Read Yellow Perch in South Dakota: Population Variability and Predicted Effects of Creel Limit Reductions and Minimum Length Limits (Isermann et al., 2007) and be prepared to discuss the following items in class.

  1. How are most Yellow Perch fisheries managed?
  2. What two characteristics of Yellow Perch populations impact management options?
  3. What were the stated objectives of this study?
  4. Specifically, what did the authors do in this study?
  5. What were the response variables?
  6. Explain, in lay terms, the four criterion they used to interpet their model results.
  7. Interpret Tables 3 and 5.
  8. Why did minimum length limits result in improved age- and size-structures but not in increased yields and harvests?
  9. How does the relative proportional contribution to annual mortality impact the probability of success for minimum length limits?
  10. What are (at least three) take home messages?