If this summer’s catch reports can be a valid indicator, the foreseeable future for walleye fishing on Lake Erie looks solid.

Not only are good numbers of mature, legal-length walleyes being deposited into coolers from Toledo to Conneaut nearly every day, but numerous walleyes hatched in 2014 and ’15 are mixing in and taking bait. Those young fish, yet to reach the 15-inch legal length, usually earn a return trip to the water.

A significant, revenue-generating sport-fishing industry rests largely on Lake Erie’s walleye population, which is not only watched closely by experts but also nurtured in a variety of ways.

Much of the responsibility to make walleye fishing good falls to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, although not aspects outside its control (monetarily, politically or ideologically motivated).

One direct method to maintain a sustainable population involves regulations designed to limit the catch — the reason for catch and size limits and a prohibition on commercial fishing for walleye in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie.

Another method is to encourage successful spawning.

The removal of the Ballville Dam on the Sandusky River at Fremont, years and millions of dollars in the unmaking, will open more than 20 miles of potential spawning habitat to walleyes, which since the dam was built in 1913 have been stopped from moving upstream. Ensuing flood-control measures helped reduce the Sandusky River spring walleye run at Fremont from healthy to ailing.