A view of Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota. Photo by Doug Kerr / Flickr

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians in Minnesota won't take any walleye next year in response to declining numbers of the fish.

The tribe retains a treaty right to fish on Lake Mille Lacs. But Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin decided to halt the 2016 harvest after meeting with spiritual leaders on the reservation.

"The Drum Keepers discussed, recommended and provided the direction that Mille Lacs Band Members must sacrifice for the sake of the walleye, and give them time to recover," Benjamin said in a message to the tribe on Friday.

The decision came as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said it will shut down the Lake Mille Lacs walleye fishery tonight for the remainder of the season. According to news reports, that's a first in state history.

"During the first seven months of the monitoring period (December 2014 – June 2015) walleye harvest rates were at or below predicted levels, based on tight regulations adopted for the open-water season," the department said in a press release. "Based upon those results, total harvest was expected to be below the state's 28,600-pound limit for this twelve-month period and the DNR's June 30 creel study showed the state was within 15,300 pounds of reaching the annual quota."

Get the Story:
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe announces it will forgo walleye harvest next year, cheering locals (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/3)
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe will forgo net fishing as walleye struggle (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 8/3)
DNR closing walleye fishing on Mille Lacs on Monday (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/3)
Walleye fishing on Mille Lacs Lake ends Monday night (KARE 8/3)
Unprecedented Lake Mille Lacs walleye ban starts Monday night (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 8/3)
Loss of walleye gives rise to old animosities on Lake Mille Lacs (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/1)

An Opinion:
Dennis Anderson: Why Mille Lacs fishery faltered, and what we can do (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 7/24)