Dobbs, sharpeyed walleyes and the pleasures we share

Over a day after it appeared, “No longer a gray area: This study confirms walleye prefer certain colors” remained one of the most popular articles on the Post-Gazette’s website. John Hayes reports on scientific findings that both confirmed and extended what expert fisherman have learned over years of fishing for walleye. (For non-expert fisherman, Mr. Hayes reports that “white lures outfished other colors when the water was clear. Yellow and gold were hot in water clouded with sediment. But when waters were green with algae, more walleye were caught on black and purple lures.”)

The fish see very well, for fish. As Mr. Hayes explains, the fish can see food and predators even when the water is thick with algae, mud or other sediment. They can even see at depths visual light doesn’t reach. They survive because they can see so well, especially in response to the nitrogen-rich runoff from farms that flows into Lake Erie and creates dense algal blooms that can cover half the lake.

The study, led by Suzanne Gray, a professor of environment and natural resources at Ohio State, helps fishermen, especially the non-experts. But it’s also an important contribution to our understanding of how fish respond to environmental changes. That’s knowledge we will need as the environment continues to change and increasingly affects fish and animals — whose condition, in turn, affects us.

There don’t seem to be any academic studies of the economic impact of walleye fishing or of their effect on the environment. Someone at Penn State needs to catch up with their Ohio State peer.

We do know that taking care of Earth’s fish and animals is good for us. People have studied the economic impact of whales. Once people wanted to protect them because they are magnificent animals. Now we know they’re also good for humanity. One study estimated that each whale is worth $2 million just by living. They sequester huge amounts of carbon dioxide at the bottom of the sea for example.

The response to the article is itself an encouraging sign of social health, especially on the day the Supreme Court’s release of the Dobbs decision made the deep differences between many Americans painfully obvious. As important as matters like abortion, racism, guns, climate and other issues are, they’re not the only things that matter.

We have a world to enjoy, including sports fish with surprisingly good eyesight. Most of the readers reading the article were almost certainly fisherman. But many were people who take pleasure in the natural world, especially in learning about the creatures with whom we share this world. And those people would include people at odds on all the contentious issues of the day. But we can share enjoyment in the humble but sharp-eyed walleye and in a world that is so rich in such pleasures.