Warmer waters due to climate change are likely to hurt the reproduction of walleye in inland lakes in Midwest states like Michigan.
Gretchen Hansen is a research scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
She says over the next 30 years, as the planet and its waters warm, there will be a significant decline in walleye, especially those in smaller inland lakes, and an increase in largemouth bass.
That's because walleye reproduce more readily in colder waters.
Hansen says the trend will be most noticeable in smaller inland lakes.
She says it's possible that natural resources agencies will be able to compensate by stocking lakes with walleye.
Sports fishing is a billion-dollars-plus industry in Michigan as well as other Great Lakes states.
