Freshwater anglers, especially in Minnesota, are harvesting a lot more fish than state management agencies report, according to a new study. This new research has hit just as anglers and fisheries managers around the country are grappling with how to balance the explosion of forward-facing sonar with current harvest limits and fishing regulations. While many worry that the new technology could lead to ultra-efficient fisherman and devastated fisheries, there’s very little scientific data on how FFS affects fish populations. But that’s about to change.
The scientific journal Fisheries reports that Minnesota anglers harvest an estimated 36,000 tons (or about 80 million pounds) of freshwater fish each year. That’s more than double of the official state estimate of 30 million pounds, according to a report in The Star Tribune. Well before this study, the state had already proposed reducing the walleye bag limit from six fish to four starting in 2027.
“We have been looking at harvest over time, and we don’t see over-harvest generally as a problem,” Brad Parsons, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s fisheries chief, told the Tribune. “Even with the walleye bag limit change, this isn’t a crisis we are trying to address. This is … to be good stewards and to be proactive.”
The state’s annual harvest estimate was last made in 2001, though the newspaper reports that the DNR is now conducting a similar study to update that harvest estimate.
The Fisheries study — conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Missouri, the University of Louisiana, and Memorial University of Newfoundland — analyzed thousands of angler and creel surveys from fishermen around the country to estimate the harvest for each state. The study only accounted for fish harvested from lakes; it did not include riverways.
Why the Discrepancy in Harvest Numbers?
There are two obvious reasons for the vastly different estimates in fish harvest (even putting aside differing methodologies). The first is an increase in the number of anglers since 2001. Fishing participation boomed amid the Covid-19 pandemic and remains high in 2026. An estimated 26 percent of all Minnesota residents age 16 and older go fishing at least once per year.
The other potential reason for increased fish harvests is the prevalence of forward-facing sonar, which allows tech-savvy anglers to find fish much more quickly, especially off-shore or in new waters. Anyone who has used FFS for walleyes or lake-basin crappies can attest to how it improves angling efficiency.
With the popularity of FFS, it will be difficult or impossible for fishery managers to implement bans, as some old-school fishermen argue for. But it’s possible that fishery managers will have to more closely regulate harvest given the widespread use of FFS.
An Upcoming FFS Study
Unfortunately there isn’t solid data on exactly how many anglers are using FFS now and how it has improved their catch rates. A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota is looking to change that. Next week they’re launching a three-year project that will conduct surveys of Minnesota anglers to understand how they’re using FFS to target gamefish.
The researchers will also compare fishing success using FFS and traditional fish finders during both open-water and ice fishing seasons, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
The research hopes to learn if FFS might deplete fish populations over time. The team will use those findings to model if the use of live imaging could deplete fish populations over time. The state approved $676,000 in funding for the project.
Researcher Cam Mosley told MPR that a key goal of this study will be to provide fisheries managers with better data as they consider new regulations or restrictions.
For now, all we have to go on is anecdotal evidence, and the clear trend is that more and more anglers are armed with FFS. Frankie’s Live Bait and Marine — an iconic boat dealer in Chisago City — now equips essentially every top-end boat they sell with FFS.
“Everybody either wants it or adds it later,” says Bud Dusenka, of Frankie’s.
For more than 30 years Terry Thurmer has run a harbor and boat launch on Mille Lacs Lake, which is a destination walleye and smallmouth bass fishery. He sees a few thousand boats come through his harbor every year, and he estimates that about 25 percent now have FFS. He expects that number to increase.
Thurmer says he doesn’t think FFS will hurt the walleye fishery on Mille Lacs, which is a big lake and already has reduced harvest limits.
“But it will cause holy hell on smaller lakes,” Thurmer says. “Guys can get on a little lake they’ve never fished before and find panfish right away.”