I also found this article on the Mille Lacs Band website interesting.

http://millelacsband.com/bringing-back-the-walleye/

Bringing Back the Walleye

Band works with state and Wildlife Commission to increase walleye population
Deborah Locke, Staff Writer

Tribal and state officials agreed to cut the walleye harvest at Mille Lacs Lake in half this year for both tribal members and for sport anglers. The decrease — from a total quota of 500,000 pounds last year to 250,000 pounds for the 2013-14 season -— is due to a declining population of walleye. The Ojibwe will be allocated a 71,250-pound harvest. Sport anglers will be allocated 178,750 pounds.
As a consequence of the declining numbers, news stories have flourished lately about the walleye, which is the most sought-after fish in the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The Mille Lacs Band Department of Natural Resources is concerned with increasing the walleye numbers for current and future generations of Band members.
“There’s no smoking gun,” said the Band’s Natural Resources Commissioner Brad Kalk when asked about reasons for the declining fish population.
“You can’t point to a single predatory fish or an invasive species or harvest methods or global warming as a single reason for the decline,” he said. Instead, a perfect storm of variables evolved over time which strained the lake’s ecosystem. This issue occurs both here and in other lakes throughout the state.

Finding solutions
Those variables will be addressed by biologists from the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, who will work with the Band and the state DNR on the walleye shortage. The team will come up with recommendations on how to more responsibly manage Mille Lacs Lake with its present day challenges. The Band will take seriously any dramatic solutions that may be recommended, Brad said. Future meetings with GLIFWC will take place in July and October.
It’s not the first time a fish population has dropped in Mille Lacs Lake. Earlier generations of Ojibwe recognized periods of decline among the walleye and took measures to bring the numbers up, Brad said. Red Lake was nearly empty of walleye a decade ago, a fate also suffered by Leech Lake. Changes were made and today the walleye population has rebounded.

Lake history
Those earlier generations of Ojibwe beheld the same natural beauty of Mille Lacs Lake that can be seen today. “Mille Lacs” is French for “one thousand lakes.” In Ojibwe, the lake is called Misizaagaigan, or “grand lake.” Its land mass is more than 132,500 acres. Mud flats make up the northern half of the lake while gravel and rock bars make up the southern half of the lake.
Mille Lacs Lake offered an ideal environment for walleye. The Minnesota DNR states that the walleye, with its thick, white fillets, handsome shape and coloring and elusive nature, is a prized catch among anglers. The average walleye pulled from any lake is about 14 inches long and weighs just over a pound, according to the state DNR. The fish is named for its pearlescent eye that helps it see and feed at night or in murky water.
The state DNR reports further that walleye usually feed in shallow water at dawn and dusk. Their diet is other fish, and they prey heavily on yellow perch, especially at night. During the day, they seek shelter in deep water.
If that environment is ideal, where did the fish go? Again, look for a perfect storm rather than an easy answer. For example, Brad said that if the number of northern pike is high one year, the smaller walleye up to two years of age are prey for the increased numbers of pike. That’s one way the imbalance begins.

Invaders
Zebra mussels, the fingernail-size striped mussel that attaches to objects, were found in the Great Lakes in 1988. They made their way into Minnesota’s lakes through boats, nets, docks, and other objects. Brad said that the mussels attach to rocks in Mille Lacs Lake, die off and a new shell layer forms on top of the old layer. That creates a surface similar to a razor-sharp coral reef. Walleye spawning in water with a rocky bottom get their underside scratched by the zebra mussel shells. Also, baby walleye eat less when zebra mussels are around because the mussels filter out tiny “zooplankton,” microscopic animals found in aquatic ecosystems.
“The baby walleye are too little to swim elsewhere to find the zooplankton, so they starve,” Brad said. “Zebra mussels are terrible for any lake.”
Another issue: the fact that the lake is managed in a way to produce trophy-size fish at 18 to 28 inches in length. Any fish that big needs a lot of smaller fish to survive. Warmer lake temperatures will affect the tullibee population, a slender silvery white fish preyed upon by northern pike and walleye. A couple of weeks of intensely hot summer weather will quickly kill off a tullibee population. The tullibee also eat zooplankton so their numbers would be reduced because of the zebra mussels.
Burbots, the small cod-like fish that prefers cold, deep lakes, have disappeared from Mille Lacs Lake. A soft fish, they were “like a candy bar for a lot of fish,” Brad said. Warming temperatures cleared Mille Lacs Lake of burbot.
“Hook mortality” claims its share of walleye, also. It happens when an angler catches a walleye that’s too big to keep and drops it back into the lake. The walleye is tired after the struggle on the fish line, and rests in the top ten feet of water that on hot days can be 80 degrees. The heat and inability to get sufficient oxygen from deeper depths kill walleye.
“I had friends out this summer who said it looked the genocide of walleye,” Brad said. “They saw at least 15 walleye floating in one area.”
The decline in the walleye population gets stickier when you add political pressures to the mix emanating from treaty law that retained the age-old Ojibwe harvest tradition. To put it gently, not every person in the state agrees that the Minnesota Ojibwe treaty provisions that retain traditions are valid. The decline in walleye becomes stickier yet when you consider the economic pressures from entrepreneurs who earn a living from the lake and its tourist population. Fewer anglers mean fewer dollars gained by business owners.
Overall, the majority of the lake is in good health, Brad said. Although the walleye population is strained now, the population could return within five years with care and good management.
Through it all, the lake seems to take care of itself at times. Last year’s net season was bad, Brad said. One day the weather and wind combined to chase netters back into their vehicles and home.
It’s like the lake said to everyone: take off, leave me alone.
Today I need to rest.

Information on walleye, zebra mussels and more came from the state DNR website, which can be found at www.dnr.state.mn.us.

My wife and I are heading down early Thursday morning for the hearing to be held. Looking forward to seeing the needed support for this important case!

I was thinking about taking 35E down to the capital....any heads up to issues taking this route?? help?

thanks,