March_April 2013.pdf - North Dakota Game and Fish

information/education campaign highlighteda pressing need to eliminate possession andtransfer of illegal baits, and involved anglers aswell as wholesale and retail bait vendors. Parallelingthis increase in public awareness of illegalbaits, rough fish were eliminated from dozensof North Dakota waters, which were thenrestocked with game fish. More than 20 yearslater, most of these water bodies remain clean ofrough fish and provide good recreational fishingopportunities.• Today, Devils Lake and yellow perch fishingare synonymous, but it wasn’t always that way.The introduction of adult yellow perch in DevilsLake in the early 1970s has provided countlesshours of fishing recreation. In addition, anaggressive statewide adult yellow perch trapand transport program spearheaded by Departmentfisheries biologists, especially from thelate 1990s to now, have produced dozens of icefishing destinations that were once void of fish.In 2010, for example, Department staff stockedapproximately 50 perchless lakes with 400,000adult perch that spawned and produced young.• An intense introduction effort, peaking in the1990s, established smallmouth bass populationsin many water bodies throughout the state. Afterinitial stockings, most of these smallmouthpopulations are now self-sustaining and provideexcellent, alternative fishing prospects.• Recreational fishing opportunities haveincreased substantially since the mid-1970s,when some traditional fishing regulations wererelaxed. For instance, year-round fishing was firstallowed on the Missouri River System in 1975,and then statewide in 1993. Another example isthe allowance of up to four lines for ice fishing,which became legal in 1996. And most recently,the northern pike limit was increased fromthree to five daily. This attentive liberalizationincreased fishing interest and opportunity, whilethe needed measures to protect the respectivefisheries were not compromised.• Another regulation matter involves the Gameand Fish Department’s ability to maintain “biology”as the basic foundation in the formulationof regulations. The Department uses the bestavailable science for establishing fishing regulations,and has not overreacted to public demandfor further regulations when/where they wouldultimately prove ineffective.• Lastly, the Department’s fisheries division is oneof the smallest in the nation, but a new generationof staff biologists and technicians continueSince the numberof rearing pondsat Garrison DamNational FishHatchery wasexpanded in thelate 1980s, NorthDakota has led thenation most yearsin stocking northernpike and walleyefingerlings.GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT PHOTO4 ND Outdoors March-April 2013