Spatial variation in walleye recruitment is evident within green BAY where walleye fisheries are primarily managed by the wisconsin and michigan departments of natural resources

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Fish and Aquatic Conservation - Aquatic Invasive Species program (CFDA 15.608) will support a 4-year, $474,980.22 research project at the University of Wisconsin System to investigate walleye recruitment and dispersal patterns in Green Bay, Lake Michigan.

The key objectives are to: 1) determine if walleye spawning in northern Green Bay disperse significantly from their tagging locations, 2) assess if walleye spawning in tributaries versus reefs exhibit different dispersal patterns, 3) verify walleye egg deposition and hatching in southern Green Bay, and 4) evaluate the bay-wide dispersal of walleye spawning in the Sturgeon Bay area. The research will leverage acoustic telemetry to track the movements of tagged walleye and confirm key spawning locations through egg sampling. Findings will be disseminated through presentations, journal publications, and outreach to angling groups. The project aims to provide critical information to support walleye restoration and management strategies in Green Bay.

Recruitment failure has been documented in northern green BAY where stocking is occurring. Conversely, sustained natural recruitment is occurring in southern green BAY where no stocking occurs. The sturgeon BAY area appears to fall between these two scenarios because inconsistent recruitment has been documented, but stocking occurred until 2012. We will verify walleye EGG deposition and hatching at select locations in southern green BAY and use telemetry to describe the extent of post-spawning dispersal for walleye spawning in sturgeon BAY (e.g., local, BAY-wide, mostly south VS. Mostly north). Objectives:determine if:1) walleye spawning in northern green BAY largely leave and spend much of their time 50 KM from tagging location.2) walleye spawning in the whitefish and rapid rivers are less likely to disperse than fish tagged on reefs in little BAY DE NOC (lbdn) or the escanaba river.3) EGG deposition and hatching occur at locations in southern green BAY outside of tributaries.4) walleye spawning in sturgeon BAY disperse at a BAY-wide scale. During 2025-2028, we will use acoustic telemetry to determine the post-spawning dispersal of walleye spawning at locations in northern green BAY (little BAY DE NOC and the escanaba, whitefish, and rapid rivers) as well as walleye spawning in the sturgeon BAY area. Fish implanted with acoustic transmitters can be detected on acoustic receivers deployed throughout green BAY and its tributaries and in lake michigan. Spawning locations will be confirmed through a combination of spotlight surveys for adult fish and EGG sampling that will confirm whether eggs were deposited and hatched at select locations including CAT island, frying pan shoal, joliet park reef and renard island in southern green BAY and larsens reef, potawatomi park, the west shore of little sturgeon BAY, and keyes creek in and around sturgeon BAY. Our work is significant because IT can be used to inform walleye restoration and management strategies throughout green BAY.deliverables:1. We will present either oral or poster presentations at the wisconsin state chapter meeting of the american fisheries society and present at the annual great lakes telemetry observation system (glatos) coordination meeting to highlight the project starting.2. Acoustic tag detections will be downloaded from acoustic receivers and uploaded to the glatos database.3. We will present updates at multiple professional society meetings, including the wisconsin state chapter meeting of the american fisheries society, the midwest fish wildlife conference, and the annual glatos coordination meeting. 4. We will prepare at least two manuscripts that will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication.5. We will seek opportunities to present our results to angling groups like walleyes for tomorrow that are interested in the walleye fishery on green BAY.6. The masters student working on the project will complete their thesis.