Description
You’ll hear several of our authors in this issue stress that lake managers and fisheries managers need to work more closely together. Public support for the work of both groups is essential for continued emphasis and, more importantly, for continued funding. If lake managers and fisheries managers send mixed messages about what is best for lakes, then the public will be confused and political bodies less inclined to fund such efforts until we “get our act together”. Just think of what could be accomplished if we worked more closely together!
In many states, fisheries management and water quality protection programs are in different agencies, for example, a Department of Natural Resources and a Department of Environmental Protection. Some states combine both within the same agency. Where the functions are split between two agencies, both must compete for scarce public funding. Competition for state funding can be a distraction and can redirect efforts away from doing the essential work. Interagency cooperation might be more possible if the lake protection managers and the fisheries managers had one common message to sell.
We won’t solve all of these issues in this “Fisheries Management” issue of LakeLine, but we will explore some of the differences of opinion, examine some success stories, and, hopefully, discover some common ground to more effectively manage lakes in the future.
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