Page 6 - Round Goby Flipbook
P. 6
A 2006 Round gobies will eat eggs of
economic study was native fish if they become
conducted by UW-Green Bay,
UW-Extension and the DNR. It established in Lake Winnebago.
estimated that fishing alone on the four Do native fish eggs get eaten
pool lakes of the Winnebago system had
a total economic impact of $234 million by other native fish?
dollars per year to Calumet, Fond du Lac,
Outagamie, Waushara and Winnebago counties Native fish and round gobies both eat the
and supported 4300 jobs in those counties. This eggs of other fish.
study was also done 10 years ago and so it
is estimated that this number has increased The difference is that the native fish evolved
in that time period, and with inflation it’s in the system together, with checks and
now projected at $276 million. This balances that developed over millennia.
local fishing economy is at risk if
gobies establish in the The problem with gobies is that, when
introduced into a waterbody, they are a
system. new consumer in that ecosystem.
Gobies reproduce very quickly (gobies can
spawn up to six times per year), and this
combination can throw the ecosystem and
food web out of balance.
Eventually fish such as bass, walleye and
others would come to recognize gobies as
a food source.
In other waters, goby populations are
utilized because of their abundance, not as
a preferred food.
The problem again comes from the fact that
gobies outcompete and displace native fish
species, many of them at the small forage
fish or minnow level, disrupting and
simplifying the food chain.
According to the WI DNR, there’s
no available mechanism to compensate
local businesses impacted by the closure of
the Menasha lock. The same thing would hold
true if the local fishery were to collapse due to
any number of reasons in the future (including the
introduction of an invasive species). The DNR did not
introduce the goby to Little Lake Butte des Morts and they
make policy decisions based on the greatest good for the
greatest number of users, including considering larger
economic and regional impacts. In regard to the economic
impact of closing the Menasha lock, one needs to also
consider the economic impact of gobies invading
5 Winnebago and the rest of the system.
