The Department of Natural Resources and the five Tribes in the 1836 Treaty-ceded territory of Michigan have reached a collaborative resolution to address the walleye fishery on Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County that will allow for harvest of walleyes to continue on the lake in 2010 by both Tribal subsistence fishers and state-licensed recreational anglers.

The resolution includes the state and Tribes working together to develop a multi-faceted approach to monitoring and enhancing the walleye population over the next five years, through the 2014 fishing season.

The plan includes fishery management changes by the state and collaborative assessment monitoring by both the state and the Tribes that encompasses continued creel surveys for the 2010 fishing season, a joint assessment of the entire chain of lakes, and in the longer term the potential to develop a joint fish stocking effort.

As a result of the resolution, Kelley Smith, chief of the DNR's Fisheries Division, announced at the Michigan Natural Resources Commission meeting today that the Tribes have agreed to withdraw their request to invoke allocation-based procedures on the lake for 2010. The resolution creates flexibility for the State to set appropriate harvest regulations for walleye on the lake in 2010. Smith said, however, the state still needs to work with the public between now and early December to determine whether a reduced bag limit, a higher minimum size limit, a shortened season or some combination of those will be most appropriate for walleye taken by state-licensed anglers on Mullett Lake.

"Given the low population estimate, we realized that something would need to be done related to fishing regulations on Mullett Lake for harvest of walleyes by state-licensed anglers," Smith said. "We planned to undertake a review with the public next summer, but we are moving more quickly given the overall concern for the health of the walleye population in Mullett Lake."

During discussions with the tribes, Smith said there was concern on both sides about the fishery survey conducted on Mullett Lake in 2009.

"There is overall uncertainty about the population estimate of adult walleyes in Mullett Lake," Smith said. "The range is 2,001 to 3,577 adult walleyes. There is also some uncertainty on both sides about the interaction between the lakes in this particular chain of lakes - Mullett, Burt, Crooked and Pickerel."

Douglas W. Craven, Natural Resource Department Director for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, agrees. "Mullett is part of a large complex system. The Tribes felt that there were some unknowns out there and we wanted to make sure that those concerns would be adequately addressed. The Tribes are committed to working with MDNR to address those uncertainties."

Jeff Parker, chairman of the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, agreed that the tribes were equally concerned about the lower walleye population estimate on Mullett Lake, but also, how misconceptions were being portrayed in certain circles about how the detriment actually occurred.

Allocation was a suggested option because it provided greater control over the total amount of walleye that could be preserved in Mullett, said Parker.

Parker concluded that he is optimistic that the collaborative approach agreed to between the state and Tribes takes everyone's concerns and needs into consideration.

Fisheries regulations will be developed, Smith said, that use the upper range of the population estimate to calculate safe harvest levels. The state and Tribes have agreed to set a safe harvest level of 40 percent on Mullett Lake, and the DNR Fisheries Division will recommend a modification to the Mullett Lake fisheries order to change the state regulations to meet the new harvest level. The new regulation will be taken up at the December NRC meeting in Lansing.

"Our overall concern has always been the fishery. We feel that this resolution between the state and Tribes was a good faith scientifically based collaborative effort and that it will ensure the protection of the Mullett Lake fishery while providing a harvest opportunity for the state and Tribes," Craven said.