"Changes in Fish Community and Walleye Population Recovery in Shoal Lake, Ontario Following an Invasion by Rainbow Smelt"

Both commercial and sport fishing for walleye (Sander vitreus) on Shoal Lake were closed in the spring of 1983, following a drastic population decline from over fishing.  As late as 2006, regular monitoring indicated that adult biomass and survival have remained low, partly attributable to continuing fishing mortality from a subsistence fishery.  Increases in northern pike (Esox lucius), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) abundance have been observed.  Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were first detected in 1999. This paper focuses on recent fish community changes that have seen declines in native coregonid populations, especially cisco (Coregonus artedi), and improvements in recruitment and survival of walleye which are finally leading to a recovery; three decades after the fishery closure.