Minnesota DNR to review Mille Lacs Lake walleye practices

(2008 file, Sam Cook / News Tribune)

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will convene a panel of national fisheries experts to review management practices as part of an effort to increase Mille Lacs Lake’s walleye population, the agency announced Tuesday.

“We will have nationally recognized fisheries experts review our work and offer recommendations,” said Don Pereira, DNR fisheries chief. “We want the lake back on track. This is one strategy to do that.”

Panel members are: Drs. Jim Bence and Travis Brenden, Quantitative Fisheries Center at Michigan State University; Dr. Paul Venturelli, University of Minnesota; Dr. Nigel Lester, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the University of Toronto; and Dr. Lars Rudstam, Cornell University and Oneida Lake Field Station.

Mille Lacs, a 132,000-acre lake in central Minnesota, is long-favored by anglers due to its abundant walleye population. However, that population has been in decline for a number of years. Pereira said a key problem is the majority of walleye that hatch but do not survive to their second autumn in the lake.

He said that while the lake continues to have adequate walleye spawning stock and more than enough egg production and fry to repopulate the lake, the lake hasn’t produced a strong year-class of walleye since 2008.

The DNR acknowledges that state and tribal fisheries management has played a role in the decline, but long-term solutions will involve better understanding an evolving system that now has clearer water, a variety of unwanted aquatic invasive species, growing walleye predator populations and decreasing prey populations, such as perch and tullibee.

Guides and residents on the shores of Mille Lacs Lake have heard the DNR’s theories about the lake’s walleye decline and have seen the data, said Bob Carlson of Isle, who has been guiding for nearly 20 years on the lake.

He and many other residents believe the problem is treaty-affirmed netting by Chippewa bands rather than clearer water, pike predation or the lack of young walleye survival.

“You don’t need experts to see what’s going on,” Carlson said. “Since tribal netting has started, the population has been going down. … When you go to the buffet and scoop in the pan long enough, it’s going to run out.”

DNR fisheries biologists say that while Chippewa netting and angler harvest both influence the fishery, anglers are still taking more walleyes and more little walleyes than tribal netters.