Ann Arbor, MI— Lake Erie fishery managers from Michigan, New York, Ohio, Ontario and
Pennsylvania—meeting as the binational Lake Erie Committee (LEC)—agreed to a total
allowable catch (TAC) for 2022 of 14.533 million walleye and 7.185 million pounds of yellow
perch. Walleye are allocated by number of fish and yellow perch are allocated in pounds.
These TACs represent an increase in walleye from 12.284 million fish last year and an
increase for yellow perch from 6.238 million pounds of fish. Specific allocations of both
species are presented below by jurisdiction.
The LEC makes TAC decisions by consensus of the members. The LEC’s TAC
recommendations are produced after extensive, lakewide biological assessments, analyses,
discussions, and consultations with stakeholders. The recommendations are consistent with the
status of Lake Erie’s fish populations, taking into the account the goal of stable harvest. The
individual state and provincial governments implement the TACs in their jurisdiction in
accordance with their respective regulations and management objectives.
WALLEYE: Guided by the Walleye Management Plan, which was developed in consultation
with the Lake Erie Percid Management Advisory Group (LEPMAG), the LEC set a 2022
lakewide walleye TAC of 14.533 million fish, an 18% increase over the 2021 TAC of 12.284
million fish. The increased TAC reflects continued strong recruitment and high population
levels over the last several years. The Province of Ontario and the states of Ohio and Michigan
share the TAC based on a formula of walleye habitat within each jurisdiction in the western
and central basins of the lake. Under the 2022 TAC, Ohio will be entitled to 7.428 million fish,
Ontario 6.258 million fish, and Michigan 0.847 million fish. Jurisdictions in eastern Lake Erie
are outside of the TAC area, but harvest limits are set consistent with lakewide objectives.
YELLOW PERCH: The yellow perch fishery is divided into four management units (MU), which
generally correspond to the western, west-central, east-central, and eastern basins of Lake Erie. The
LEC has strived to maintain sustainable harvest while responding to changing abundance. The
proposed TAC represents differences among the management units in abundance and biomass.
Guided by the Yellow Perch Management Plan (YPMP), the LEC has finalized TAC decisions
for each management unit as follows: The TAC in MU 1 will increase to 3.038 million
pounds. The TAC in MU 2 will decrease to 0.537 million pounds. The TAC in MU 3 will
increase to 3.082 million pounds. The TAC in MU 4 will increase to 0.528 million pounds.
In making these recommendations, the LEC relied on the YPMP, which was also developed in
consultation with the LEPMAG, and provided the technical foundation for the LEC’s
decisions. The plan established harvest policies aimed at maintaining population and fishery
sustainability for each MU using a stakeholder driven process. Each harvest policy was
extensively evaluated using simulation modeling with data inputs from fishery-dependent and
fishery-independent sources. The YPMP was designed to ensure fishery sustainability and
quality to satisfy conservation and maintain socio-economic benefits.