The nucleus of fisheries management had its start in Minnesota in the 1880's with the first walleye eggs being taken by trapping the spawning fish at Fond du Lac in 1886.
Walleye hatcheries were built later at such places as Glenwood in 1904, Bemidji in 1915 and Tower in 1919. In Crow Wing County, the walleye hatchery at Jenkins at the mouth of the Pine River where it enters Whitefish Lake, was built in 1923.
Walleye eggs had been collected in the Pine River since 1916. However, these eggs were shipped elsewhere for hatching. The Jenkins hatchery was in continuous operation until 1955 when the operations were shifted to the hatchery facilities in the Brainerd Fisheries Headquarters building.
The hatching of walleye eggs continues today at the Brainerd headquarters.
The early history of walleye fry (newly-hatched fish) distribution is interesting. There was little planning involved regarding which lakes were to be stocked. Individuals and interested groups would make applications for fry for various lakes.
After hatching, the fry were placed in 10-gallon milk cans and brought to the nearest railroad depot either by horse and wagon in the earlier days and later by truck. The cans of fry were loaded into baggage cars. As the train passed various locations, the applicants would meet it, and would be issued their quota of fry.
There was little concern as to what type of lake was stocked and there was little or no information as to the actual need for stocking. The stocking of fry, in addition to the stocking of numerous other specie of fish such as whitefish, sunfish and crappies, northern pike and largemouth bass was essentially the entire management program into the 1930's.
There were a few biological studies made of the larger rivers in Minnesota, but very limited investigation of the lakes.
FISHERIES RESEARCH Increasing numbers of biological investigations of the Minnesota lakes and streams began in the late 1930s and continued into the early 1940's but these were curtailed by World War II.
The information gathered was to be used by the managers as guidelines for various management practices such as artificial propagation (stocking), rough fish removal, fishing regulations and habitat improvements.
Starting at this time, there was a drastic cutback in the stocking of walleye fry. Many of the lake surveys showed little evidence of any contribution of walleyes to the native population through fry stocking.
The fry program shifted over to primarily a fingerling program. The fry instead of being placed in lakes were now put into ponds and harvested in late summer and early fall when they were about three or four inches long (hence the name fingerling).
The thinking was that these larger fish would have a better chance of survival than the fry.
Four rearing ponds, Mission, Agate, Garrison and Cove Bay, were created in the Brainerd district at this time. It should be pointed out that some disenchantment has arisen over some of the ponds. The fish produced are generally pot as large as native fish of the same age, and also, as the ponds have aged, the production of walleyes produced declined in both numbers and size.
BRAINERD HEADQUARTERS During the 1940's the state was divided into seven fisheries districts. One of the district headquarters was Brainerd. The old district headquarters were reorganized a few years ago into five regions each with two or more areas.
Brainerd continues as one of the regional headquarters.
Following World War II,. trained fisheries biologists were placed in the district headquarters. Their prime functions at that time were to conduct lake and stream surveys, conduct research studies and to assist the managers with various biological investigations.
The Brainerd headquarters was staffed in 1949 with its biologist, in fact with two biologists, a husband and a wife team (Mr. and Mrs. Jack Maloney). Early work consisted primarily of lake surveys.
With the advent of the Dingell-Johnson program in 1952 (federal reimbursement to state fisheries agencies of three-fourths monies expended on approved projects) there was an upsurge in various biological studies.
Specialized investigations such as a statewide creel census of lakes was undertaken. Four lakes in the Brainerd area (Round, Sand, Nokay, and Gladstone) were included in this census.
THE TROUT PROGRAM Later a program was established of investigating small lakes (usually 20 acres of less in size) and if found suitable to support trout, the n activ e fish population (generally considered to have little fishing value) were removed with toxicants and various species of trout were introduced.
There are at present nine of these reclaimed trout lakes being managed from the Brainerd headquarters. This program also continues to be investigated and evaluated at this time.
INVENTORYING LAKES
An inventory of lakes (40 acres and more in size) and streams in the Brainerd area was started in 1962 as part of a statewide watershed investigation.
In this inventory, the lakes and streams in the Gull and Crow Wing River watersheds were surveyed and management recommendations made for the use of both fisheries and game managers.
One of the current projects being conducted in three lakes, Edward, Horseshoe and White Sand, in the Brainerd region is an evaluation of stocked northern pike.
NORTHERN PIKE RESCUE For a number of years, northern pike have been rescued in the winter in shallow water areas where ordinarily they would die at this time because of a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water. These fish have been placed in numerous lakes, but little follow-up has been done to evaluate the significance and results of these stockings.
CREEL CENSUS This study commenced with a "before" picture of the fish populations in the lakes through lake surveys. Starting in the winter of 1969-1970, and continuing through the summer of 1970, a creel census of fishermen was underway to determine the harvest of both the native and the stocked northern pike as well as the other species being taken.
An "after" picture will be undertaken at the conclusion of the census to determine what if any changes have occurred in the lakes attributed to these stockings.
FISHERIES TODAY
Personnel-wise, the Brainerd complement of permanent fisheries employees has increased manyfold. In the early 1940's, there was a single man stationed here. The permanent staff is now 15.
Two areas in this region at Outing and Aitkin are each staffed by two men. As the complexities of the work become more involved in fisheries research and management, the image of the old hatchery man is fast-fading to be replaced by a highly-trained professional.
It is now recognized that the artificial propagation of fish is only a single tool of management to be used carefully and sparingly. It is not the only management procedure as thought in the early history of Minnesota fisheries work.
Themes of History Touch This Area- Several great themes in American history have touched Minnesota in one way or another. One was the vain search for the western sea, known as the Northwest Passage. Another was the successful search for the source of the Mississippi River.
With fur trade dominating the history of the area during the late 18th and 19th centuries, Grand Portage was an important industry center.
Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1871-1971).
