I don't know how may of you check the posts on Walleye Central, but below is an email from Gord Pyzer of In-Fisherman emailing friends about the increased netting on LOTWs the past couple years and the effects he believes it is starting to have on the lake. What do you all think? Dear Fred and Betty. I received a very disturbing phone call last evening from Lee Winterton (Guy Winterton's brother) about the extent of First Nation commercial netting on Lake of the Woods, which corroborates what many people (including myself) have been observing and reporting to you repeatedly for well over a year now. I suggested to Lee that he call, and/or meet, with you as soon as possible to fill you in on the details. As Lee reported, one of the principals in the new commercial fish packing plant here in Kenora, advised him that he has been shipping "40,000 pounds of a fish a week, all winter long, from Lake of the Woods." Lee also related a first hand account of an Indian commercial fisherman who told him that he was taking all of his "quotas" from all the lakes he was "licensed to fish" solely from the Lake of the Woods. The commercial fisherman also suggested to Lee that this was now a common practice with many other commercial fishermen. I am sure Lee will relate the specifics when he meets with you. If this is true, the harvest is entirely unsustainable and will severely threaten fish stocks in Lake of the Woods. As you know, the accelerated level of commercial netting on the lake over the past year has been unprecedented and is cause for concern. It now appears to be totally out of control. If it continues, I have no doubt, whatsoever, that we will shortly see very serious responses within the fishery. Indeed, if what Lee is relating is factual, and I have no doubt that it is, given what many of us have witnessed ourselves and reported to you repeatedly, the impact on the walleye and pike populations is unsustainable. And the effect on other species, especially muskellunge, that are being netted, killed and dumped as an unwanted by-catch is disgraceful. If 40,000 pounds of fish a week are being shipped from the new local fish processing plant alone, the implications are unmistakable. It translates into 160,000 pounds of fish a month or over 2 million pounds a year! And that is from only one source. Given the early ice out conditions that now present themselves, if uncontrolled commercial netting continues throughout the upcoming spring spawning period, the impact on the fishery will be particularly harmful. Perhaps irreversible. I would urge you to take immediate and responsible action to reduce and control the harvest to sustainable levels, else risk losing one of the most important fisheries in Ontario. A friend. Gord Pyzer" Fishing Editor, Outdoor Canada Magazine Field Editor, In-Fisherman Magazine Co-Host, The Real Fishing Radio Show President, Canadian Angling Adventures Ltd. Outdoor Columnist, The Kenora Daily Miner and News, The Fort Frances Times, Just Fishing! and Grainews (Farm Business
