quota numbers released

[luv2brw]

Per tribe update as of Thursday:


The 2014 declarations by band were:

■ Bad River 6,418

■ Lac Courte Oreilles 6,202

■ Lac du Flambeau 27,868

■ Mole Lake 14,614

■ Red Cliff 2,559

■ St. Croix 5,827.



Wisconsin Chippewa want to spear 63K walleye

The Associated Press

Posted: 03/19/2014 10:31:21 AM CDT

Updated: 03/19/2014 11:50:18 AM CDT





MADISON, Wis.—Wisconsin's six Chippewa tribes say they want to spear 63,488 walleye across northern Wisconsin this spring.
The quotas represent a 5,089-fish increase over last year's declaration of 58,399. That declaration drove the Department of Natural Resources to limit non-tribal anglers to just one walleye on nearly 200 lakes and two walleye on 331 lakes to protect the fishery, creating tensions between the tribes and state lawmakers concerned about the impact on tourism.

The tribes ultimately took only about 28,400 walleyes, defusing the situation.

DNR officials say the tribes traditionally take about half of their declaration. Still, the DNR's board on Wednesday authorized the agency to take additional steps to protect the fishery beyond imposing bag limits. The agency hasn't drafted any specific proposals or released bag limits yet.

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_25375405/wisconsin-chippewa-want-spear-63k-walleye

[Hot Runr Guy]

wonderful,,,,,,,,

HRG

[JayandCade]

This is a dumb question but I will ask it anyway. We are going to spend $10 million to restock the population. At $5 a fish they are taking $150,000 worth. The impact on lakes is tremendous. Why not just raise and give them 30,000 fish, throw in a payment of $500,000, sign a new treaty that allows them to spear 1,000 with traditional methods only, and spend $5 million on restocking? Everyone wins. Am I missing something here?

[DonH]

When you think this entire spearing thing through, you realize the indians are flat out stupid. In the eartly 80's (prior to spearing), there were hundreds of resorts on all these lakes, and they were filled with families all summer. I was up there pretty much every year, I know. Today, these vacationers would have filled every seat at every table at every casino the indians could build.

But they added spearing to the equation. Now those casinos are not nearly as busy as they could have been. There are less people taking their vacations up in northern Wisconsin. The fact that so many resorts have had to close or sell their cabins as "condos" proves this. Then add to that the fact that a ton of fishermen just won't go to the casinos up there when on vacation due to the indians spearing (I'm one of them).

The money the indians receive from the state is a pittance compared to what they would be taking in through gambling alone. When you hear the offer made to the tribes from the group that wants to build a casino in Kenosha, you get the feeling owning a casino gives you the right to print money.

If they were smart, they would drop the spearing issue entirely, and hope things somehow return to the good old days, but I doubt if that's possible.

I'm one of the lucky ones that had a family that loved to fish and loved to vacation once or twice a year in northern Wisconsin. We visited numerous lakes over the years, and when my dad set his eyes on the TFF (1960 or 1961), he was hooked. That is where we spent our vacations every year since. The lodge we stayed at (Omeara's) was jammed every week we were up there. There was nothing to do at night, but sit at the bar, and it was jammed every single night.

The money the indians could be making???