A long-held assumption in the management of exploited fisheries is that fish populations will compensate with increased recruit survival to replenish the population when adult stock size is reduced through harvest. Observations of depensatory recruitment (reduced recruit survival at low adult stock size) and critical depensatory thresholds have challenged the compensation assumption. Post et al. (2002) postulated that critical depensatory thresholds were related to fish population productivity. Walleye Sander vitreus are a culturally, economically, and recreationally important sportfish whose persistence is being challenged by natural recruitment declines throughout much of its native range. Depensation, among other abiotic and biotic stressors, has been implicated in walleye natural recruitment declines. If walleye population productivity is related to critical depensatory thresholds, then population productivity benchmarks could be established to reduce the probability of crossing them. We used empirically-derived and model predicted depensation values (q) and empirical estimates of walleye population productivity to test for relationships between these variables in northern Wisconsin lakes. We found little evidence for a relationship between q and walleye population productivity across all lakes examined. Our finding failed to support the theoretical postulation of a relationship between these variables by Post et al. (2002) for walleye. Little evidence for a relationship between q and population productivity suggests that depensatory thresholds may differ among individual walleye populations and that walleye populations may transition abruptly between compensatory and depensatory states. Given our findings, conservation efforts for walleye that solely focus on low productivity populations may miss other trends because population productivity may not be considered a broad predictor of crossing a critical depensatory threshold.
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