HBAAA has role in new walleye fishing agreement

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the five tribes in the 2007 Inland Consent Decree reached a resolution last Thursday to prevent the elimination of walleye fishing on Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County. Recently, the DNR was entertaining a proposal to suspend walleye sports fishing because of a low population count and a request by the tribes for their full, treaty-entitled amount of fish. However, in the new resolution, the DNR and tribes will be working together to develop a multifaceted plan to enhance the walleye population in the lake during the next five years to the 2014 season.

MEMBERS OF the Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association (HBAAA), who got involved in negotiations early on, to the extent of facilitating a meeting October 25 at the Ocqueoc Township Hall, were encouraged at the amount of progress that was made over such a short period of time. HBAAA was one of the few organizations to take part in negotiations regarding both the Great Lakes and inland lakes agreements between the state and tribes, according to Frank Krist, HBAAA spokesman.

?When those agreements were signed we pledged that we were going to continue to participate to help ensure the implementation would go smoothly,? said Krist. ?When we saw a little hitch a couple of weeks ago, we wanted to make sure we got involved and tried to do the best we could to get the parties together and that?s our goal going into the future also.? Following a meeting in Indian River last Saturday, with members of HBAAA again in attendance, the inland fishery advisory committee was established to better communication among all the stakeholders. ?So, we?re real optimistic that many good things have happened in the last two weeks,? said Krist.

THE NEW plan includes fishery management changes by the state and collaborative assessment monitoring by both the state and the Tribes which encompasses continued creel surveys for the 2010 fishing season, a joint assessment of the entire chain of lakes, and in the longer term the potential to develop a joint fish stocking effort. As a result of the resolution, Kelley Smith, chief of the DNR’s Fisheries Division, announ

ced at the Michigan Natural Resources Commission meeting November 5 that the tribes have agreed to withdraw their request to invoke allocation-based procedures on Mullett Lake for 2010.

The resolution creates flexibility for the state to set appropriate harvest regulations for walleye on the lake in 2010. Smith said, however, the state still needs to work with the public between now and early December to determine whether a reduced bag limit, a higher minimum size limit, a shortened season or some combination of those will be most appropriate for walleye taken by state-licensed anglers on Mullett Lake.

The tribes involved in the 1836 settlement are the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in the U.P. and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians in the Lower Peninsula.

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