upon and implemented. In time, it should become clear how they might contribute to the spawning runs. 

In general the walleye restoration effort is light years ahead of were it was ten years ago. Although there is plenty still to be learned and done, progress is excellent.  

It is very hard to put a twenty five year history into a short synopsis. There are thousands of man hours being put into this effort on an annual basis by VTF&W and LCWA. One could write reams about the people who have contributed to the success of the program, both VTF&W and LCWA personnel. LCWA has worked very hard in the past few years to make this a true private organization and government partnership. We are very proud of what is happening. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Walleye Team should be as well. 

In the opinion of LCWA there is not another Fish & Wildlife fish restoration program that can show the documented success that the Walleye Program has enjoyed. The success of this program is well documented over time. It has been proven that it is working and good progress is being made. There is a difference in walleye fishing in the Lake Champlain Basin and other ponds and lakes in Vermont were walleye stocking has been undertaken. The best is yet to come. That said, we are no were near done, there is much to learn and much to accomplish. Understanding the pressures being placed on state budgets LCWA is not just pressuring the state to pay up and go it alone. As an organization, LCWA will carry a big financial burden and labor commitment to help see this next plan complete. This is a partnership and we will do our part. Lofty goals have been set. LCWA has set very high goals for itself and will continue to work diligently to see them to fruition. They can be accomplished but it will take a team effort from LCWA, VTF&W, the Vermont Legislature, the Vermont Executive Branch and the public. 

The benefits of the program are very measurable. They are not just in the amount of fish being caught. They are social, economic and ecological. 

 Wouldn’t it be great to see all those families out on the lake together taking part in this recreation at the numbers that we used to have? The social impact of walleye fishing cannot be measured in dollars but is only measured in quality of life. Myself, I can think back on hundreds of hours of time spent on the lake with family and friends enjoying the companionship and the value that these activities bring. As the commercial says, “Priceless”. 

Economically we know from studies done at the University of Vermont that walleye fishing is worth eight million dollars per year to the Vermont economy. Not small change, imagine what that number might be if the walleye fishery is restored to the lake basin. The Great Lakes Commission values their walleye fishery at three hundred million dollars per year. I don’t think a thirty million dollar contribution to Vermont’s economy is a pipe dream if walleye fishing is restored to good levels. Lake Champlain once was a world class walleye fishery and I am convinced that it will be again. 

 Ecologically it only makes sense to bring the walleye back. The program is about bringing back a fish that once inhabited Lake Champlain in great numbers. It is just that simple, Walleye belong in Lake Champlain. They are an important species in the balance of the lake. 

It would be easy to write another whole article about those people who have made this restoration effort possible. There are tremendous amounts of credit that could be spread around. I hope that it will suffice, to thank everyone who has been involved with, donated time, money or effort to this program be they State of Vermont employees, LCWA volunteers or members of the public. 

Dan Mitchell
Past President