Netting expected to continue

[Lee Borgersen]

                    .. Early FDL walleye take very limited.

Netting expected to continue, but likely won’t reach 2,500-pound quota.


Posted  4/28/16 

  .....
LAKE VERMILION— The first night of netting by members of the Fond du Lac Band at Peterson’s Landing on the western end of Lake Vermilion went off without major controversy Tuesday night, and with only a minimal harvest of walleye.

Band members were expected to be back for another night of netting late Wednesday, after the Timberjay’s weekly presstime.

A total of 18 band members participated in the first night’s harvest. Participating members deployed a single, 100-foot net on Tuesday evening and recovered it on Wednesday morning.

Fond du Lac biologists and law enforcement recorded the harvest, which included 13 walleye, totaling 38 pounds, along with 37 northern pike, totaling 51 pounds.

Fond du Lac had set a walleye quota of 2,500 pounds, with no quota for other species, so the first night’s harvest represents only a tiny fraction of the allowable catch.

Band members determine day-to-day whether they’ll continue the harvest and couldn’t say how long beyond Wednesday they expected to continue with netting operations.

The scene was a busy one, according to observers. “There were a lot of different enforcement people there,” said Edie Evarts, Tower area fisheries manager, who went to observe the harvest on Wednesday morning. The DNR has no authority over the netting, which is authorized under the terms of the 1854 Treaty, which is regulated by the federal government.

Brian Borkholder, a Fond du Lac biologist who oversees the harvest, said he couldn’t comment on the first night’s harvest or how long the operations might continue on Lake Vermilion.

While Fond du Lac has long had rights to hunt and fish within the 1854 Treaty zone, which includes most of northeastern Minnesota, this is the first time in recent memory that the band has opted to exercise its rights on Lake Vermilion. The band had proposed to harvest on Vermilion last year, but the Bois Forte Tribal Council had prevailed upon Fond du Lac officials to delay for at least a year. Bois Forte band members have undertaken subsistence netting on the lake for generations, which does not appear to have had a significant impact on the lake’s walleye population, which remains among the most robust of any lake in Minnesota.

Under the terms of the 1854 Treaty, Indian tribes are allowed half the safe harvest on lakes within the treaty zone, although the harvest announced by Fond du Lac won’t come anywhere near that level. Evarts said the DNR considers 65,000 pounds to be the safe harvest level for walleye on Vermilion.

Even so, DNR officials have been in discussion with Fond du Lac about their long-term plans, which currently include an annual harvest on Vermilion. “Their intent is to alternate each year between the east and west basins,” said DNR regional fisheries manager Joe Mix.

Mix noted that the Fond du Lac harvest is intensively managed, with both law enforcement and a team of biologists on hand whenever a netting or spearing night is established. “We’ll know right down to the fish, what they harvest,” said Mix.

[snow1]

So,this is how they do it,we'll just take a few because we can,but just wait they'll declare double next year and our dnr will scramble and introduce restrictive slots for starters the reduce the daily non native bag limits,sound familiar  mille lacs comes to mind and also upper red lake,lakes these folks ruined in recent history just in Minnesota and take a guess who did the fix!

[Aceguide]

Before you give us all the doom and gloom about the Walleye harvest on Vermilion and compare it to what has happened on Milacs. Please keep in mind that Milacs has 10 times the angling pressure than we have on Vermilion. The local tribe is also very aware how important a healthy Walleye fishery is to their own future.

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man"

[snow1]

When they start gill netting 50% of allowable quota is when the "gloom" will start,another lake near vermillion got shut down over this very type of operation,"upper red lake' maybe you herd of it?We'll see how the bois forte will handle the increased harvest #'s down the road,as I said this is how they (natives)roll,kill off one area (Wisconsin) then move to another (Minnesota) declare a few 1000 spawning walleyes at 1st,they do it because they can,no other reason,exception is our local tribes,we get the tradition of gathering and harvesting,never had issues here until the 6 wisc bands started rolling in.

[delcecchi]

We already have slots on Vermilion.  And, netting didn't wreck Mille Lacs, too much angling and DNR mistakes wrecked Mille Lacs. 

Red got ruined by lack of enforcement to stop rogue netting, and all those folks who bought walleye out of the back of a truck or the trunk of a car. 

[Aceguide]

Thanks Del, you nailed it.
Have a great opener.

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man".

[snow1]

Com'on del,thats a cop out!  you should've been more involved over the years rather than turning a blind eye what took place on mille lacs,red and all the lakes throughout the ceded territory in wisc,now we have 6 tribes from wisc pillaging our walleye lakes here and our gutless dnr and state officals won't lift a finger even tho they have the authority for conservation reason's such as netting the spawning walleyes out w/o anyone accounting the take,which BTW is by the tons.

Example,2 recent late ice out springs and few gill nets yielded two stong yoy class walleyes for 2013/2014.

Oh,and for your information Canada is going through the same debackle with the natives netting all summer long,the ministry is managing like us for the netters,2 fish daily limit,17" 26" protected slot,no wonder tourism is down up there.

[HD]

You feller's are going to have to "Agree, to Disagree"
I was one of those guy's that picketed with Bud Grant back in the day....
And, I had some nasty words thrown my way as well as being egged by certain groups.
But, as I get older, I can see that we have a right to the lake, and they have a right to the lake. To what level? I don't know... Is it ever going to be perfect? Maybe, maybe not....
Instead of bickering on a forum that is geared at being fun, for ALL to enjoy, do this.... if you feel that strongly about what is happening, voice your opinions to the legislation. They are the only ones that can try to fix what is happening. It's their job to sort it out, not ours.

I'm not trying to be the internet  but, sometimes you boys take this to a bad level. Please, if you wish to fight a fight, take it to the legislators.

HD

(LOL....I'm sure gonna get some bad karma for this one.....hahahaha)

[glenn57]

naw.i'll give ya an adda boy....but now your catching me. someplace else had this karma thing..............I think I ended up wit more - them+!!!!!

[HD]

naw.i'll give ya an adda boy....but now your catching me. someplace else had this karma thing..............I think I ended up wit more - them+!!!!!

Thanks Glenndall  ...that Karma thing was all I could find for now, when I'm done hunting, I check for somth'in different...

[Boar]

HD, good wortds.bro, i really dont know a whole hecck of alot about all this netting vrs not to net. but one thing i do do know is that ive ffished red ffor the last 4 years, and not really am educcated nearly enough to sit on a soap box and preach, but what ive witness personally as ffar what ol' white eyes is doing out there is despiccable. bags off ffish guts in snow bankccs to catrc more, ffish guts littering the ccounty roads to go and ccatch more,  i watcched one time as a occccupant walked over to my holes as i drove away, i stoped turned around, appoached him an he turnd and hastley made his way to his house. i looked at my old holes, and ccould see 1 walley skin beeking out ffrom the hole.  so i rteally dont care to cconstantley hear how 1 sided this  presumably  is.  netting spawing walleyes isnt a.good thing, but what ive seen the other side do is pure gluttony

[delcecchi]

On mille lacs, if you believe the numbers put out, the anglers were taking three times as many fish as the netters.  It was probably more, since who is going to tell the creel census guy that they have too many in the well, or that they have some slot fish in the cooler under the beer? 

The use of a slot to control harvest by anglers seems to have had unfortunate side effects, resulting in an imbalanced population and cannibalism.  In the mean time bass and pike were villianized.   I hope the various crashes have taught everyone, including the DNR, a lesson.   

My take is that overharvest will kill a lake no matter how and who is responsible.  And the idea that angling can't fish out a lake is bologna.

Also, if money is involved be it resorts and bait shops or bags of filets in coolers, the resource comes in last.