Study: Oahe Walleye Not Over-Fished

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A multi-year study of walleye in Lake Oahe in the Dakotas is showing that anglers are not over-fishing the resource.

Crews this spring are wrapping up a four-year effort to tag tens of thousands of walleyes in the Missouri River fishery to learn more about them.

Preliminary results already have given biologists valuable information, including data on the percentage of catchable-size fish being harvested by anglers. The angling mortality rate in the first three years of the study has ranged from 17-27 percent.

North Dakota Fisheries Chief Greg Power says angler mortality rates in comparable lakes in the region also are in the 25 percent range. He says total walleye mortality in Oahe is about 35-40 percent, below the typical range in North America of 40-55 percent.