Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Safe Harvest Quota ?


Recommended Posts

I would like to direct this inquiry to the likes of Kelly-p,

Halad, Ninetoe, Labs4me and Bieganek. I am only looking for factual information and do not want this subject to lead to speculating or perception hence the above direction.

Will there be a safe harvest quota once Red lake re-opens to walleye fishing as is the case on Mille Lacs?

I am aware of the future slots and limits set for the fishery. Any other questions I have would lead to speculating which could/would inflame this senitive issue.

Thanks...

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If my memory serves me right the proposed safe harvest quota put out by the DNR is 3-fish/acre. The Tribe controls 60,000 acre x 3fish = 180,000 fish. The State controls 48,000 acres x 3fish = 144,000. The Tribe controls all of Lower Red.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scupper, the formulas Halad gave are the ones that were used by the DNR to calculate the slots and harvest. They show what they felt was a safe allowable harvest. It is my understanding that the 2 fish limit was put in place so they wouldn't have to use a "poundage quota" like on Mille Lacs. If a 3 or 4 fish limit would've been set-up, there was a very real chance that ice fisherman would not have been able to harvest any walleye do to the open water fisherman reaching the "poundage quota". By allowing a 2 fish harvest, they felt it would spread out the total take through the entire season and they would not have to monitor every fish taken as on Mille Lacs and leave the fishery open for the entire season. The others can chime in if they understood this in a different light.

Good Luck!

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Halad and Labs summed it up pretty good. As I understand it we are not locked into a certain number of walleyes or pounds of walleyes taken and then walleye fishing quits. The 2 walleye limit with the protected slot means that we will be able to fish all season. The 2 walleye limit might seem low but there are a lot of variables that no one can predict. How many of the busy summer weekends will have a strong west wind and very few people can fish??? What % of the fishermen are going to take as many walleyes as they can regardless of the regulations??? How many of the caught and released walleyes are going to die??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The walleyes are looking a little better now than they did three weeks ago, but they are still are in poor condition, particularly those over 20 inches. There needs to be some serious harvest on this lake to get the walleye poopulation back in balance with the prey. Forget formulas.

The DNR seems to have forgotten one of the first principles you learn in wildlife managment 101: You cannot stockpile wildife.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

The walleyes we got two weeks ago ranged from fat to skinny. Most were pretty typical for this time of year. There seems to be plenty of eyes and adequate forage. But I'm sure the DNR is trying to reduce the "goldrush" effect which will likely occur when all the folks who have been catching them by accident fishing for slabs finally get to keep a few.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an E-Mail from the DNR explaining how they have decided to do things the way they have been. I'll forward it to Rick and hopefully he can post it word for word.

For the people that want to keep informed on what is happening with the URL Fisheries the DNR has a report in each issue of the URLAA Newsletter. For the $25 membership fee you'll get a lot of info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about the fish that rot in the nets because of storms or neglect will they be in the quota. Oops maybe im not spose to talk about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OOPS grin.gif Nice one Hal,

Hey, the stars alined, or misaligned and I will be up there late tonight through Sunday. Hope to see you, as I recall it is your turn to buy me dinner and then not pay your tab. wink.gif

DB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kelly forwarded the following e-mail to me to post for all to read...

Gary Barnard said we could post this word for word including his address and phone #. Now, who has the skill to do that??? I know I cann't. hehehe kelly

Kelly,

Thanks for the opportunity to respond directly to the safe harvest question.

First let me clarify that the Long Term Harvest Plan has not been finalized

and formally approved by the full Red Lake Fisheries Technical Committee, so

there still could be some minor modifications to the exact numbers, but the

management framework will be approximately as follows.

The safe harvest range that we will be targeting will be the same in pounds

per acre for Reservation and off Reservation waters. If any adjustments are

made they will be made proportionally on a per acre basis.

We have identified a preliminary range of 1.75 - 3.5 pounds per acre as the

safe harvest range for the entire system. For the off reservation portion

of Upper Red Lake (48,000 acres) that is 84,000 - 168,000 pounds. We will

be monitoring mature female spawning stock as the primary measure of

population stability. Significant changes in spawning stock densities will

result in adjustments to the safe harvest ranges.

Both jurisdictions will also be monitoring annual harvest to insure we are

maintaining harvest within the safe harvest range. The difficulty in

managing harvest precisely by setting a regulation prior to the fishing

season was recognized in the original recovery plan. Also, it is understood

that there is a strong desire to avoid mid-season regulation changes. This

was addressed by incorporating a three year running average into the harvest

plan framework. Thus the upper end of the safe harvest range does not

represent a hard quota where fishing would need to be closed. Slight

overages above the safe harvest range could be compensated for by adjusting

the regulation between seasons to bring the three year average back within

the safe levels.

Excessive harvest above the safe level can not be allowed since it can

endanger the fishery and would be impossible to adjust for in following

years by simple averaging. To avoid excessive harvest in any individual year

there will be a harvest cap imposed, preliminarily set at 4.5 pounds per

acre, or 216,000 pounds for off reservation waters. This is not really a

quota either, since it is recognized that this level of harvest can not be

maintained on an annual basis. The harvest cap will also be adjusted as

necessary based on the level of spawning stock density we are maintaining.

The regulation selected and proposed for the 2006 opener, a two fish bag

limit with a 17-26 inch protected slot, was selected from a limited number

of regulation options where model output predicted harvest within the safe

harvest zone. The citizen advisory committee that helped with the selection

process believed this was the most socially acceptable regulation that had

the best chance of controlling harvest within the safe harvest zone and the

least risk of reaching the harvest cap where the fishery would need to be

closed. Anglers, businesses owners and Fisheries managers would all like to

avoid a season closure, but not at the risk of a set back to the walleye

recovery effort.

While this harvest management framework is more complex than a simple

harvest quota, there are definite advantages by providing some flexibility

for variability in catch rates and uncertainty of angling pressure. But

more importantly, it provides an additional level of protection from

overharvest by incorporating programmed adjustments to changes in spawning

stock densities. Any underestimate of harvest or undetected sources of

mortality (such as excessive release mortality) would be detected and

compensated for through harvest level reductions. Alternately, controlled

harvest within the safe zone and continued levels of spawning stock above

the optimal levels could result in less restrictive regulations in future

years.

I hope this provides some clarification.

Gary Barnard

Bemidji Area Fisheries Supervisor

Gary Barnard

Bemidji Area Fisheries Supervisor

218-755-2974

[email protected]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to thank all of you that took the time to help me understand this subject. Red Lake is special because of people like you watching over her.

Best wishes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scupper, There are too many variables in this scenerio, Time will tell, & I'm taking a wait & See approach. And I'm going to keep my opinion to myself but Halad is on the same track I'm on. I know everyones track record, Whites included.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

kelly-p, LABS4ME, etal: thanks for the input. If the majority of anglers ( open water and hard water) abide by the rules we'll know in a few years just what kind of "catch and keep" pressure URL can sustain.

I hope that the DNR, knows that there are quite a number of you with a vested interest in a successful and longterm outcome, and that they will seek your help to aid in policing this fishery.

dockehr

Dr. Roland E. Kehr, Jr.

Lindy Tackle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

with a 17-26 inch protected slot, was selected from a limited number

of regulation options where model output predicted harvest within the safe

harvest zone. The
citizen advisory
committee that helped with the selection

process believed this was the most
socially acceptable
regulation


when did knifing 27" fish become socially acceptable?.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

when did knifing 27" fish become socially acceptable?.


I may be reading into this wrong but I dont believe I read anywhere that it stated [KNIFING 27"] fish.

I don't know any one that would. A majority of the population I assume would mount a fish that big IF, they kept it.

WAG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay now we are supposed to manage our fisheries based on what is socially acceptable instead of biology?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.