Fond du Lac Band will not net Mille Lacs walleyes this year

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will not authorize its treaty-reserved right to net walleyes on Mille Lacs Lake again this year. The band did not net on Mille Lacs last year, either, said Brian Borkholder, fisheries biologist for the band.

The Fond du Lac Band is one of eight Native American bands who maintain the right to net and spear on Mille Lacs under an 1837 treaty.

The band will authorize its members to spear walleyes on Mille Lacs this year, Borkholder said, but each spearer may take only two fish less than 15 inches long to protect the lake’s 2013 year class.

Fisheries officials with the bands and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are hoping the large walleye year class of 2013 will grow to become spawners and help the lake’s historically low walleye population recover.