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Post Info TOPIC: Don Pereira Talks Mille Lacs and steps to restore


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Don Pereira Talks Mille Lacs and steps to restore
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Mille Lacs and steps to restore

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Did I miss the part about native gill nets? did this wingnut say one damn thing about gill netting during the spawn & the effects they have to the walleye? or, are those gill nets in the same category as area 51, when the government didn't even acknowledge its existence...

How about our DNR, instead of making up this song & dance BS, instead of managing 'FOR' the use of gill nets- use the money WE give them to research the effects gill nets have on a lake during the spawn? OH WAIT, they have, & is why gill nets have been banned for harvesting walleye in Minnesota since the early 1900s, that is unless you're native...

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Doug- where did you find this video? would like to post it in LSF, even though the LSF gestapo will lock it soon after...

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I just posted it over on LSF



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nothing said about the Labrador sized musky in the lake?

Or are they classifying them in with the Northern Pike?

"They need to work on tribal relation, and communications"?confuse

Maybe they need to put their foot down, and tell them to keep the nets out of the lake, during the spring spawn, for starters in the communication work shop

How much is this going to cost the Mille Lacs area businesses? - while they are all ready struggling?

I am sure a "Blue Ribbon of experts" does not come without a heavy price tag

Will the tribe be able to help pay for their resource? - doubt it

They will need to try to boost the area tourism just to pay for this, and they won't even get to the main point, about the netting - Beat around the bush, until a bunch of nothing seems like enough to solve the issues  

 

 



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It's good that they are finally acknowledging that there IS a problem, but I'm afraid that they are leaving too much out of the equation.

NA Gillnetting, introduction of 5,000 muskies per year and slot mortality numbers that don't add up are the major ones that will no doubt skew the numbers of these "blue ribbon" bozos.

They still aren't seeing what's REALLY going on with the lake.



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Formica Flat Vet

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Any idea why I can't view this video in an iPhone?



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Looks like this is an Adobe flash file.

 

 



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Great plan......  to waste another 5 years.  Grrrrr.

 

-J.



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What really galls me is this: For the last 2 years it's been 17" and below. THIS year it's 18"-20"

Don't you realize, THAT"S THE SAME YEAR CLASS?

Mille Lacs Lake. Gillnetting in Mille Lacs Lake is allowed year around. Only subsistence netting may occur from March 2 - May 31. 

Subsistence nets during this and other times may be up to 100 feet in length and 4 feet deep. The allowable mesh sizes (bar) for 

subsistence nets during this and other times are 1.25 to 1.75 inches. From June 1 - March 1 both subsistence and commercial netting 

may be authorized. If authorized by your tribe, allowable mesh sizes (bar) for commercial nets are the same as for subsistence nets 

(i.e. 1.25 to 1.75 inches); however, commercial nets may be up to 300 feet in length and six feet in depth. All nets must comply with 

lifting, marking, and safety requirements. For gill-nets targeted at tullibee, only 1.75 inch mesh (bar) is authorized.

This is killing all tne wrong size fish and they already know it' but want to make everything the same for the coming year because they have no clue what to do until their "Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts" does their own in depth survey that oughta take AT LEAST a year. Meantime, they'll be comped rooms at Grand Casino.



-- Edited by fishnpole on Wednesday 29th of January 2014 07:36:17 PM

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More changes are coming to regulations for Lake Mille Lacs in an effort to restore a healthy walleye fishery, according to DNR Fisheries Chief Don Pereira, who delved into the issue during the DNR Roundtable last Friday.

The lake is flush with larger walleyes, but missing are strong younger year-classes of the species, a required ingredient to ensure balance and the future of the fishery.

“There seems to be not as many of them surviving to age one,” said DNR researcher Melissa Drake.

Pereira said figuring out why is the key to fixing the problem. The DNR is committed to finding a solution, he said.

“It’s a very special place, but it’s a bit beleaguered now,” said Pereira, who has a cabin not far from the lake. “We’re in a tough spot.”

Pereira acknowledged that past DNR walleye regulations, namely the size selectivity of both the state and tribal fisheries, have contributed to the problem.

“Fisheries management certainly has had something to do with this,” Pereira said. “When we, way back in the 1990s, developed the very first control rules for managing both the state fishery and the band’s fishery, we used the best available information … and we went forward in a very uncertain world and put our best foot forward. We’re finding out now that wasn’t the best way to do it.”

Pereira said it initially was believed that the fishery could sustain a 24-percent annual harvest of walleyes, but emerging evidence suggests that number is likely too high.

Pereira declined to discuss what this spring’s Mille Lacs walleye regulations might look like, as meetings that determine them have yet to occur.

Last year, drastic changes were put in place, dropping the bag limit from four walleyes to two, and only allowing fish between 18 and 20 inches to be kept, though one could be over 28 inches. Previously, the slot protected fish between 17 and 28 inches, with one fish allowed over 28 inches.

Pereira said the DNR is forming a “blue ribbon committee” of walleye experts to work at bringing back the walleye fishery. He’s already contracted experts from Michigan State University’s Quantitative Fisheries Center to sit on the committee, as well as Paul Venturelli, who is now a faculty member at the University of Minnesota and completed noted research on walleyes at the University of Toronto. There’s also Nigel Lester, of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, who has agreed to join the panel.

“It’s going to take a while to get the system back in a good spot, and the system is very complex,” Pereira said.

Part of the complexity involves a number of factors, such as what role other predators are having, and the lakes increasing water clarity. Clearer water generally is associated with lower production.

And while zebra mussels, which have been in the lake for a numbers of years and are also known for filtering water and increased water clarity, Pereira noted that Mille Lacs was beginning to become clearer before zebra mussels arrived, likely what he called, the “unintended consequences” of the federal Clean Water Act of 1972.

On the table are not just walleye regulations, but also potentially further loosening of the regulations regarding Mille Lacs’ other game fish species, such as smallmouth bass and northern pike, which have been flourishing in recent years and could be partly responsible for the low survival rates of young walleyes. Last year, the lake’s northern pike protected slot was narrowed to 33 to 40 inches (it was 27 to 40 inches the year before), and a 17- to 20-inch protected slot was created for smallmouth bass, with a possession limit of six. Before, all smallmouths under 21 inches had to be released, and only one could be kept.

Pereira said there may be further room to increase harvest of northern pike, but more intensive field work has been started to try to figure out how culpable those other predators may or may not be, he said. Aside from a tagging study of these species, there’s also an intensive diet study under way, looking at what these fish are actually eating.

“If you like walleyes, but you don’t like smallmouth bass, right away you want to think, ‘Oh, the juvenile mortality problem is because there are too many smallmouth bass in the system,’” Pereira said. “We don’t really know that. We’ve got to get the information. If we want to move forward with the best information, we have to go out and get it.”

The DNR also has hired a new Brainerd-based biologist to try to figure out which predators are eating walleyes and how many they’re eating.

That will include walleyes, which some believe has created “a buildup of eating machines.”

But Pereira said other lakes, such as Winnibigoshish, have shown an ability to maintain good numbers of young walleyes while protecting the larger, trophy-sized walleyes.

He also said that just stocking more walleyes was not a solution, since reproduction of walleyes is not really the problem. It’s that the young walleyes aren’t surviving the juvenile stage at a high enough rate.

“Stocking more fish on top of those will not benefit the population,” he said.

“The goal is to improve the Mille Lacs walleye fishery as expediently as possible with as little negative impact to the community as possible,” Pereira said.

 

So why are we, NAs included, all

targeting the same year class?

 

 
Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesPhoto courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The walleye population in Mille Lacs Lake has fallen to its lowest levels in 40 years, and the lake's larger walleyes may be having trouble finding food.

Officials aren't sure what's happening to Minnesota's most popular walleye fishery. But Department of Natural Resourcesicon1.png fisheries research manager Don Pereiratold the Star Tribune they're concerned.

Causes could be include:

  • Harvest regulations governing sport anglers and Chippewa netters
  • The explosion of zebra mussels in the lake
  • Improved water clarity
  • A potential lack of prey fish, such as perch and tullibees.

Pereira says it's too early to say if the DNR might tighten regulations on the lake in east-central Minnesota.

Business owners warn further restrictions could undercut tourism.

DNR representatives and tribal fisheries researchers will discuss the lake next week.

Gee...............

Maybe it was those stupid gill-nets along !

Walleyes need to be able to reproduce.

Any biologist that doesn't go along with that can only proove that "D" is a passing grade.evileyeevileyeevileyeevileyeevileyeevileyeevileyeevileyeevileye



Read more: Walleye numbers in Mille Lacs dip to lowest in 40 years - KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/19894705/walleye-numbers-in-mille-lacs-lowest-in-40-years#ixzz2rqT8kKNm
 
 
 


-- Edited by fishnpole on Wednesday 29th of January 2014 08:40:41 PM

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This blue ribbon panel is nothing more than a poor attempt at being proactive by our DNR.

Do people honestly believe this blue ribbon panel is going to come in & change how our DNR manage the lake for the use of gill nets? Do people blieve this blue ribbon panel is the cavalry riding in to address gill nets?

Nope, not buyin a second of this BS, is just another smoke n mirror/feel good attempt by our DNR...

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I agree that the presentation didn't say much and some of the data was hard to understand.  He mentioned that stocking won't work because the data shows most of the young fish die between year one and year two.  If predation is a big factor,  won't adding more young fish still help a higher number reach harvestable size?  Take a look at Winnibigosh.  The lake doesn't need to be stocked, but because the DNR takes eggs out they need to stock a certain percent back.  There always seem to be plenty of the eating size fish and all different sizes unlike Mille lacs where it seems we are always all restricted to fishing for one year class of fish.  To me stocking makes the year classes more consistent.  

Out of curiosity, what is everyone's recommendation for the regulations the next year or 2?



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This is what they should do. Limit 2 walleyes a day, any size. (No more mortality count, with floaters everywhere.) No limit on Northern, Muskies or Smallmouth. Catch and release for tulibees. Limit 10 for perch, bluegills and crappies.

Keep the closed season FOR EVERYBODY. That means gillnets, too.



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Right On Fishnpole!!!

clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif

Why don't they get it, Jon? nodisbeliefconfuse

Just two walleyes and no mortality -- Simple, clear and no waste.

Closed season means NO NETS NO Fishing while the spawn is on. !!!!

MM smile



-- Edited by MCallies on Thursday 30th of January 2014 06:48:41 PM

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Fife wrote:

If predation is a big factor,  won't adding more young fish still help a higher number reach harvestable size?  Take a look at Winnibigosh.  The lake doesn't need to be stocked, but because the DNR takes eggs out they need to stock a certain percent back.  There always seem to be plenty of the eating size fish and all different sizes unlike Mille lacs where it seems we are always all restricted to fishing for one year class of fish.  To me stocking makes the year classes more consistent.  


 I actually emailed Don Pereira this exact question last week asking if the shortened springs of netting in 2008 and 2013 resulted in more hatched walleye which would reduce the impact of predation.  Here is his response below:

 

One characteristic of all wild fish populations that are not overexploited is that in any given year there is usually a large amount of surplus egg production and reproductive output.  This is especially true with very fecund fish species such as walleye, and even more true in our large walleye lakes.  The Indian netting likely results in interference to only a small fraction of the overall spawning effort in the lake.  In fact, in years when we tag walleyes all around the lake, we handle far more fish than happen to encounter the tribal nets.  Also, in our large spawn taking operations such as on Winny and Vermilion/Pike River, we also essentially interfere with the spawning of many thousands of fish.  We have to return about 10% of the hatched fry to those systems, but new research is showing that in many cases the resulting fry density in the lake, including stocked and wild, is well above an optimum amount.  This is a research result that supports my statement about high surplus reproductive effort above.

 

 

 

I will relay your concern on to local staff later this week.

 

 

Thanks again for contacting me.



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"Over exploited" is correct! 

I had the opportunity to take part in some of the first Walleye Advisory Board meetings conducted by the DNR around ten years ago.  I live in west central Minnesota and there were big concerns about how the DNR was managing Green Lake in Spicer to be a world class Small Mouth fishery.  That management was extremely detrimental to the Walleye population and was acknowledged by the DNR.  Liberal Small Mouth bag limits helped get Green Lake back on the right track.  I hope the liberal bag on Small Mouth continues on Mille Lacs also.  They are a beautiful hard fighting fish but there are way to many of them in Mille Lacs.

The netting obviously must stop, but this managing by the pound is just as crazy......

Rg 



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