Ohio bill naming walleye the state fish again flops at the Statehouse

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A years-long effort to crown the walleye as Ohio's state fish again drowned at the Statehouse.

While the Ohio House passed House Bill 599 last June to designate the state fish as sander vitreus, commonly known as the walleye, the proposal didn't advance in the Ohio Senate. The walleye provision was then folded into Senate Bill 62, legislation to make a variety of designations like naming Oct. 4 "Rutherford B. Hayes Day," but it too failed to swim across the legislative finish line. Watch a previous NBC4 report on H.B. 599 in the video player above.

Ohio's 135th General Assembly ended in December, meaning any proposal seeking to name the walleye as the state fish will need to be reintroduced and undergo the legislative approval process during the state's 136th General Assembly, which kicked off on Monday and runs for two years.

Though Ohio has memorialized other symbols, like tomato juice as the official beverage and white trillium as the formal wildflower, the state is one of three -- along with Indiana and Iowa -- which remains symbolically fishless.

"It is estimated that the total economic output of the sport fishery in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie to be valued at $1.190 billion, with 71% of the total sport fishing effort of private and charter boats on Lake Erie directed toward walleye," said Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma), the provision's primary sponsor. "In fact, walleye support about 950 fishing charter guides in Ohio, which is not matched anywhere in the country."

About 95 million of the white-bellied fish, also sporting olive and gold, thrive in the cool waters of Lake Erie, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife. In comparison, there are roughly 600,000 white-tailed deer, Ohio's official mammal, across the state. This means Lake Erie holds close to 158 times more walleye than the entire state's deer population, Brennan said.

Previous legislation to commemorate the walleye also floundered at the Statehouse but was supercharged when NBC4, using responses from its viewers and readers, proposed a handful of species competing for the title of Ohio's state fish in October 2021.

Once the walleye emerged as the victor, NBC4 contacted every state lawmaker whose district borders Lake Erie to inquire whether a bill naming it as Ohio's official fish could swim its way through the Statehouse. Former state Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) volunteered and agreed to introduce a bill bestowing the designation.

Fedor's Senate Bill 271 and its counterpart House Bill 484 -- which lawmakers considered over a spread of smoked walleye cheese dip and crackers -- died in the water, failing to receive a vote in either chamber of the General Assembly by the end of 2022.

It was not the first time a state fish bill has flopped at the Statehouse. The decades-long debate spans back to the 1980s, when walleye anglers in northern Ohio battled bass anglers down south about which of the two species should grace the list of state symbols, according to a 2003 article by The Morning Journal of Lorain.

Brennan, along with the provision's other primary sponsor Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron), revived the effort when a resident in his district reached out and advocated for the walleye as Ohio's top fish. The pair noted the walleye's history in Ohio culture, from the Toledo walleye hockey team to the city of Port Clinton's time-honored tradition of dropping a 20-foot, 600-pound fiberglass walleye adorned in LED lights to mark the New Year.

"While not just a blessing for us financially, this fish is also a blessing for us culturally. Thousands
of hours are spent by Ohioans and non-Ohioans alike, enjoying this safe and sustainable hobby," said Swearingen. "Fishing this species brings many to Lake Erie, one of our state's most beautiful features, promoting healthy lakeside activity with friends and family."