The D-N-R is working with the Ojibwe Band to set next summer’s walleye harvest limits on Lake Mille Lacs, after a federal review gave thumbs-up to the agency’s methods for estimating fish population. D-N-R Fisheries Chief Don Pereira says the walleye population is recovering well in some respects, but for next season “it will be a very conservative regulation. We’re probably looking at catch-and-release, but I don’t want to jump ahead of the process too quickly ’cause we still have some work to do yet.”
And will the summer walleye season on Mille Lacs be abbreviated or interrupted? Pereira says “hopefully not” and adds the goal is to keep the season open all summer at least for catch-and-release.
Pereira says when they finish work with the Objibwe Band to determine safe harvest level, the D-N-R will issue regulations for the upcoming season — hopefully by early March. More in this interview: