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Minnesota's fisheries chief, Don Pereira, will retire from the Department of Natural Resources next month after nearly five years on the job.

Pereira, of Cottage Grove, is an accomplished fish biologist who has years of research and management experience on Minnesota's large walleye lakes. He was at the forefront of understanding fish community changes on Red Lake and Upper Red Lake as state and tribal fisheries biologists solved a walleye crisis in those waters.

DNR is launching a nationwide search for someone to replace Pereira. His last day at the DNR will be June 8.