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Peake, S., R. S. McKinley and D. A. Scruton (2000). Swimming performance of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum). Canadian Journal of Zoology. 78:1686-1690.

Swimming performance of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) from a wild population was measured relative to fork length (0.18-0.67 m) and water temperature (5.8- 20.5 °C), to provide models for setting water velocities in fishways and culverts. Ucrit₆₀ (the highest speed maintainable for 60 min) values ranged from 0.30 to 0.73 m/s and increased significantly with length and temperature. Ucrit₁₀ (the highest speed maintainable for 10 min) values ranged from 0.43 to 1.14 m/s and also increased significantly with fish length and water temperature. When startled, walleye were able to attain higher speeds (1.60-2.60 m/s) during short (temperature-independent) bursts of swimming activity. The relatively low Ucrit₆₀ values suggest that walleye possess a narrow scope for aerobic activity compared with other species, which may account for their poor performance in fishways. However, the small differences between Ucrit₆₀ and Ucrit₁₀ values and the large differences between Ucrit₁₀and fast-start performance suggest that low passage efficiency may be caused by a behavioural disinclination to switch from low to high intensity activity.