crosshairs

Kingsalmon this has nothing to do with economics, whether I agree or not this is the facts. The first nation has first priority to the resource as protected by the constitution, same ss their commercial fishery they proved through the courts that they traditionally fished commercially before treaty. They have the right to manage their own fishery and regulate it. There are some community members who have been commercially fishing for 40 to 50 years. Anyways as suggested earlier search and you will find all sorts of information. Just a side note I am not a netter, and just about the only fishing I do is with the kids for bullhead and just recently some c and r bass also for the kids. Takecare everyone

Kuha I believe last year the NFN fishery took out about 29000 kg and the anglers were around 20000kg. And both these numbers represent all fish caught, biologists take the side of caution so estimate higher numbers to ensure the highest number possible is used. This cover non compliances. The average catch for 2013 per day with 10 nets (3000 feet) was 40 walleye. Numbers for Pike, perch, whitefish etc are all recorded. They have markets for the species I mentioned but herring are illegal to sell due to the amount of worms and suckers most people do not want. Some people in the community will use them when the water is colder for canning. Aside from the couple bad apples there nets are set in the late evening, and lifted by 9 am and put on ice in the boat immediately. Fish aren't rotten unless left unattended. As mentioned all over the media NFN is having a community meeting to discuss the fishery. A lot of people I have spoken to want to shut the commercial fishery down just based on the "ghost nets" issue, I am hopeful that once the data for the population is discussed it will get a lot more people on board. I can guarantee with 20 or so people losing their incomes there will be demands on the government to put more pressure on the recreational fishery. Just hope it all happens and that it isn't too late. If a decision is made hopefully OMNR will step up and work with NFN for enforcement and the courts also need to start to recognize the laws so charges can be laid.

I just want to say the NFN community is outraged, yet the elected officials refuse to listen. Community members go to council meetings to discuss this and they are basically ignored, phones and laptops all being used during the presentations, 2 commercial fisherman councilors still allowed to make decisions to benefit themselves and the community has no recourse except vote differently next election. It is truly a sad state of affairs. To the point where one elderly woman who has voiced her concerns and is a staff at NFN has been harassed and bullied by one of these councilors mentioned above, and the administration said they have little recourse for dealing with councilors. It is starting to get ugly around here. A community member presented council with a petition to stop commercial fishing, not sure how many names he had but he said all they told him was thanks and went to the next agenda item. Can someone just call lekies net and twine in Winnipeg and see if you can order some gill nets (nugget should do this). I believe you need a status card, an assessment, or commercial licence so that is just Bull. Yesterday it was announced a 5th has been collected, just for clarification all these nets combined are more than likely close to 50 gill nets. Each "set" typically has 10 panels. Panels are 300 feet long and can range in depth from 3 feet to 30 feet. So in total there was very likely 15000 feet (4.575 km) of net recovered. Each panel costs around $150. As for the tagging of the nets none of the non registered use tags, and as far as I know they out number the registered fisherman. I said it before but the best thing that could happen is a collapse, and over time it will recover but this would pretty well ensure a commercial fishery will not exist in our lifetime. I just hope that no one gets hurt during all this, and Chief and Council are held accountable for their actions and inaction. I did not know sticking your head in the sand was a management system!! Hopefully the community continues their fight for what is right, and set things straight.

All the OMNR have to do is prove the commercial fishery is a conservation threat and the courts will rule in their favor. With the new regs for anglers just occurring perhaps they are waiting and gathering information and data for a year to ensure they have a solid case. wouldn't want to lose this one. This is the only way I can possibly see anything happening for the long term health of the lake, the courts would ensure an accountable management regime be in place before allowing more commercial fishing to occur if the lake even recovers. Everyone should contact their MP's, MPP's and who ever else to demand the data for lake nipissing be reviewed because it shows there is a conservation threat to the walleye. Pike and whitefish populations are also down from what I understand, these are all targeted species for the commercial fishery. I am trying my best at this end, maybe if there was pressure from else where things might happen. Just thinking out loud. Anyways the lake nipissing summit is being held June 24th in sturgeon falls at the river house museum from 9 -4. Register at lakenipissingsummit.ca. Perhaps the chief and the 2 commercial fisherman councilors might want to hear what the general public has to say. Their thoughts are clear, just visit NFN.ca and look at council minutes some of their views are stated there. Happy fathers day all and enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Like head hunter said, there are so many variables that could play into this situation. I just want to say that this is very upsetting but a sad reality which comes along with commercial fishing. Comments like "cutting the natives funding until agreements are reached" don't help. NFN has a membership of roughly 2400 members and have approximately 25 full and part time fisherman. Of these 25 there are 5-6 that are fishing just to supply their habits. So their priorities are alittle skewed to say the least, they are struggling with addictions that are slowly killing them. The actions of this small group do not speak to the views and ideals of this community, so punishing or blaming all natives really bothers me. This small group don't have children going to school and hearing their friends tell them about the Indians cleaning out the lake, or blaming them individually. I am glad the nugget doesn't allow comments, the blatant racism in north bay is disgusting and quite sad. It is a commercial fishery, regardless of the race. Back to the issue, the nets found were well anchored had no float markers and did not have nfn tags. There was 8 in total and 80% of the fish were coarse fish according to the OMNR. Here are some possibilities 1) nfn commercial not marking due to net tampering and not having GPS to locate, and inexperienced at using land markers for location 2) non native (like gentleman who drowned last year lifting nets) 3) other groups asserting their jurisdiction 4) any first nation in the robinson huron treaty area 5) inter treaty harvesting permission My personal opinion, it was one of the commercial (bad guys) who probably misjudged the exact location of their nets. I am not sure what effect prescription drugs has on a person mentally but I can tell you these guys look like hell, it is sad really. This isn't the first time this has been an issue, it happens a lot with high winds and people like Rod Caster mentions. These fish are accounted for in the commercial harvest. The fishery is in dire straits yet chief and council refuse to accept that the commercial fishery is part of the problem. Not sure if it is because 2 councilors are commercial fisherman lol. as I stated in previous posts anglers are out in left field, NFN basically has the means to either save this fishery or see it through to it's demise. It is quite simple , the combination of both fisheries attacking the walleye prior to age 5 ( spawning age) hasn't allowed any through (3% of population age 5 and up) if the commercial continues these last few age classes will not make it to age 5. I'm not a bio but alittle common sense will tell the outcome. Some of the community has made a demand that chief and council host a summit for the NFN community and they want to see all the data, until now No data has gone to the community from the band. They get their info from the nugget and I believe they see what is really happening. Hopefully something will come of that. Again please don't paint all First nations people with the same brush and be aware of who is around when these feelings are being discussed, there is no need for any kids regardless of race to feel those kind of feelings. Take Care my friends.

Yes I seen that Nipfisher, and it is NOT just the anglers. I am very disheartened and embarrassed by it. I should mention the community is starting to get upset and do not agree with this, they need to challenge these decisions to make change. She listens to 2 councilors who are commercial fisherman so hopefully the OMNR will act on all this because it is definitely a conservation concern, that's all they need to prove in court. This isn't a question about treaty rights, this is about protecting a resource but they just don't get it I guess. Like I said in previous posts this is a tireless battle. Hopefully the community or OMNR challenge this soon.

Again this is my personal opinion, but I am afraid the writing is on the wall. The slot needed to moved 2 years ago, and by the time NFN reacts with the commercial fishery it will be too far gone. Both fisheries were hammering 18" and under and now the spawners are few and far between. I'll start with both fisheries were taking out almost the same kg's per year including non compliances and up until this recent change anglers were harvesting the 1-2 year olds and the commercial 3-4 year olds and females only spawning at age 5. FWIN has showed nothing is getting through the gauntlet of anglers and commercial and last years young of the year dropped way way off compared to previous years. So is this all bad news, perhaps for the short term but there are a lot of variables at play here. If NFN would close commercial fishing for awhile these 1-4 year old would spawn, if they don't well just the few that make it will get to. This move the OMNR has made I believe is more strategic than anything else, anglers are now where only 3% of the population is and NFN is where all fish are. If the trend continues with nothing making it to spawning age I personally would think this is a conservation issue which case law has stated over and over again conservation supercedes all. I am not pointing fingers, all users play a part, but all users need to look at the common goal. Getting these younger fish to spawn, irrelevant of who, where, color the objective is the same. The challenge NFN has is they just can't move the commercial fisherman to larger size mesh like omnr has done with anglers, fish over 56 cm are illegal to sell due to contaminates and they also face the same challenge OMNR has with the constitutionally protected treaty right. Sad to say but a collapse would legally make all users re-evaluate their part in this fishery. Personally I think we need to shut down the commercial fishery but also have the walleye for anglers catch and release. 5 years of this and the lake could be well on its way to recovery, but then again the perch population have filled in the walleye gap and apparently it is hard to turn it back. Again just my thoughts. Have a great opening weekend, and if you do come across commercial nets please do not tamper with them. Far too many times these floats are cut, anchors cut then these nets drift around killing for years. I found 1 that was at least 12 years old drifting around. These fisherman are just making a living just like everyone else, until laws dictate otherwise they are legal. Take Care and watch for floating debris, a lot of it out there. I rarely agree with OFAH but their position paper on the lake nip management plan hits the nail right on the head.

Hey everyone, I don't come on very often due to the fact a person can get wore out fighting all the time lol. At work everything is polical, so doesn't necessarily mean the right decisions being made, deal with OMNR always a polical agenda there too just get tired. Anyways, Bernie there is a huge problem with nets being tampered with, stolen, damaged etc. There is less chance of them being seen setting them and harder for the people to find them. The OPP and OMNR are trying to get a handle on it, they want to create a data base with dates, times, locations boats seen in the vasinaty. Also some just don't want to upset people that are angling in the area, but we do have some that don't give a ---- either. The majority of the time I am out there after dark and early morning. Humans are very predictable, and don't like to change. One of our fisherman I just need to look at the calendar and water temp and I will know where to find him, most them have everything documented on their calendars in there garages and welcome me to veiw them. It doesn't matter what race we all have bad apples. aKashag, no thank you I have read alot of your posts and enjoyed them. I understand people don't like the unknown, and in regards to first nations it isn't taught in schools or at least it hasn't in the past. I have several friends who actually hated first nations people until they started to learn about the history and have became good friends now. They understand a bit better why things are done the way they are. I try to share what ever information I can, I have to be careful because of my work lol. Hopefully we can collectively work through these hard times and get this lake back to a healthy state. Take Care all.

The angler harvest is by creel surveys, apparently there is a real science to it we had a crew doing it in the french river and the omnr do the rest of the lake. As for the first nation non compliance or questionable catch numbers each person is reviewed individually and assigned a number of fish based on # of times out, fisherman skills, locations and dates, and the numbers are compared with other reporting fisherman. For the most part fish move in schools during hot summer weather so where one fisherman is getting them they usually follow that person. The mesh size they use is 3.5 and 3.75". if they go any smaller the bicatch is at least doubled and the 4" well it is illegal to sell the larger walleye due to contaminates.

The 51000 kg mentioned in the article is for all the fisheries native and non native. At the meeting yesterday i was lead to believe the kgs for the first nation and the anglers are almost even. If both give up 10000kg then we will be in the safe 30 000kg zone.

I know why the blue walleye in lake nipissing became close to extinction, it was non natives netting food for the Military personnel in the war. NFN members had to hide to get fish or game at that time. That is why night hunting and fishing has been done for years. The indian agents controled every aspect of their lives, they weren't allowed fire arms, needed permission to leave the reserve etc. Headhunter, on 16 Apr 2013 - 13:09, said: As much as it makes me have internal convulsions, I have to agree with biguli on this... unfortunately that would mean that we are destined to repeat ills of the past... Anyone remember why/how the Lake’s Blue Pickeral became close to extinct? HH On a side note, I am thinking about booking a trip to Europe to discuss with the folks who live there, how the land they are on is actually part of my heritage and therefore not theirs! Only REAL difference being I don't have a stained, torn and faded agreement in my back pocket! LOL Now on the article, OFAH uses OMNR data. What data do they have?? NFN does the FWIN, NFn does the sturgeon assessment, NFN is doing shoreline studies, NFN organizes and pays for summits to help better lake nipissing, NFN gathers their communities numbers and omnr use and do what?? Seriously in past years the total harvest for anglers was as low as 7000 and 10 000kg for the entire year. Now this year with a reduced limit anglers took out an estimated 14000kg in just in 3 months and the lake sustainable harvest is around 30 000kg (OMNR numbers for 2013). Plus this past winter a greater enforcement presence was seen and from what I heard most charges laid ever for over possession and slot size. NFN is putting the pressure on omnr to actually do their job. Maybe OFAH should have called the NFN to get some data, OMNRs data can't tread water. Again OMNR is getting $$$$$ to manage this resource, and a small community of less than 1000 members living here has to foot the bill to do OMNRs job. I have 1 idea about stopping the netting, these commercial fisherman should just get into the ice hut business. crap they don't permission, they can put out as many as they want and where ever they want then everyone will be happy. More fish out but hey the netting is stopped. 15 commercial fisherman times 25 huts each, whats another 375 commercial huts set up all over south bay and deep water point. This would work and they would make more money. Anyhow NFN community takes out so many fish whether by rod or nets and anglers take out so many fish. It all equals to many fish taken out. NFN community around 50 000 walleye a year and anglers are over that but know one really knows how much. Where is the mismanagement??? I'm gonna stop here posted all this before just gettin tired of the old finger pointing game. Time for everyone to realize everyone taking out fish is part of the problem. As you can see by the 2013 numbers, an over harvest is going to occur again and unless serious sanctions are put on both fisheries immediately, in 2 years time everyone is going to be sorry that finger pointing on both sides just didn't seem to help the fishery. No tourism, No commercial fisherman, and no personal use for all the locals (native or not) to enjoy. And for the treaty jokes they are good for laughs, it shows just how uneducated you are on the topic. But thanks again for the laughs. Miigwetch for your time.

NipFisher, in regards to your concerns over late ice off since 2003 there have never been spawning walleye left on the spawning beds may 10th. Normally the whole last week there is minimal walleye on the shoals. Might count 20 all night on prime areas and they are just bombing around feeding. Usually males hoping for some strangler females. lol. Remember the nugget states when the lake is totally ice free. Last year it was april 11, but we were out in the boat patroling march 30. This year is to be back on track with normal years, I will be on the boat the last week of april sometime. The spawn will begin in certain areas first, wasi, west arm, then areas with open shores and the last is the shoal spawners in the big water. The females don't go up to the areas until they are ready to go, the males will sit there for a month waiting, the female will go up one night and she is done. It is really interesting to sit and watch. A trick my dad showed me when I was a kid was to sit there in the dark and just tap my foot on the water (imitating a female splashing) and the males will come over to my foot and sure enough they did. The walleye will spawn when the time is right, i have watched them in prime spawn with the ice 10 feet off shore. JimC i beleive NFN is struggling with the whole hatchery issue. Their is alot of science against it but there is also science for it. To be honest I do not know where they really stand. Remember at NFN the politicians are the grassroots workers bosses, sometimes decisions are made on how it effects voters not what staff recommend or endorse. Personally i worry that if all these fingerlings and eggs are put in it will give this false idea that we all can keep taking out this amount of walleye or even more. Sustainability is only taking what the resource can reproduce, if the lake can only sustain so many #'s of walleye per year then that is it. This might be a stupid analyagy but when moose numbers are down less tags are given to allow a recovery, we do not breed them to try and help make more so we can keep taking. That is just my personal opinion, again I have nothing against the people wanting to do this. At least they are at the same table as NFN and wanting to do something. RodCaster, some of the people out are doing this, they will spawn them out. The majority of people spearing are families with their kids, it isn't to make money or slaughter them, it is to teach the kids and keep traditions alive. With the commercial regs and spearing regs alot of people just don't bother to go out anymore. Wether it is the regs or just concern for the fishery or both alot have made that choice. Also the same ripe female that might get taken is the same female that could have been caught all winter, a spawning age female is a spawning age female. Again i have nothing to gain from this except the opportunity to share information with you all and hopefully create a healthy fishery for my kids to enjoy. I have fished twice in the past 3 years and not once this year. I am not doing this so I can catch more fish. I have 4 boys and they are all taught to take only what you need, and to respect all fish and animals we harvest. I take 1 moose and 1 deer a year and this feeds my whole family of 8 people. I usually just run out of meat the week prior to school starting. Soon we will go for smelts then for catfish, sometimes my mom will ask for suckers to can so the boys will come and help get some for grandma. (BTW she just adds ketchup and it looks like salmon). We eat rabbits in the winter and occationally we will get a beaver from a trapper. We try not to purchase as much as possible, you don't know what is in any of our food anymore. This is a choice we make, others have to do this just to get by. Anyhow if anyone feels I am speaking with deception, to somehow gain something out of this mess I am sorry. Again I am just sharing information that alot of people donot know, when I was in CO training the whole class was so upset with what they learned there in regards to their FN neighbors. What made them most angry was that they never learned any of this stuff through school. I had 1 elderly gentleman in our class come up to me and appologize for hating us his whole life only to find out why FNs are angry, he said told me to share my information, knowlegde with anyone who wants to learn because they don't know. Anyhow I appologize to the admins, again i am not talking about stocking on lake nipissing but I feel people need an understanding of the whole situation on both sides. Thanks all and have a great day.

From what I have been told, the Cormorant population has boomed and has now stabilized to what the food source could sustain. If they were that much of a problem we would see perch numbers also dwindling, but instead they are also booming. The perch are starting to fill the void that is left from the walleye, supposedly once that void is filled it is hard to swing back the other way. It all has to do with so much energy in the food web and bunch of mumbo jumbo to me. I am sure it has been discussed, I just haven't heard anything of it. I believe there is another Lake Nipissing summit being planned as we speak, and new this year OMNR is planning to participate so when it is announced I recommend all who can attend do so, personally I felt last years helped us all to see it from others perspectives and in the long run we are all fighting for the same outcome. A healthy lake for all to enjoy now and in the future.

Old Ironmaker, I am not harping about past injustices I have a government I vote for and you have one also. Simply because that is my belief doesn't make it harping. Looks more like your harping about what happened to your grandfather. People need to speak up against injustices and fight for what they beleive in, and not worry about being told "get over it" or quit "harping" lol. If people don't stand up and fight they deserve what they get. The 80 000 mentioned is just based on 10 weekends, 2000 huts and 1 angler in each thus this could be the very minumum number. The point is the NFN government has first right to the resource (the higharchy works like this 1]conservation is very top 2] first nation subsistence 3] first nation commercial 4]sport fishing) so before first nation commercial can be stopped anglers will have been stopped prior to this. This is taught at CO training, and the first right is based on the 3 court cases. They could just tell OMNR this is what our community needs and you manage what is left, but they are chosing to work with everyone to still only have the finger pointing at them. I have a feeling their tolerance for this is soon going to end, because they will always get blamed no matter what. I have been looking at alot of info and asking myself Why is the lake in this situation?? NFN has been fishing this way for centuries (noted in jesuit records) (NOTE: blue walleye were fished out for food for the war not by FN's) elders mention they remember there were no walleye for along time. And tourism has always been big, ice fishing has grown. So I started to look at the data and this is what I have come up with. The OMNR decide what the safe harvest level is based on population. I think 5 years ago it was at 66000kg, OMNR estimates for angler harvest for the whole year on some instances were as low as 10 000 and 7000 kg. Now NFN takes that data and establishes their quotas and was set around 46000kg 5 years ago and quota was reached only once. 66000 is the safe harvest level remember. Now this past winter OMNR is estimating anglers harvested about 14000kg of walleye(just winter) and the estimate for the lakes safe harvest level for all users is now 30000kg. So almost half is gone already now NFN has their qouta (they haven't decided what changes they are making to it yet) plus soft water anglers. So what is the first nation suppose to do?? In the past NFN have been reactionary to the angler harvest and adjustments to quota can be made quickly compared to government (omnr)red tape but OMNR have no control on how much anglers will take out. Past estimates for entire years were 10000kg and now with a lower limit 14000kg are caught in just 3 months. Crap data in puts crap out. I now see why over harvest has been occuring. I don't beleive the safe harvest level of 66000kg was accurate and neither are the harvest numbers OMNR has been using. The lake needs a quota. Once this number is hit it is shut down just like NFN does when they hit their quota. How does the quota get divided up ?? I have no clue. The over harvesting has been occuring due to the fact OMNr has taken a back seat in lake Nipissing management, inaccurate data screwed everyone. Anyhow if we could get the numbers back up and keep accurate catch data the lake and all users would be fine. i think these strong year classes are our last chance at saving this thing. Just my thoughts, take care all.

I agree totally.They have regulated the spawn, there is no netting anymore a minimal spearing for personal use. The 4 strong year classes coincide with NFN's spring moratorium, it is working. NFN has the same problem OMNR have, they have to be careful because these are constitutionally protected rights. It is working now because it is community driven, community had a vote and hence the laws came into play.