Some Consent Decree news...

I understand why Non-Disclosure Agreements are part of the ongoing negotiations. Makes sense.

But I think the public could at least be allowed to know when negotiators are actually negotiating, when the next round starts, has the Judge set another new deadline, etc., etc. Instead all we get to hear is “during this recent round of negotiations” - there were some negotiations. That’s it. Same news for - 3? - years running now. Next?

Thank you. This is the 2nd article about this I have read in the last two months where the timeline details were just ignored.

So, the CPMR request was submitted. The State, the Feds & the 5 bands have responded. The CPMR has responded to their responses. Now the Judge has to rule on it I would guess.

Then, another 90 (?) day round of negotiations can start up again? OR, are those on-going right now anyway?

13 “non-tribal” commercial outfits, he wrote. The Garden Peninsula is famous for Whitefish sandwiches; now via truck from the north shore I believe.

Lately I am wondering if the Lk MI Whitefish population competes with the Lk MI Lake Trout population, and who wants what where, if so.

I am getting closer to buying some fish some day. $6/gallon fuel makes a rain day excursion to just go catch some a more fraught decision.

SJC said:

Just about everywhere in this state it's a closer drive to a swimming fish dinner than it is to a fish market that sells great lakes fish.

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That’s true. But I do drive by the chance to purchase semi-regular and eventually that will pull me in. I usually forget to stop then remember the idea 20 miles later. Sucks to get old. The Whitefish sausage at one famous place is outstanding, but they were busted for cheating; kinda turned me off that particular delight. Might camp for a night on the Garden soon, might even result in my first Whitefish sandwich in a half-dozen years. I figure they will be $13.99 by now though.

They build Casinos so your Wife has something to do while you go fishing, if that counts. Which I think could be a bit of an invisible Ace card for recreational anglers. Tribal fishing revenue is likely miniscule in comparison to gaming revenue. I think when this thing finally gets over the goal line (next year? 24? - better just start the next round of negotiations the next day after the signing), there could be plenty of fish for everyone. Maybe the most disappointed party will be the 19th Century Ecologists, though they are just as silent as the other parties here. But then climate change is going to crush those folks regardless.

Yeah the DNR did it, in the back room, with the top secret plan.
Not the trillion Quagga Mussels, in the Lakes, with their natural food source.

7 days till the 30th. No one likes driving to meetings in the snow, everyone is sick of Zoom, and no one wants to be forced to think too much around a Memorial Day weekend. I predict all we hear next week is: “June 30th.”

SJC said:

That's not what anyone is saying. The DNR is doing NOTHING. It won't be extended is what I'm hearing. It's done.

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I will be happy to be wrong about no more extensions. I am mostly just fascinated by the situation as an example of humans attempting to manage a resource. And I still suspect some of the bands might actually want more “sport” species, not less. They don’t harvest Lake Trout @ Nunns Creek. Recently, the Ecologists had to wave the white flag on the idea of restoring Cisco in Lake Erie - Reality has a rather impressive W-L record in such contests.

As for the DNR, it doesn’t appear, to me, there is anything they really can do here anyway, and they are just along for the ride like everyone else.

I was thinking about this today. What is the actual news that will arrive, to us, the public, when the results of the negotiations are announced?

Just new harvest totals?
Different net zones?
Sport fishing regs changes?
Stocking plans?

My interest in this is largely that last one. But I don’t know if the new Decree ties in to that? Maybe at least on the Federal plants?

I don’t even know what, exactly, is not being agreed amongst the parties involved. Must be something serious, for it too run this late.

Announcing Outdoor News on 11-15 is kinda like announcing political news late on Friday afternoon. Sounds though like it’s extension time, again. This whole process makes less sense each time.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect “hook and line” refers to some sort of expanded “recreational” fishing rights for Tribal members. I thought that was settled/defined long ago, though could be wrong.

There is “hook and line” commercial fishing gear; it is a more species specific technique I believe, compared to nets.

I expect most politicians in Lansing give this relatively little thought. Although my current State Senator met me in my driveway when he was first running for office and out knocking on doors, saw me loading fishing poles and asked my opinion on Chinook stocking cuts, I believe he is more of an exception that proves the rule in this regard. There are certainly some reps very tuned in to these kinds of things. But their concerns are only rarely reaching the top of the To Do list in Lansing, I think. I meet a lot of people while fishing, because I don’t have a boat. A solid majority of them don’t know there are Salmon in the Great Lakes, for example.

Manolin said:

Or maybe they think they can manage the lakes just damn fine compared to MDNR? Half the guys on this site feel the same way. So, why wouldn’t they? They want more natural fisheries like their ancestors; we’d prefer to dabble with non-natives. Maybe they’d like to net the non-natives out of existence and turn it into cat food and fertilizer. So the native
fish can can have the run of the food chain.

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That is the interesting part of the new Decree negotiations to me. Who gets to pick? The species mix, that is, & what I want to know.

There is a Tribal Put-&-commercial-Take Chinook operation on northern Lake Huron, for example. That is there to stay. That probably produces some sport fishing opportunity, as do the Tribal Walleye plants.

I think everyone wants a healthy Whitefish population. But after that easy call … ?

Gordon Casey said:

Money is not of importance to most Natives. it's all about hunting, fishing, traditions, festivals, subsistence living. They don't care about houses, cars, clothing. Mess with those rights and they have a whole team of lawyers to fight for them.

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I guess you’ve never been around a bitter Tribal election where the out-of-state members want higher disbursements from the casino take and the local members want to instead spend the money on housing for their elderly.

Ludington Daily News put this on the front page today:

Oryana sells Luxury Goods. Different market than average consumables. “Sell something people don’t truly need for everyday life, and you can charge any price you want,” a sage old farmer told me once.

As for USFWS management of the species mix in the Great Lakes - be careful what you wish for.

The fish planting database lists all plants, and whether they are a State plant, or not.

For those who don’t know, Nunn’s Creek is a short creek in eastern Mackinac County where I believe the Sault tribe (could be a joint operation with others, doesn’t really matter) operates a weir to harvest the incoming fish. Because that area has a basically quite low population density (and is in turn fairly distant from population centers, comparatively) there isn’t a significant sport fishery around those returning fish, imo. Though the plants do supply some fish to some recreational fishing. Chinooks do travel around a fair bit.

The spot those fish return to isn’t an area full of marinas, etc. like the other ‘Salmon ports’ is all I meant. That plant is just another component of the lake-wide Chinook population and plenty of them are caught by recreational fishermen, just not where they ‘run’. It seems to me like a good situation overall and I would not have been surprised to see another such operation proposed - though I would not expect the Federal biologists to ever propose that, however.