With the latest developments, it's becoming a probability that there are going to be some lost gillnets this year. How many remains to be seen.

What happens when you hook one or get one on your prop?

Don't just throw it away! Photos are important. Save the net. Report it to the DNR C.O. in your area. Get as much info (name of officer, time and date reported, etc.) and take videos if possible.

All their nets are registered (or should be.)

Changes made for tribal netting are effective immediately by a Tribal Department of Natural Resources commissioner’s order in an effort to prevent mishaps during the current netting season and in the future.

“There has been a lot of talk about how we can do things better,” Mille Lacs Band DNR Commissioner Curt Kalk said. “If we have all tribes doing the same thing, it gives a lot more accountability.”

Kalk said the most significant changes are regarding the permit and net requirements.

Each net will have two numbered tags attached — one at the top and one at the opposite side on the bottom.

“When nets tear, they normally tear horizontally,” Kalk said. “Having the tags on opposite ends, top and bottom, will provide better accountability.”

The tags are numbered and permanently attached to the net. Each tag number is assigned to the permittee of the net for the day the permit is pulled. Permits are required for every net. The net ID tag number must match the net ID number identified on the permit.

New permits are required daily. For Mille Lacs Band members, permits must be issued by 11 a.m. for the net to be set that night. Most nets are  set at sunset. If a permittee pulls a permit, but for whatever reason does not actually set the net, he or she must contact a game warden immediately.

“This way, we won’t have employees waiting to creel that net the next day and the permittee must take full responsibility,” Kalk said.

If a permittee does not comply with the notification regulation, the permittee will be reprimanded, “grounded” or restricted, from netting for three days. If it happens again, the permittee may not be allowed to net the remainder of the season.

Other changes to the nets themselves include a requirement for a 10-pound weight, or anchor, to be affixed to the bottom of each corner of the net.

Buoy lines are required to have at least 6 feet of slack on the surface so the buoys or floats will remain on the surface and visible if the net moves. Six-feet of line is required under the surface as well.

“We are trying preventative measures,” Kalk said. “In theory, this will create less drag, less movement and the net will lay down if ice moves across it.”

The permittee is required to monitor ice and wind conditions and pull their nets immediately if warranted or contacted by the game warden. If the permittee does not stay close to the net during the set, a phone number or contact must be provided in case it is needed.

Game wardens, either Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission or tribal conservation officers, will be monitoring sets this year. “Not every set will be watched, but people should be aware the possibility exists that an officer is watching,” Kalk said.

Every net will be creeled, even if the net comes up empty. “Every permittee must produce a net,” Kalk said. “They must recover all nets or all parts of nets if nets are torn.”

By commissioner’s order every net must comply with tribal regulations regarding aquatic invasive species. The tribal regulations require that nets, lines and anchor ropes are bleached before they are set and when they are done. If the net is going to a different lake, the net, lines and anchor ropes must dry for a minimum of 10 days, or be frozen for a minimum of two days before going into a noninfested lake.

All tribes have agreed to abide by the new regulations enforceable by law, Kalk said. GLIFWC wardens will be on site all around the lake, and each tribe is allowed to bring their own DNR conservation officers, and they all do, Kalk said.

Gillnet restrictions

•    Net ID tag number on net set by permittee must match the net ID tag number on the permit.

•    Nets must be set with weights or anchors that weigh at least 10 pounds.

•    Buoy lines must have at least 6 feet of slack so that buoys or floats will remain on the surface and visible if net moves.

•    Permittee must monitor ice and wind conditions and pull nets when warranted or if contacted by warden.

•    Permittee must notify warden immediately if any net or part of net is missing or cannot be fully recovered.

•    Permittee must look for and recover any net or part of net that is missing.

•    Permittee must notify warden or creel team if net was not set, or if net was set but no fish were caught.

•    Permittee must comply with applicable tribal regulations that protect against the spread of aquatic invasive species