It's an overlooked thing in Erie,when I fished there 12 eyes in the box two guys was good to go but really not legal. The rules say separate, another  thing I ran my rods on the left side my buddy the right,some days more fish would come on my rods,some day his,all we we're worried about was 12 in the box. Same with perch back them 50 fish limit,100 in the box no matter who caught them. I fish a few times in Sandusky on the cast and reel charters,the first mate and captain threw more fish in box than the other 6 guys. There are some GREY AREAS. One warden at Pymy said anything fish caught/ snagged at the spillway must in the mouth,the other guy said in front of the gill cover..I caught many eyes trolling.with a Long A bomber,Bango's,and spoons on the face,gill cover or even under their chin,legal don't know, I do know they went in the cooler. I do feel if there where solid rules and regulations everywhere I could deal with it, but the grey area,between wardens,and areas can be a problem.  Go trout  fishing two guys,throw 10 in a cooler and see how fast you get busted. Is that different from Erie? 

I've been checked at Pymie a few times .. Once for safety stuff & licenses also one time at manning loading up boat on trailer had 5 walleye in cooler he must of thought the one was small cause he measured it ...15 1/2" .... Then one time at Wilhelm I was loading up at launch 1 down by the dam and had a warden waiting for me. Had my cooler open (nothing in it) told him no luck he said not what he wanted to see , said I needed to redo my numbers on my boat because he couldn't read them with his binoculars.... Told him no problem didn't realize they were that bad ....,

Grey area.

Throw them back. Feed the birds those perch. If the gw doesn't have the fish in his possession, how can he fine you. And it's going to be tough for him to count them to your limit too.

Yes there is. Dont over complicate them. If they say 50 fish limit and you want to keep your 50 best out of 100 caught, throw fifty back. If they live, okay. If they dont, okay. You have that option. Not many people travel 100 miles to take home 30 perch that are 7". When you're in a school of them, throw the smaller ones back. Keep the 9" ones. Your option. They set the rules, you follow them. 6 walleyes, you deep hooked 3 smaller ones, cut the line and let them go. Even if it's a spinner that you paid $3 for. You have more. Cut the line. Guys complain about a $3 lure, then rip it out, then complain that the fish wont live if they let it go. CUT THE LINE. I'm sure you've caught smaller fish that still had a hook in their mouth.