Mille Lacs walleye season closes Sept. 6

Updated: Aug. 24, 2:15 p.m. | Posted: Aug. 23, 8:07 p.m.

Citing concerns from eight Chippewa bands, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to end the walleye season on popular Mille Lacs Lake the day after Labor Day.

The move announced late Tuesday reverses a decision the agency made two weeks earlier, when officials said the fishing season would remain open despite anglers exceeding their state quota, because of concerns of the impacts of a closure on local resorts and other businesses.

"This decision recognized that continuing the fishing season was going to have an impact on our relationship with the bands," said DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen. "We're trying to balance the economic well-being of the community with our relationships with the bands."

The DNR imposed a catch-and-release-only season on Mille Lacs this year in an effort to limit the number of walleye killed in the lake.

Still, many fish die after being caught and returned to the water — what officials call "hooking mortality." So far that estimated mortality has amounted to 45,276 pounds, or 16,676 pounds over the original state quota.

The DNR noted both higher catch rates in July and August and warm water led to higher-than-expected hooking mortality rates.

The state and the eight Ojibwe bands that have treaty-reserved fishing rights to Mille Lacs agreed to a sustainable harvest level this year of 40,000 pounds, which includes 28,600 pounds for state-licensed anglers and 11,400 for tribes to fish.

The bands have not yet reached their quota. The Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band decided not to use gill nets this year to harvest fish, instead opting to only spear walleye.

The bands expect the state "to honor its obligations to them, the federal court, and to the protection of the walleye population for generations to come," said Dylan Jennings, a spokesman for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Jennings said the bands are continuing to analyze any biological impacts of the state's decision, and are reviewing their options for redress.

In a statement, Gov. Mark Dayton thanked the Chippewa bands who hold treaty fishing rights "for their commitment to restoring the health of Mille Lacs and its walleyes. After assessing their concerns and the decreased economic impact on local businesses after Labor Day, I have directed the DNR to close Mille Lacs' catch-and-release walleye season on Tuesday, September 6, 2016."

"Although the state's estimated overage does not pose a conservation risk to the lake's walleye population, we recognize the impact that continued fishing could have on our relationship with the bands," said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr in a statement.

That decision came as a shock to business owner Eddy Lyback, who has operated an ice fishing business on Mille Lacs for more than 40 years, and is also a member of the DNR's Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee.

He called the decision "especially frustrating when our governor says one thing one week and does a hundred degree about face the next week with no explanation."

Last year the DNR allowed ice anglers to keep one walleye. Lyback believes the DNR's fall gill net assessments will show a healthy walleye population — and hopes that will prompt the DNR to allow anglers to again keep some walleye.

"Most people would be more than happy with one," he said. "They just want to celebrate the tradition of fishing, and at the end of the day, have something in the frying pan."