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However, on April 16th , the Mille Lacs Band made a motion requesting modification of the stay. The ruling provides an exception that allows the Mille Lacs Band to conduct a "ceremonial harvest" of 2,000 pounds of fish on lakes adjacent to tribal lands, which includes Lake Mille Lac. Jim Genia, Solicitor General for the Mille Lacs Band, said 2,000 pounds of fish will likely be netted rather then speared. The court exception specifies that all species, not only walleye, caught in their nets will count toward the 2,000 pound total. The Band members implementing the harvest must get a special permit and announce when the netting will take place.Monitoring will be conducted by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, or the State. Genia stated the Band need 5,000 lbs to meet its "ceremonial needs. Originally the Band had stated it needed 40,000 lbs. Whether the ruling will have any effect on this season's limit for non anglers has yet to be determined, accoring to the DNR. |
" Court of Appeals limits Ojibwe harvest to ceremonial or religious purposes only"
St. Paul, Minnesota
On April 9, 1997 the 8th U.S. District Appeals Court, headquartered in St. Louis MO, issued a stay order on the implementation of a treaty harvest. The April 9th stay order effects the Mille Lac, Fond du Lac and six Ojibwe Tribal Bands from Wisconsin.
Earlier in the year, Judge Micheal Davis ruled the bands could begin broad implementation of a treaty harvest in the area the Bands ceded to the U.S. government in an 1837 treaty. The Bands had planned to spear and net fish from 29 lakes in east-central Minnesota, including 40,000 pounds of walleye from Lake Mille Lac as soon as the weather broke. The Appeals Court's decision to limit a treaty harvest came in response to a motion filed Thursday, April 3, by Landowners who had intervened in the Mille Lacs treaty lawsuit. Several Area Counties also had signed on to the lawsuit. The State of Minnesota did not enter into the motion requesting a hold on the treaty harvest, even though it is the primary defendant in the case.
Scott Strand, assistant attorney general said, "The state will abide by the court's ruling," but gave no clear explanation as to why the State did not sign-on-to the landowners initiative to put a hold on the treaty harvest. |
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With the overabundance
of alewife and a harsh winter, the fish end up competing for food, and spring mortality
occurs.
Reprinted courtesy Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife-
Indiana area residents along Lake Michigan can expect to see large numbers of dead alewife
again this spring on area beaches because of the harsh winter weather and
overpopulation of the small exotic fish, according to Indiana Department of Natural
Resources biologists.
Jim Francis, Lake Michigan fishery biologist for the DNR's Division of Fish and
Wildlife, said small numbers of dead alewife are already showing up along Indiana's
Lake Michigan shoreline.
Last year, Lake Michigan had a big die-off of alewife. Lakefront municipalities had to
rake the beaches at a considerable expense to remove the dead fish.
Alewife first appeared in Lake Michigan around 1949, and by the 1960s, made up 75
percent of the lake's living organisms. Indiana's lake shore began to experience large
natural die-offs of alewife at that time. Alewife have had significant impact on the lake's
eco-system and are suspected of contributing to the decline of the lake's perch
population. On a positive side, alewife provide an excellent food source for trout and
salmon.
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Alewife thrive because they outcompete other fish for food sources. Basically warm water fish, alewife are susceptible to severe winter conditions. The fish's energy reserves run low during long cold winters, stressing the fish. With the overabundance of alewife and a harsh winter, the fish end up competing for food, and spring mortality occurs. Some alewife will continue to die off through the spawning season of June and July, Francis said. Spawning stresses fish, leaving the weak to die. Even with large die-offs, alewife populations can rebound with a couple of good spawning seasons, according to Francis. Last year, researchers from Ball State University recorded the largest annual catch of alewife since collection was initiated in 1981. The die-off can have a significant impact along the Indiana shoreline when large numbers of the fish wash up. Decaying fish cause a potential health risk on top of presenting a serious odor problem and being unsightly. Simple solutions do not exist since the situation involves complex factors. While natural factors cause the alewife die-offs, the natural northwesterly winds of the lake push the alewife to Indiana's shoreline. Prevailing northwesterly winds, anything floating on the lake surface ends up on Indiana's shoreline.
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