Judge OKs new tribal and state Great Lakes fishing agreement

KALAMAZOO, MI — A federal judge has approved an agreement between four indigenous tribes, federal regulators and state of Michigan that will govern commercial and sport fishing in parts of the upper Great Lakes until 2047.

On Thursday, Aug. 24, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo approved the deal to divvy up fishing rights in parts of lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior; extending for the next 24 years a longstanding regulatory framework which has been under negotiation since it expired in 2020.

The deal was reached in December between the state and federal governments, and the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, the Little River Band of Ottawa and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa.

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa refused to join the deal, arguing the state has no authority over its fishing operations.

The deal covers areas of the three Great Lakes that fall within Michigan waters in which the tribes reserve fishing rights per the 1836 Treaty of Washington. The tribes are descended from Odawa and Ojibway nations, described collectively as Anishinaabek, that under the treaty ceded lands comprising nearly 40 percent of Michigan’s eventual territory.

It replaces a fishery management pact called a Consent Decree which last updated in 2000. The agreement was originally made in 1985 amid rising tensions between tribal commercial fishers and sport anglers.

“The Proposed Decree respects and promotes Tribal fishing rights and opportunities, yet it also preserves the Great Lakes fishery and recognizes the shared nature of the resource,” wrote Maloney in a 139-page opinion this week.

Maloney overruled objections from the Sault tribe, which argued the 2000 agreement was meant to expire and not become a permanent framework.

He also overruled objections from a conservation group, the Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources, which sought to intervene in the negotiations over concerns that sport fishing would be harmed by expanded tribal catch of struggling species like lake trout.

Like past versions, the new consent decree sets zones where tribal fishing crews can operate and areas where commercial fishing is prohibited. It deals with topics such as catch limits and which gear tribal operations can use.

Particularly controversial is tribal use of large-mesh gill nets, an effective tool that hangs in the water column like a wall. Critics say they indiscriminately catch and kill too many fish. The new deal allows for tribal use of the nets in more places, with restrictions on depth in the water they’re placed, the times of year they’re used and how much netting is deployed.

Under the 2000 pact, Michigan spent more than $14 million paying tribal operations to transition from gill nets to trap nets, which are more selective.

But the latest version continues catch ceilings to keep populations from dropping too low, so the type of net the tribes use is irrelevant, Maloney wrote.

“Whether they meet that harvest limit quickly by using the efficient method of gill nets, or whether they meet that harvest limit over time by using less efficient means of fishing, the tribes are still subject to the same harvest limits regardless of gear used,” Maloney wrote.

The conservation coalition contents expanded gill netting could cause further whitefish and lake trout population drop-offs. Both species have plummeted in recent decades as invasive quagga and zebra mussels have unraveled food chains.

The coalition can appeal the ruling, the judge wrote.

- The Associated Press contributed to this story