"How exactly a new Mille Lacs walleye harvest strategy will unfold in coming months for sport anglers and Chippewa netters is unclear, a Department of Natural Resources fisheries researcher said Tuesday. But the strong likelihood is that by next spring -- for the first time -- separate management and harvest plans for the lake's male and female walleyes will be in place on the state's premier walleye fishing lake.

The DNR informed the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) of its Mille Lacs concerns in a letter last week. GLIFWC manages the Mille Lacs fishing rights of eight Minnesota and Wisconsin Chippewa bands, following a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that the bands reserved off-reservation hunting and fishing rights in an 1837 treaty.

The affected region covers most of 12 east-central Minnesota counties, including Lake Mille Lacs.

GLIFWC officials haven't responded yet to the DNR. Scheduled to meet in late July, the two parties "will have to get together often this year,'' Pereira said."

Get the Story:
Dennis Anderson: Mille Lacs fish harvest might split by gender (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 6/20)