FWP, audience members debate Fresno Reservoir fish stocking

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks hosted a presentation to update the public on fish populations in Fresno Reservior Fishery and listen to questions and comments about future management.

The meeting was attended by more than 50 people, some of whom questioned FWP's policy on stocking Fresno.

"No decisions are going to be made tonight," Steve Dalbey, the fisheries manager for Northeast Montana, said at the start of the meeting. "What we are hoping to do is hear everybody out, record your comments, and I'm hoping we can get back together after some period of time."

Cody Nagel a Havre area fisheries biologist began the presentation laying our FWP's management goals in the Fresno Reservoir.

"The basis of our current management strategy is making a balanced fish community that promotes walleye growth, age and size structure, while maintaining a sustainable forage base," he said.

Nagel said that recent efforts by FWP in Fresno have targeted walleye because of its popularity among recreational fishermen. He said that a healthy population of walleye requires a stable forage base to maintain a healthy size distribution.

"We want to see young little fish every year, little walleye. We also want to see a good cohort of fish moving up in those medium size classes, but also see a few fish make it to that older age, those 25-inch-plus fish, that's what we are shooting for," Nagel said.

He added that this is difficult to manage because of how variable the Fresno Reservoir's water level can be year to year.

"Fresno can be very fickle at times," he said.

He said FWP had been stocking yellow perch, a staple of the walleye's diet, from Kremlin to create a more stable forage base for the species. However, FWP has had to discontinue this effort since Kremlin's ponds were drained.

Nagel also provided an update on FWP's joint project with The Fresno Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited to create new habitat for yellow perch in the reservoir using donated Christmas trees, which has been running since 2017.

From 2003 until 2012 FWP was also directly stocking the reservoir with walleye, but they stopped because abundance, was growing too rapidly said Nagel.

He said while abundance has decreased since then, the natural spawn rates for walleye have stayed consistent and healthy.

"We've had four or five pretty good spawns," he said.

Nagel added that he was optimistic for the spawn rates this coming year based on the data his agency has collected.

"Age structure has started to increase, we're getting older fish out there," Nagel said.

This optimism is also based on the water quality and stability, which he said was about as good as anyone could ask for.

He added that one of the reasons he believes fisherman have been catching less walleye was due to how well-fed the fish appear to be based on data FWP has gathered.

"If there's more food out there to eat, fish are harder to catch, when they're starving, they're easier to catch," he said.

But after the presentation, most of the audience members who spoke raised concerns about the abundance of walleye and their difficulty catching them.

"I remember when I came up here in 2011, I brought my boss from Arizona and my friend took me out, we caught so many fish that day," said one member of the audience, "I take my daughter out there (now) and it's hard when all it turns into is a boat ride."

Another member of the audience argued that FWP should immediately resume stocking walleye. He asked Nagel to read from an article Nagel wrote in 2009 in which he stated that the "The high walleye abundance over the last two years is largely due to the annual plants of 100,000 walleye, started in 2003."

"I rest my case. Start stocking," the audience member said after Nagel finished.

The same audience member later criticized Nagel's character but was asked to stop by Dalbey, who said his comments were inappropriate.

"I'm going to draw a line right there at personal attacks, we're are going to keep this professional," Dalbey said.

"You haven't been professional," the audience member said in response.

He left the room shortly after the exchange.

Many members of the audience echoed the call for a return the FWP's stocking policy.

"On the economic side, we're not stopping the fisherman out at Fresno. They're going to Nelson, they're going to Peck," one audience member said, "You are not being fair to the people in Havre."

He said FWP should stock walleye every year to bring back the people who come to Fresno reservoir to fish.

Dalbey said he nor his organization are "anti-stocking," but he said there are trade-offs that the public should consider. He compared the practice of stocking to planting crops closer together than recommended. He said it will provide short-term abundance, but in the long-run will decrease total yield.

"From a sustainability perspective, we're saying we've got good growth, we've got good reproduction, our forage base is fairly stable, it's fairly sustainable," he said, "If we put fish in on top of that, you're going to see growth rates decline, you're going to see your forage base become more vulnerable."

Dalbey also objected to what he saw as the implication that he or Nagel were hostile to the concerns of the public.

"It's a little hard for me to hear, you know, someone pointing a finger at Cody for being anti-walleye or anti-fishing," he said, "Nothing could be further from the truth. This kid lives, breathes and eats walleye, he's in it for the long haul to build a sustainable fishery."

A member of the audience summarized his view on what the public wants.

"I think the majority of the people in Havre are looking for a fishery where you can go out with your family, fish from the bank, not from a boat and be able to catch fish," he said, "That's what we want, that's what we're looking for."

Many members of the audience also raised concerns about Nelson and Fort Peck being prioritized for stock.

Dalbey said Nelson gets priority over Havre when it comes to stock because it has considerably lower rates of natural reproduction. He said the same is true of Fort Peck, but the degree to which it is lower than Fresno is unclear because they don't have as much data on it.

After nearly two hours of public comment the meeting ended. Dalbey encouraged the audience to come to future meetings to comment further.

"This is not your last opportunity," he said. "... We're here to make this the best fishery in Montana as well. We are not on dissimilar pages."