The yellow perch is a popular fish for commercial and recreational fishing. The yellow perch is common prey for larger species of fish such as the walleye. Yellow perch populations tend to be lower when walleye are abundant, and vice versa. The yellow perch competes for food with the white perch and the invasive zebra mussel, which feeds on the zooplankton that young yellow perch prefer.
How is it scored?
Yellow perch abundance was used as an indicator in the lake analysis. Yellow perch abundance is estimated by catch-age analysis for the Western basin. The yellow perch abundance indicator was the 2018 data scored based on the long-term mean (1984–2017).
The yellow perch abundance threshold used for the western Lake Erie basin analysis was the long term mean (1984–2017) abundance.