Lawmakers have put aside consideration of bills that would have impacted Minnesota walleye fishing.
And that’s OK — for now.
Bills that would have reduced walleye limits, set an earlier walleye opener and established a statewide slot limit have been pulled from the table.
In April, a Senate committee cut a proposal to lower from six to four the walleye bag limit from the omnibus environmental policy bill. The idea for the reduced bag limit came from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The action at the Legislature spurred a conversation about the proposals among lawmakers and anglers. And while these proposals are not expected to take flight this session, it’s likely that there will be more information available next time these conversations surface.
Meanwhile, we’ve always supported making changes in state fishing rules to allow individual lakes to get the special regulations they need to establish and support healthy fish populations.
However, discussing the pros and cons of a four-bag limit statewide makes sense. The walleye bag limit on Rainy Lake has been four fish for some time, contributing to a number of factors that have vastly improved the health of the population over a period of time. And resource experts estimate that reducing the limit from six to four throughout the state would reduce the walleye harvest by about 7 percent.
We also like the idea of most of the state’s lakes being set at a consistent bag-limit statewide, reducing confusion for anglers who fish multiple lakes.
That said, we also appreciate that DNR officials say they won’t likely bring the proposal forward again without the support of the state’s Walleye Advisory Committee. Most opposed the reduction in the walleye bag limit. Some were concerned that such action could hurt the tourism industry which draws people from other states. Other members said they wanted a more convincing argument for the change from the DNR. The committee is intended to provide input on such decisions and appear to have played their role well in this issue.
We can appreciate that the state isn’t ready to reduce the walleye bag limit across the state from six fish to four fish. We see both positive and negative in making the change. At the least, the proposal to the Legislature prompted discussion of an issue that is important to many.