Star Tribune: DNR biologist: Proposed walleye limit cut is a social issue that won't yield more fish

Paul Radomski is a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist and author of the forthcoming University of Minnesota Press book "Walleye: A Beautiful Fish of the Dark.'' In 2001-2002, during the last big Minnesota fish limit revision, Radomski was the DNR scientific adviser and expert witness in the agency's limit revision process.

Walleye, the holy grail of game fish: on catching them, understanding their biology and history, and ensuring their survival"[Fishing regulation handbooks are loaded with rules that fundamentally are socially based. Examples include the largemouth bass open season, party fishing and culling. Rules on what constitutes legal tackle also are often based on what a majority of people think provides for "fair chase'' in sportfishing. Today's walleye limit therefore can be considered in part a social regulation that defines what is "reasonable.''

Now, because the issue is being considered in the Legislature and not the DNR, the "reasonableness'' of the proposed walleye limit reduction from six to four is for politicians to gauge as to whether it is sensible and socially acceptable."

Read the full interview with Paul Radomski, author of Walleye: A Beautiful Fish of the Dark, at Star Tribune.