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Mille Lacs netters stymie resource management
News reports on the Mille Lacs gillnetting show how it hurts the local economy.
Tribal netters ignored risky conditions in the rush to net spawning Walleye. They put conservation in the back seat. Some of the 170 to 180 gillnets they used went missing. These 100-foot long "ghost nets" keep catching and killing fish until they are found.
This year "co-management" lowered the total allowable harvest of Walleye on Mille Lacs by raising the tribal quota from 100,000 to 122,500 pounds—and lowering the angler quota from 449,000 to 307,500 pounds.
Separate-and-unequal fishing regulations hurt all Minnesotans. Mille Lacs, a major sport fishing and tourism asset is hit especially hard. It reinforces the inportance of PERM's goal to get the nets out of Mille Lacs.
| Ghost nets keep catching and killing fish until they are found and retrieved | |
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Photos: Dave Quast |
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Murky legal basis for special rights on Red Lake
With the perspective of 28 years, retired game warden Greg Spaulding gave first-hand insights into the troublesome issues surrounding Red Lake. He spoke at PERM’s Annual Metro Area Fundraiser at Blainbrook.
Spaulding’s position is that Red Lake is on an equal footing with every other Minnesota lake, a natural resource that belongs to every citizen of Minnesota. He believes in the rule of law, and that treaties have a rightful place under this principle. He found that most people, including most Indians, are unfamiliar with the actual content of any treaties...
Rep. Sondra Erickson has introduced HF 3432, to make meetings between the Dept. of Natural Resources, Ojibwe tribes, and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission subject to open meeting law. Co-authors include Rep.s Tom Hackbarth, Ron Shimanski, and Rob Eastlund.
In 1983, a federal court decision affirmed off-reservation hunting and fishing rights in territories ceded under the Chippewa treaties. GLIFWC was formed in 1984 to help bridge the rift leading to the 1983 decision...
Mille Lacs: Don't blame high court or 'the Indians'
By Joe Fellegy (First published in Outdoor News, February 9, 2008. © Outdoor News, Reprinted with permission.)
Recent news about the Mille Lacs walleye population and the annual state-tribal agreement on a “safe allowable” walleye harvest have prompted interest and chatter about the workings of treaty fisheries management. Expect more media commentary, too, especially since Dennis Anderson’s breakthrough column in last Friday’s Star Tribune...