Another successful walleye egg-collection

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Another successful walleye egg-collection operation is in the books – and in the jars.

Walleye egg-collection operations wrapped up April 29 when the final batch of eggs was collected in Fergus Falls. In all, more than 4,500 quarts of walleye eggs were collected at 10 operations throughout the state.

Each year, DNR fisheries staff set up temporary egg stripping and fertilizing operations at various locations around the state to meet the stocking needs prescribed by individual lake management plans. After eggs are collected and fertilized, the initially fragile eggs are hardened for several hours with fresh water. After hardening, the eggs are transported to a hatchery building and measured into special hatching jars where they incubate for two to three weeks before hatching into fry.

Roughly one-third of the 360 million fry anticipated to hatch this year will grow in rearing ponds throughout the summer and then be stocked as fingerlings in 362 lakes this fall. The other two-thirds of the fry are stocked directly into 302 lakes within a few days of hatching. Fisheries biologists check on the survival of stocked fingerlings or fry with follow-up assessments.

While stocking walleye is an important part of the DNR’s fisheries management strategy, 85 percent of walleye caught by anglers are naturally produced.