Walleye plan proposed
BY DENNIS LIEN Pioneer Press
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and six other Chippewa bands have proposed taking 100,000 pounds of walleyes a year out of Lake Mille Lacs between 2003 and 2007, a level equal to their current allocation.
But the bands’ five-year proposal includes an element of commercialization, a fact that concerns Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials who are evaluating it.
The proposal from the band was submitted in the past week to the DNR, which establishes safe walleye harvests on the state’s premier walleye fishery based on the bands’ allowed take.
Rick Bruesewitz, DNR treaty biologist, said the agency is pleased with the 100,000-pound annual proposal.
“We’re really pleased to see the bands are staying at a fairly reasonable level,” he said. “This is something we can accommodate with the angling.”
But DNR officials said they are troubled by language that appears to suggest increased commercialization of fishing.
“We’re trying to figure out what it really means,” Bruesewitz said. “We have concerns over the commercialization of that resource.”
Curt Kalk, the Mille Lacs band’s natural resources commissioner, said the Mille Lacs Band, which gets half of the bands’ annual allocation, has no interest in commercial fishing on the lake. But he said members of some bands from Wisconsin want flexibility to sell fish they take within their allocations to cover such costs as transportation to and from Lake Mille Lacs.
“Mille Lacs will not be participating in any commercial fishing,” Kalk said. “I don’t favor commercialization at all.”
Kalk said the management plan represents the bands’ best estimate of their subsistence fishing needs, along with a cushion to meet increased demand.
The bands seek 100,000 pounds of walleyes a year in 2003 and 2004. Then, if they use at least 85 percent of their allocation, levels would rise to 105,000 pounds in 2005, 110,000 in 2006, and 115,000 in 2007. Otherwise, the allocation would stay at 100,000 pounds.
Last year, the bands had an 85,000-pound allocation, but took only 48,000 pounds. The DNR set a harvest quota of 310,000 pounds for the public but, because of excellent fishing, had to impose size limits during the season to hold down the take.
This year, the bands’ harvest rises to 100,000 pounds. The DNR, however, has yet to set a harvest level for the public.
The sport-angler allocation is part of the Mille Lacs fisheries management plan that spun out of a lawsuit won by the bands, allowing them to harvest fish with spears and gill nets outside of state regulation. Under their management plan, their allocation has gradually inched higher.
Dennis Lien can be reached at or (651) 228-5588.
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EFN Webstaff