The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife operates six fish hatcheries. Sport fish raised for stocking include: cold water fish (rainbow trout, brown trout), cool water fish (saugeye, walleye, yellow perch, and muskellunge), and warm water fish (hybrid striped bass, channel catfish, largemouth bass, and bluegill).

The Division also raises non-sport species in order to reestablish threatened and endangered fish. Stocking is only one of the fish management tools used to manage state fish populations. The majority of Ohio’s fish populations are sustained through natural reproduction, however stocking is appropriate when natural reproduction cannot sustain a population.

In 1954, the U.S. and Canada signed the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries. In 1955, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established to be the forum for state, federal, tribal and provincial fishery agencies to coordinate research and management. The Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries was signed in 1981 to formalize a commitment to lake committees as their major action arm.

The Lake Erie Committee's (LEC) five task groups report in late March and include biologists and scientists from the five agencies who work together and share information and resources throughout the year.

The plan is available online and highlights the productivity and yield goals outlining an annual sustainable harvest of 30-60 million lbs. of highly valued fish. That includes protecting:

• Nearshore habitats—maintain nearshore habitats that can support smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskellunge, yellow perch, and walleye
• Riverine and estuarine habitats—protect and restore self-sustaining, stream-spawning stocks of walleye, white bass, lake sturgeon, and rainbow trout
• Central basin—provide sustainable harvests of walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, rainbow smelt, rainbow trout, and other desired fishes.