The walleye is a popular fish for commercial and recreational fishing. The largest walleye population in the world occurs in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie. Increased water pollution in Lake Erie led to a walleye population decline. Lake water quality improved following the Clean Water Act, leading to a walleye resurgence. Population size can be maintained by setting bag limits on commercial and recreational fishing.
How is it scored?
Walleye abundance was used as an indicator in the lake analysis. Walleye abundance is estimated by catch-age analysis for the entire Lake Erie area, not just the Western basin. The walleye abundance indicator was the 2018 data scored based on the long-term mean (1984–2017).
The walleye abundance threshold used for the western Lake Erie basin analysis was the long term mean (1984–2017) abundance.