Chippewa tribes declare record number of walleyes

[Lee Borgersen]

Chippewa tribes declare record number of walleyes for spearing season


   

March 25, 2015
       




 
   
The six bands of Chippewa tribes in northern Wisconsin have declared intentions to spear a record 68,226 walleyes during the 2015 off-reservation harvest, according to a plan presented to state officials by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The harvest declarations are spread across 590 lakes and five lake chains in the ceded territory, essentially the northern one-third of Wisconsin.

The declarations are part of an annual process conducted by tribal representatives and state officials to manage the safe harvest of fish.

The 2015 declarations by band are Bad River 6,809 walleyes; Lac Court Oreilles 6,530; Lac du Flambeau 31,979; Mole Lake 13,955; Red Cliff 2,261; and St. Croix 6,692.

Officials with GLIFWC submitted the tribal plans to the Department of Natural Resources on March 13.



The 2015 declarations are 4,738 walleyes or 7% higher than 2014.

The 1983 Voigt case affirmed the right of the Chippewa tribes’ to hunt, fish and gather in the ceded territory. Since the late 1980s, the tribes’ have exercised their right to take walleyes and other fish by spearing.



In most years, the tribes' harvest less than 50% of the declaration.

In 2014, for example, the tribes' declared 63,488 walleyes and harvested 27,725, according to state records. In 2013 the declaration was 59,399 and the harvest was 28,447.


The state adjusts regulations in an effort to keep the combined tribal and sport harvest within a “safe limit” on each water.



Across the more than 1,000 waters in the ceded territory, sport angler harvest runs between five to 10 times higher than tribal spearing harvest, said the DNR's Joe Hennessy.

Anglers fish in more than 1,000 waters, while tribal spearing occurs on about 180 waters each year.

In lakes with a "joint fishery," the distribution is closer to 65% angler harvest to 35% tribal spear harvest, Hennessy said.


The DNR is expected to announce proposed modifications to sport angler regulations in the coming days.

[glenn57]