The Red L fishery history

[Lee Borgersen]

        A history of the Red Lake walleye fishery :fishing2:


1917: State establishes commercial fishery on Red Lake during World War I.
1930: Red Lake Band takes over commercial fishery.
1970s: The boom-and-bust walleye population begins.
Early 1990s: Commercial, sport and illegal harvesting remove the last strong year class of walleyes from Red Lake before it matures enough to spawn.
1997: Band closes commercial fishery.
1998: Band closes subsistence fishing and Minnesota DNR reduces bag limit on state waters to two walleyes.
1999: Band, DNR and Bureau of Indian Affairs agree to jointly recover walleye population. DNR implements harvest closure on state waters. Band and DNR collaboratively stock 41.1 million walleye fry.
2001: Band and DNR stock 31.5 million walleye fry.
2003: Band and DNR stock an additional 32.6 million walleye fry.
2004: 50 percent of stocked female walleyes from 1999 begin spawning. Natural fry production estimated at 105 million, equaling all three previous stocking efforts combined.
2006: Walleye angling reopens in state and tribal waters.
2012: Walleye population is deemed fully recovered.