It is no surprise that the Ministry of Natural Resources is becoming known in some outdoors circles as the Ministry of Natural Disasters.

It has been slow to react to the serious decline in the moose population across Northwestern Ontario and now it is silent while people reveal that anglers are slaughtering pre- and post spawn walleye in rivers in the Thunder Bay district.

Two letters to this newspaper have decried the ministry’s lack of action on walleye fishing during the spring spawning season on the Savanne River which flows into Lac des Mille Lacs, a popular fishery for city anglers.

“Even though walleye season is closed from April 15 to the third Saturday in May, Mother Nature does not know that the ice has to go out in this period to protect the spawning fish,” wrote city angler Lawrence Frattolin.

“With ice melting before April 15 a couple of times, and last year melting after the third Saturday in May, the fish that were supposed to be protected by the closed season were not.”

Other river sanctuaries in the area, such as the Swamp River of Shebandowan and Weikwabinonaw River of Northern Lights, are closed from approximately April 1 to June 1.

Read more here: http://www.chroniclejournal.com/editorial/daily_editorial/2015-03-23/mnr-slow-react