Ontario-Great Lakes Area Fact Sheets

Yellow Perch

General Description

The yellow perch is a member of the perch family of fishes and has the following characteristics:

• an elongate, oval body;
• a moderately long, blunt snout which does not extend beyond the lower jaw;
• two well separated dorsal fins;
• the back and top of the head are bright green to olive to golden brown and this colour extends downwards to form six to eight vertical bars over the yellow to yellow-green sides;
• the underside is white; and
• the dorsal and caudal fins are yellow to green, anal and pelvic fins opaque yellow to silver white and the pectoral fins amber and transparent.

Distribution

The yellow perch is a freshwater fish with an almost circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere. In Canada it can be found from Nova Scotia and Quebec, west to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories and in Pend Oreille, Kootenay and Okanagan watersheds of British Columbia. This small, prolific fish is especially abundant in Manitoba lakes and in the Great Lakes drainage system.

Habitat and Life History

The yellow perch is a cool-water species and is most abundant in the open water of lakes with moderate vegetation, clear water and bottoms of muck to sand and gravel. The yellow perch spawns in the spring, usually from mid-April to May. Adults migrate to the shallow waters of lakes and often into tributary rivers to spawn. Spawning takes place during the night and early morning, usually near rooted vegetation, submerged brush or fallen trees, but sometimes over sand or gravel. The eggs hatch in approximately 8 - 10 days and the young remain inactive for about 5 days. Young fish feed on cladocerans, ostracods and chironomid larvae. In the first summer large, compact schools of the young are often seen. Adults and young are gregarious, often moving about in loose groups of 50-200 individuals. Yellow perch move seasonally out of and into deeper water in response to temperature and, probably, to food distribution.

Food Habits

The food of the yellow perch changes with size and season but it is mainly composed of immature insects, larger invertebrates, and the eggs and young of a wide variety of fishes. It is an active feeder during the whole year and can be angled summer and winter.

Economic Importance

The yellow perch is an important commercial, recreational and sport fish. Because it inhabits a vast territory, a wide variety of habitats, is a schooling fish and congregates near shore in the spring, it is readily available to commercial and recreational fishermen. Today it is the most valuable commercial catch taken from Ontario waters and the greatest commercial production comes from the Great Lakes.

Yellow perch is an excellent food fish and is marketed fresh and frozen.

Fishing Facts

The yellow perch may be the easiest of all fish to catch and is a favourite sport fish of children.

Further Information

For further information, please contact your local DFO office: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans-habitat/habitat/aboutus-apropos/regions/arctic-arctique_e.asp?#1