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| Red Lake Net News Michael Barrett P. O. Box 80 Redby, MN 56670 Telephone: 218-679-5995 |
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Community meetings held to discuss management of Red Lake’s Walleye Fishery
By Michael Barrett Red Lake Net News In 2006, Red Lake Band members will once again be able to take walleye from Red Lake waters. The big questions are how much will be allowed and how it can be done. On Tuesday, March 15, 2005 the first of six planned community meetings took place at the Red Lake Community Center, presented by the Red Lake Tribal Council and Red Lake Department of Natural Resources. The meetings were to include a short presentation by the Red Lake DNR and a question/answer session, along with an open discussion about the future of the Red Lakes. About 70 people were in attendance at the Red Lake meeting, and Chairman Jourdain opened by stating the way they were going to develop a good approach to the 2006 fishing opener was they needed the guidance and participation from community members. He said they were going to have a serious of community meetings in each district and in urban areas to gather member input, as there were numerous opinions and thoughts on the matter. “2006 will be our anticipated opener,” Jourdain said, “and we’re pleased to announce that our walleye are back, they’re recovered, they’re stronger than ever–and that’s good news for us. That was our lifeblood for our tribe for many, many years. So when we approach it the next time, we need to have a good plan in place, good regulation, and we need to have a good approach to harvest.” Jourdain stated the first initial meeting would be information on the history of the collapse of the walleye, and the findings of the assessments conducted by the tribe. They planned on additional meetings in the future. “One thing I can say for certain is that Red Lake members will be out on the lake in 2006 when the lake opens,” he said. Pat Brown, Fisheries Bioligist for Red Lake DNR, explained the handouts provided to members at the meetings, which included a DNR and a summary of some of the survey results that was initiated by the Red Lake Tribal Council and conducted by Bemidji State University’s Professor Welle. In the DNR report, it stated that during the month of Sept. 2004, the Red Lake DNR fisheries assessment program conducted its annual experimental gillnet survey on reservation waters of the Red Lakes. This type of survey began in 1987 when Red Lake started its fisheries program, and by conducting the assessments they are able to determine the status of the fish stocks, as well as are able to track the progress of the walleye recovery efforts. |
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| Report from Red Lake Department of Natural Resources |
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Brown’s presentation included a Power-point presentation with some history and the efforts of Red Lake DNR. “We know that commercial fishing was a way of life for
many Red Lake Band members from–it started back in 1717 and went to1996,” Brown said. “The Red Lake Band did not start commercial
fishing at He talked about the regulations once the Fisheries was formed, which included the formation of the Tribal cooperative, it would be regulated by the Secretary of the Interior–he had control over the quota, which was 650,000 pounds of walleye, not based on biology but based on social and economical issues. Two other regulations were a limit of eight-300 foot gillnets per fisher per set night, with a mesh size of 3 ˝ inches. Brown spoke of the warning signs of a stressed walleye population, which included wide fluctuations in commercial catch and a rapid decline in the population. There were other signs, but these two were the main signs. He talked about the history of the Red Lake DNR, the
voluntary shut down of fisheries operations in 1997, and the formation of the
Red Lake Fisheries Technical Committee, which consisted of the Red Lake Band,
the State of From 1997-2004 the major component of the recovery plan included a complete moratorium on the harvest of walleyes, increased law enforcement and short-term stocking programs. “Before we start talking how to harvest in the future, we need to look at the problems of the past,” Brown said. He said in the past the harvest was based on economics, not on the walleye population, it had minimal tribal input, personal use harvest was never monitored, a lack of enforcement, and inadequate funding for enforcement and biological monitoring. Some options he presented included personal use only and no commercial fishery, hook and line fishery for sale, gillnet fishery with new regulations, limited entry fishery, a corporate fishery, live capture gear fishery, a combination of any of those mentioned, and other suggestions. Brown also spoke about enforcement issues, public and tribal council support, updating the tribal code, commercial fishing, and other possibilities, before a question and answering session. Some questions asked included concerns about the Washish area, the size of what could be taken, the possibilities of commercial fishing returning, hook and line fishing and limits, continued stocking if it were needed, the walleyes that left Red Lake through rivers, streams and dams that would never return, sturgeons, and numerous other topics. Professor Welle also presented the results from the survey conducted by BSU (listed below). Aside from another meeting held at the At the Tribal Council meeting in April council members talked about setting those meetings up once again as originally planned. |
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