The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is planning to spear spawning walleyes this spring. Cook County lakes include Four Mile, Caribou, Tait and Pike so far. Lakes in St. Louis County include Cadotte and east Vermilion.
How ironic that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be live capturing and stripping walleye eggs in Vermilion for future stocking to maintain populations of the state fish, and the band will be killing the spawning fish in the same lake, at the same time, close to the DNR operations.
The band will also set gill nets for spawning walleyes in lakes over 1,000 acres in some 1837 treaty lakes. They will not set nets in Mille Lacs Lake this year because the walleye population is at an all-time low after many years of their gill nets in there during spawning time.
Our small lakes will go the same way in a very short time if this method of taking continues.
Representative David Dill says his hands are tied. Senator Tom Bakk says it is settled law. The Supreme Court has ruled that the treaties of 1837 and 1854 reserved a portion of the natural resources to the bands. However, there are no references in the treaties of 1837, 1854, or the Supreme Court opinion that allows spearing and gill netting of spawning walleyes in the springtime. This has only come about by the Bands telling the DNR that they are going to use that method of taking, and the DNR capitulated.
DNR officials say that the Indian spearing take is small. But female walleyes typically, according to Iowa State University, carry about 27,000 eggs per pound of fish.
A 4-pound walleye would lay 108,000 eggs, a conservative survival rate of 10 percent would be 10,800fry,anda2percentsurvivalrateofthese would be 216 fish. You can do the math for each fish speared or gill netted.
Last year in northern Wisconsin, the DNR reduced bag limits of walleyes to one in 173 lakes. Additional lakes had limits set at two or three. This is all the result of tribal spearing of spawning walleyes in the springtime.
Bob Kangas
Schroeder
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