At the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie hatchery, volunteers are doing their part to improve the walleye populations in Lake Erie.
 
On Tuesday, members of the organization released nearly 1.3 million walleye fingerlings into Presque Isle Bay.
 
"We started out with 1.6 million eggs," said hatchery manager Jack Bock.  "We had about an 80 percent hatch."
 
Each year, the non-profit receives the walleye eggs from the Pymatuning fish hatchery.
 
The eggs are stored in jars until they hatch.
 
Volunteers then release the fry into the bay.
 
"They estimate that somewhere with the fry like that, whether it's mother nature or from the hatchery, one in 10 thousand gets to be a legal fish," said Bock.  "To be a legal fish, the fry will have to survive five years.  That's 15 inches."
 
After a spike in water temperature killed off half the eggs in 2023, Bock is calling this year's harvest a huge success.
 
"A normal hatch in mother nature, maybe 40 percent hatch," said Bock.  "We have almost doubled that, so the hatchery is making a contribution into the bay."