Buried in these complex equations is information that could help improve walleye fishing on Lake Vermilion, or Cass, or any of Minnesota's other major walleye waters. Pereira, a DNR fisheries research scientist, must find that information and make sense of it. Pereira and the DNR's other 22 fisheries research scientists spend their days figuring out how to make fish management more effective and more efficient. They're like guides who assist fisheries managers through the obstacles of scientific unknowns. Fisheries researchers' work is closely related to that done by corporate research scientists.
Companies rely on research to produce the most effective products for the lowest possible cost.
For example, product and marketing research are responsible for graphite fishing rods, depthfinders, and hundreds of other items available to make fishing easier and more productive. The same holds true in the fisheries management business. Larger muskies Muskie anglers are one group reaping the benefits of fisheries research, says Jack Wingate, DNR Fisheries Research Program supervisor. In the late 1970s, Bob Strand began studying various strains of muskies used for stocking. The recently retired northwest regional fisheries supervisor learned that the Leech Lake-strain of muskie survived better and grew larger than other strains.