DNR, Mille Lacs Lake Stakeholders to Talk Walleyes

GARRISON (AP) - State fisheries officials meet with Mille Lacs Lake area residents and business owners near Garrison on Wednesday to discuss how to cut the walleye harvest this year.

State and tribal officials agreed last month to slash the maximum catch in half because of data suggesting that walleye numbers in the popular lake have dropped to a 40-year low.

The Department of Natural Resources is expected to present the Mille Lacs stakeholders group with options for how to reduce the take by hook-and-line sport anglers. DNR officials have said changes could include some combination of reduced bag limits, changes in size restrictions and ways to reduce hooking mortality.

The Ojibwe bands that exercise treaty rights to net walleyes from the lake will consider separately how to stay within their lower quota.