xcskier_hunter
Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2020
- Messages
- 38
At least with the walleyes the debate is between two groups of people both mainly interested in eating them. The musky spearing is a bit more interesting as nearly all serious musky fishermen practice catch and release for a fish that can take upwards of 20 years to reach 50 inches and have been documented to live over 30 years. Still, it's not really worth making much noise about spearing it as it tends to motivate additional harvest out of spite. Also, it is the negotiated right for the tribe to do this, so without renegotiation there is little to be done.
To me what's particularly problematic is that there are no quotas or data on fish speared through the ice, which, at least for muskies, can often result in greater harvest than spring season. At minimum this should be tracked and the harvest totals made available to the public. Part of the issue with a lot of the spearing is that harvest totals are difficult to locate. I'm sure some of this is purposeful due to how contentious the topic has been historically, with protesters at boat landings and shots fired near spearfishers.
Working to solve the decline in natural reproduction of both walleyes and muskies in WI would also be helpful, as stocking is more of a band-aid solution that's failing to keep up anyways.
To me what's particularly problematic is that there are no quotas or data on fish speared through the ice, which, at least for muskies, can often result in greater harvest than spring season. At minimum this should be tracked and the harvest totals made available to the public. Part of the issue with a lot of the spearing is that harvest totals are difficult to locate. I'm sure some of this is purposeful due to how contentious the topic has been historically, with protesters at boat landings and shots fired near spearfishers.
Working to solve the decline in natural reproduction of both walleyes and muskies in WI would also be helpful, as stocking is more of a band-aid solution that's failing to keep up anyways.