Red Lake Tribe/Hiring Fish Plant Manager

[hksbh]

Red Lake Tribe has job posting on there web site for a Fish Plant Manager that was posted today.

[pike doctor]

"a commercial fish processing facility with the capacity to process in excess of one million pounds of high quality fish annually"

this comes straight from the job description. I sure hope they dont plan on harvesting in excess of one million pounds of walleye!! Does anyone know, would this include other fish as well?

[kelly-p]

We have been through many things around URL through the past 20 years. We are worn out, we are tired, we have fought the fights when none of you would listen, we fought them alone. We brought URL back!!!!!!!!!! TO PUT IT AS NICE AS I CAN. Don't start any more fights unless you want to be here to fight them. You left us here alone last time.

[halad]

Did anybody actually think that they would let all these fish swim around out there forever. The demand for fresh walleye is to great. For what its worth I hear they will also be processing the fish from LOW at the RL plant. A million pounds isnt a million fish. Gill nets dont have a slot limit. Us saps will sit here with our 2 fish under 17 inches.

[upnorth]

All of Lower Red Lake and the majority of Upper Red Lake belongs to the Tribe. We really don't have any say about what they do with it.

[vitalshot5]

Kelly, thats a helluva thing to say to people who have supported Redlake....granted you guys started the fight alone but there are many sportsman that have supported your resorts and Redlake in the last 10-20 years.....I myself have spent thousands of dollars at resorts and bait stations in the last 10 years....To tell the people who aren't from the Redlake area to stay out of it is a slap in the face to all of us sportsman who have supported Redlake and the good people that live there. Mistakes were made the first time and it finally opened up alot of eyes to what these mistakes were....people have a right and responsibility to bring these mistakes to light when they are about to happen again.

[shadyzr]

In court they said they wanted to gather/take fish for spirituall reasons, religious reasons. Might there be another reason $$$$$$$.

It was settled in court by bleeding hearts, so all the p***ing and moaning in the world is'nt going to change a thing. We have to move on.

Fish your limit, take your limit!! Good luck!

[vitalshot5]

attitudes like that killed the lake the first time...the question should be raised and should be complained about and be brought to light so we don't have the same problem as before.

[upnorth]

You don't quite get it. They "own" all of Lower Red Lake and the majority of Upper Red Lake and we have no say in how they manage their portions of the Lakes.

[kelly-p]

We control 18% of the waters, the Red Lake Band controls 82%. The Band can take 82% of the take and we can take 18%. There is nothing we can do about that. All we can do is hope that the MN DNR and the Band continue to cooperate managing the lake. Fighting could end that cooperation.

[vitalshot5]

Nobody is saying anything about fighting...but if this topic isn't brought to light now and we wait until its too late...we will be in the same boat as before.....Contact the DNR and voice your concern....keep it tops on their priority list so they can be our voice....voicing concerns and fighting are 2 totally different things.....Kelly when the lake fails again you can say you sat back and voiced no concerns and can watch your resorts struggle again...this time don't ask for help.

[shadyzr]

Getting mad over this is'nt going to get anywhere. I was almost banned from here quite awhile back for my opinion on this subject. It has been hashed over and over. The courts decided it, its law. I am still going to P.E.R.M. banquits to help raise money for our and their lawyers bills and court cost's, that still has'nt been paid off yet, and that was years ago. If anyone wants to try calling congressmen, DNR,or what-ever, I incourage it. I still do it. But this is not the place to heatedly comment on this. I'm fairly sure a big majority of us feel the same way you do Vitalshot5. Good luck fishing.

[upnorth]

Quote:

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Contact the DNR and voice your concern

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The MN DNR has no say in how the Red Lake Band manages the resources on their portion of the lake/s. So far they have agreed to limit what they harvest from the lake, but if they decide otherwise we can only sit back and watch. They don't answer to the State on MN on any level.

[vitalshot5]

UpNorth....I fully understand that the DNR has no final say over it...but they are our only open line of communication with the tribe on this issue.....the tribe may not listen to me and you but may work with the DNR to keep our problems on Redlake from happening again.....and as far as getting mad....I'm not mad just very concerned.

[upnorth]

vitalshot5...do you really believe the Red Lake Band wants to go through that again either. I really have my doubts. The lakes are not just their recreation they provide a portion of their livelyhood...I have my doubts if they want to lose that portion of it again.

[vitalshot5]

NOBODY wants to see it happen again, and it wasn't just the tribes fault it happened.....I'm just stating that its good to voice our concerns now before something as tragic as this happens again......nobody wanted it the first time either....but it did happen.

[kelly-p]

All the Band is doing is hiring someone. It says nothing about gill nets. Cross you fingers and hope that they are planning on hook and line fishing or box nets. Their laws also have a protected slot just like us. They can not have a protected slot with gill nets. Like is already posted on this Topic our only voice is through the MN DNR. As long as they (MN DNR-Red Lake Band) keep talking and cooperating the Lakes will be managed correctly. If we anger the Red Lake Band with our attitude and they stop talking,,,,,,then there is a chance for bad things happening.

The Band has been far, far more cautious about opening up the fishing again on their side then the MN DNR has been on this side. The Band does not want the walleyes wiped out again any more then we do.

We can have 18% of the walleye take. The other 82% is the Bands to do what they want with. Like it or not we have to live with it.

[steeplechaser2]

I have to say that I have been a bleeding heart on the whole Native American treaty issue....until now. I absolutely fail to see how the Red Lake Nation hopes to come out ahead on this one....Talk about BAD PUBLIC RELATIONS! I have never begrudged the fact that we have subsidized housing and programs to help people in poverty. Even when it seemed like we were dumping money into these programs, I have smiled and even gone to casinos as entertainment. Now, no more.

I understand the history. But, enough is enough. In Canada, I believe, Native people are not given separate nation status. Same limits, same regulations, all people equal under the law.

Now that the lake has been rehabilitated, how can the Red Lake Nation decide to commercially fish it? I hope that the Red Lake Nation reconsiders this plan. They would have much better PR opening up the Lower Red Lake to fee-based fishing than commercially fishing the lake.

I hate to rant, but if I am enraged about this issue, think about the hard-line jingoist that will want to flat out boycott or outlaw the casinos, take away Sovereign Nation status, and eliminate programs that attempt to eliminate poverty. For a life-long bleeding heart Democrat, this issue makes me want to open these issues up. And frankly, I am afraid of the reaction this action will bring about.

[gorrilla]

steeplechaser2, calm down...

your ranting on like a puddin head and getting the cart before the horse just riles people up and starts dumb coffee shop rumors. Stick with the facts maybe.

[kgpcr4]

I will say this. If the band starts to commercial harvest URL i will never throw back another walleye that i catch. I WILL NOT throw back walleyes to swim into a gill net.

[Random guy]

From what I have heard and understand the Red Lake Nation is just as concerned for the fisheries as we are. We all (both sides of the line) learned a hard lesson from yesterdays mistakes, lets not end were we started.

How I look at it is the Red Lake Nation has a HUGE investment into the recovery effort and they suffered the consequences of a dead lake as we did, I doubt that it is not easily forgotten. Lets get some more solid info on what is going on before we start digging trenches and slinging the mud.

What amazes me is the fact that when the lake was just snow and ice, no roads, ice houses, crappies or masses of people nobody really cared about either Upper or Lower Red Lake. Now make it the destination of choice for ice anglers a small ad in has all kinds of reaction. Where were these people when resorts closed, families went broke trying to make ends meet and had to move away to survive. After I had to find work outside of the area nobody knew were Waskish was...until the crappie boom.

So many problems to take care of just in Minnesota, the logging industry, drugs, poverty so on and so forth and the response is often unspoken. Now mess with someone’s future weekend plans and the gloves come off.

Do not forget that every gas station, diner, repair shop, sporting goods store and many other financial establishments from the metro to Waskish are generating income from the masses of anglers coming to fish. The Red lake financial machine has the power and attention of the corporations. Just think what the gas station chains make off of Red lake. Pressure will be applied by the ones that now generate larger revenue from Red Lake. This will not go unchallenged if it is so.

Voice your opinions and say what you must but remember if you scream all the time nobody will hear you speak.

[wolfman-k]

Well put Jon, the acorn didn't fall far from the oak. It would seem that all concerned know full well that this re-bound of the fishery wouldn't have happened without the cooperation of the State & the Tribe. It would seem to me that after the mistakes made on both sides of the line, everyone found out that an empty fish bowl is good for neither side. Before anyone gets too fired-up, we need to relax and wait and see what is proposed.

I commend those locals like Kelly who had to endure the empty feeling of seeing the lake they love become a forgotten gem that now is vibrant and busy once again. If the Tribe wants to utilize their share of the fishery and can do so without hurting the overall well-being of the whole lake, good luck to them. I would think it's in everyone's best interest to insure that from now on, the fishery is the most important resource for all of that area.We all have a stake in this recovery, not just for the dollars generated, but for the lessons learned! Good luck and follow the rules, our future habitat depends on it. Welcome home Jon.

[halad]

Dont tell me that there wernt people up here who cared when the lake was just snow and ice. If you think they are going to process a half million fish a year and catch them with a hook or hoop net i think you are wrong and what about the fish caught illegially thats what hurt the lake befor.

[mr marbles]

Maybe they should build a few fishing resorts, and have a casino for all the gamblers, that lower Red is a sportsman paradise, they would have a gold mine!! maybe they should start netting them darn seals! vicious critters!

[Stradic]

Hear Hear!!!

[vitalshot5]

Jon I too grew up in northern minnesota....i use to fish the lake every weekend with my father and grandfather....I too watched the lake and resorts die....that is why we should ask these questions BEFORE it happens again instead of waiting until it's too late....if you think Redlake is the only area in northern minnesota that has or is going through hard times you are extremly mistaken.....When I was a kid there were little cities on redlake everywhere, tons of people ice fishing and supporting the community.

[koonie]

Just out of curiosity, since The Red Lake Nation controls 82% of the lake did they pay for 82% of the walleyes that were restocked into the lake?

Seriously, if you didn't see this coming, when all the talk of stocking millions of walleye fry to bring the lake back to it's glory days came about, then you must have had your head in the sand.

[Desperado]

The Red Lake DNR did pay for a significant percentage of the stocking. Don't know what the exact share was as far as amount from MN DNR vs amount from Red Lake DNR.

But the breakdown really doesn't matter so much for me once I ask myself these two questions.

Where ultimately does the MN DNR's money come from?

Where ultimately does the Red Lake DNR's money come from?

[Mike L]

it's amazing to me that the band does not take advantage of the recreational potential for their portions of the lakes. Even if they restricted operations to band members guiding and such to their part of Upper Red.

I know that they've been looking for off-res casino sites, too. Something on Upper Red would do better, I'd think, than the one near Thief River Falls.

Key to economic development is the idea of value-added, rather than just exploiting the base resource.

[Desperado]

classic case of cut off the nose to spite the face