Opinions are like (noses), everybody’s got one.
“The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” - James Russell Lowell
The story of the lost tribal gill nets on Mille Lacs Lake has generated a lot of talk. Much of the discussion has quieted down.
A lot of people have posted comments and questions on the Messenger web page and on blogs. Some of the questions have been thoughtful while others have been redundant. The questions that have warranted answers have been answered, or so it seems.
Except for a couple. One in particular asked of me by “John.” He wanted to know if I had changed my position regarding gill nets.
While I don’t believe I ever spelled out my position, or opinion, about gill netting in particular (show me word for word if I did), I have given John's question a lot of thought.
As a writer, I am first an observer. I like to interview people in person, or be on the scene of whatever it is I am covering so I can see first hand what it is all about and feel some of the emotions. I listen to people. I watch people. I watch the whole situation as best as I can. Get the big picture. I sometimes get lost in the listening and the watching. But I feel I have to, to be able to tell the story. And then as a writer I tell you what I have found.
As a writer, what I think and feel, or my position on a subject, doesn’t really matter. As the writer, I should be out in the margins, not even a sidebar to the story. Because that is where writers belong. If I become a part of the story, then I am not an observer. If I am not being an observer, then I cannot be a storyteller.
There are exceptions, of course, to every rule. An op/ed piece is completely different than a hard news story and/or a feature story. However, some feature stories can be written in first person, and then of course, that puts me in the story. Opinions and editorials are of course, what they are.
But news is news.
I watched the entire story play out before my eyes. I was actually in a boat, on the water, in Garrison Bay and St. Alban’s Bay the night the ice floe moved in covering a story on electro fishing. I am not an expert, but there was barely a wind. The water was calm and it was a beautiful sunset. I gave no thought to the floe lingering just out of my view. And I watched as Band members set their nets for the evening.
I finished gathering electro fishing information and went home. It was well after 10 p.m. when I left the bay. I remember it being quiet. Peaceful. Not much wind to speak of. Only a gentle lapping of the waves on the rocks at the landing. Apparently, a few short hours later, something changed.
The following morning, I stopped by Garrison Bay again. I had no idea there were nets trapped below the surface when I first pulled into the parking lot. One look at the bay, and knowing there were 100’s of nets set the night before, and watching Band members struggle to maneuver their boats through the ice, I knew.
So I watched.
I listened.
I watched some more.
And the rest of the story has been written.
This is what I do.
I stand behind the facts as I have presented them to you — as they have been presented to me. The only factual information I have is from biologists and law enforcement from the Minnesota DNR and GLIFWC. Anything else is heresy and cannot be construed as fact without means to back it up.
What I have watched playout before my eyes since then has done nothing to increase my view of mankind.
Peace.
Showing posts with label gill nets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gill nets. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The ghost story of gill-nets on Mille Lacs Lake
There has been a lot of talk regarding the ghosts of Mille Lacs. It is a somewhat frightening story I am sure will be told around campfires, bait shops and blogs for years. The story is drumming up fear in folks from near and far.
I know I am afraid.
This is a true ghost story. The names have not been changed to protect either the innocent or the ignorant.
Last week on a calm Tuesday, April 29, tribal members from Wisc. set 233 gill-nets in the open water of Garrison Bay on Mille Lacs Lake. A large ice floe was drifting several miles out to the center of the vast lake. As predicted the winds shifted and picked up speed in the early morning hours of April 30. Many tribal members began pulling their nets at about 3 a.m. By 6:30 a.m. many more were scraping boats through the ice in efforts to recover their nets.
However, by the end of the day on Wednesday, 15 of the 233 nets were ultimately not recovered.
Local anglers, self-proclaimed professional fishermen, resorters and more were infuriated. Some even set out in watercraft to the icy waters themselves. Were they out to help in the search efforts to save the fish caught in the missing nets in an effort to protect the fishery in which they claim they have a vested interest? Their intention is not entirely clear.
Draw your own conclusion. A local guy and some pals went out in a boat on Saturday, four days after the nets went missing. They allegedly found several of those missing nets. They allegedly documented the locations of the nets and took photographs of 100’s of rotting fish held captive within the nets. Did they turn the information over to Minnesota DNR officials or GLIFWC conservation officers to help get the nets out of the lake?
No. Allegedly, arrangements were made with an undisclosed media source for exclusive rights to the story on the nets and the fish, including photos of the nets and fish. I haven’t seen the photos. I was told other media (Messenger included) may be privy to them after the obligations of the exclusive offer have been met.
For someone who is so afraid of the ghost nets lurking under the surface of the water, it would — one might think — make sense to do everything possible to get the nets out of the lake as soon as possible.
I am afraid. I am afraid of ignorance. I have heard comments that include other people’s fears such as the fears that the drifting ghost nets are going to continue catching fish, get caught in boat motors when anglers hit the water for opener this weekend, or even catch loons and small children swimming in the shallows.
Facts from GLIFWC:
On April 30 15 gill-nets went missing in Mille Lacs Lake.
By May 3, 8 of the 15 have been found.
In all 8 nets there were a total of 29 fish for a total of 67 pounds. All fish were healthy and alive. There were no dead and rotten fish.
A daily catch-rate average that exceded 67 pounds was applied to the 15 missing nets as of April 30.
GLIFWC does not seek to minimize the significance of the lost nets. They are diligently searching for the remaining nets nearly 20 hours a day.
Gill-nets set in inland lakes such as Mille Lacs are bottom set nets. They are weighted to the bottom of the lake, Bill Mattes, GLIFWC great lakes section leader said. If the buoys break free, the nets sink because of the weights. They are not floating gill nets like in the ocean. They do not drift around the lake. It is more likely that a lost net will be on the bottom of the lake in a ball, Mattes said.
To think a lost gill net will fish as well as when first set is “akin to thinking a rod and reel lost overboard with a baited hook will continue to fish as well as when in the hands of an angler,” Mattes said.
As to allegations of rotting fish, the water temperature in Mille Lacs is cold. Near 40 degrees. The ice was not even out when the nets went missing. To think the fish caught in the nets were rotting within four days is absurd. So far, the facts support this theory as well. All of the nets recovered have held only live fish. True, each day that goes by decreases the chances of finding live fish in the nets.
As to loons getting caught in the missing nets, well that is a possibility because loons dive for their meals. But as for small children, I find it hard to believe parents would allow children to swim in any lake when the air and water temperatures are below seasonal averages. I mean it is just too darned cold.
The lost nets could potentially be caught in a boat motor. However, it is unlikely as the nets are most likely on the bottom of the lake. If boaters are in the shallows, they should be concerned, as always, to what may be under the surface of the water.
Should the tribal members have placed their nets in the water in the first place with weather threatening to move the ice floe? Who knows. What I do know is I have seen many anglers go out in unsafe weather conditions because the lure of fishing dictates. I don’t claim to understand the mentality of those so drawn to fish that they would put their lives at risk. But it happens.
What to do if you find a gill-net:
A suspect area may show up on a fish finder as a big blob or a line of small fish. The gill-net floats will show up on fish finders as a small fish because the air trapped inside the float is akin to the airbladder of a fish. That is what fish finders are seeing. Report the finding of any nets to local wardens or conservation officers so they can investigate and pull it out of the water if it is indeed a ghost net. Call GLIFWC: 1-800-943-4447 or MN DNR at 1-800-652-9093. The DNR can call GLIFWC.
I am afraid. I am afraid for the spirit of mankind. I have only heard two people express concern for the lives of anyone on either side of this situation. The first was a woman on shore at Garrison Bay Wednesday morning. She was a tribal member who struggled to get her nets off the lake. She did, but others from her tribe did not. “Those men are risking their lives out there,” she said. The second was Mille Lacs Band commissioner of natural resources Curt Kalk. His first question when he heard about the situation was, “Did anyone get hurt? No. OK, now we deal with it.”
I am afraid because people walk around with tunnel vision, expecting things to happen their way. If that doesn’t happen they stomp their feet, puff out their cheeks and take their bat and ball and go home leaving the rest of the team at the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded.
If you put yourself on an island, do not be surprised to find yourself alone.
Peace.
I know I am afraid.
This is a true ghost story. The names have not been changed to protect either the innocent or the ignorant.
Last week on a calm Tuesday, April 29, tribal members from Wisc. set 233 gill-nets in the open water of Garrison Bay on Mille Lacs Lake. A large ice floe was drifting several miles out to the center of the vast lake. As predicted the winds shifted and picked up speed in the early morning hours of April 30. Many tribal members began pulling their nets at about 3 a.m. By 6:30 a.m. many more were scraping boats through the ice in efforts to recover their nets.
However, by the end of the day on Wednesday, 15 of the 233 nets were ultimately not recovered.
Local anglers, self-proclaimed professional fishermen, resorters and more were infuriated. Some even set out in watercraft to the icy waters themselves. Were they out to help in the search efforts to save the fish caught in the missing nets in an effort to protect the fishery in which they claim they have a vested interest? Their intention is not entirely clear.
Draw your own conclusion. A local guy and some pals went out in a boat on Saturday, four days after the nets went missing. They allegedly found several of those missing nets. They allegedly documented the locations of the nets and took photographs of 100’s of rotting fish held captive within the nets. Did they turn the information over to Minnesota DNR officials or GLIFWC conservation officers to help get the nets out of the lake?
No. Allegedly, arrangements were made with an undisclosed media source for exclusive rights to the story on the nets and the fish, including photos of the nets and fish. I haven’t seen the photos. I was told other media (Messenger included) may be privy to them after the obligations of the exclusive offer have been met.
For someone who is so afraid of the ghost nets lurking under the surface of the water, it would — one might think — make sense to do everything possible to get the nets out of the lake as soon as possible.
I am afraid. I am afraid of ignorance. I have heard comments that include other people’s fears such as the fears that the drifting ghost nets are going to continue catching fish, get caught in boat motors when anglers hit the water for opener this weekend, or even catch loons and small children swimming in the shallows.
Facts from GLIFWC:
On April 30 15 gill-nets went missing in Mille Lacs Lake.
By May 3, 8 of the 15 have been found.
In all 8 nets there were a total of 29 fish for a total of 67 pounds. All fish were healthy and alive. There were no dead and rotten fish.
A daily catch-rate average that exceded 67 pounds was applied to the 15 missing nets as of April 30.
GLIFWC does not seek to minimize the significance of the lost nets. They are diligently searching for the remaining nets nearly 20 hours a day.
Gill-nets set in inland lakes such as Mille Lacs are bottom set nets. They are weighted to the bottom of the lake, Bill Mattes, GLIFWC great lakes section leader said. If the buoys break free, the nets sink because of the weights. They are not floating gill nets like in the ocean. They do not drift around the lake. It is more likely that a lost net will be on the bottom of the lake in a ball, Mattes said.
To think a lost gill net will fish as well as when first set is “akin to thinking a rod and reel lost overboard with a baited hook will continue to fish as well as when in the hands of an angler,” Mattes said.
As to allegations of rotting fish, the water temperature in Mille Lacs is cold. Near 40 degrees. The ice was not even out when the nets went missing. To think the fish caught in the nets were rotting within four days is absurd. So far, the facts support this theory as well. All of the nets recovered have held only live fish. True, each day that goes by decreases the chances of finding live fish in the nets.
As to loons getting caught in the missing nets, well that is a possibility because loons dive for their meals. But as for small children, I find it hard to believe parents would allow children to swim in any lake when the air and water temperatures are below seasonal averages. I mean it is just too darned cold.
The lost nets could potentially be caught in a boat motor. However, it is unlikely as the nets are most likely on the bottom of the lake. If boaters are in the shallows, they should be concerned, as always, to what may be under the surface of the water.
Should the tribal members have placed their nets in the water in the first place with weather threatening to move the ice floe? Who knows. What I do know is I have seen many anglers go out in unsafe weather conditions because the lure of fishing dictates. I don’t claim to understand the mentality of those so drawn to fish that they would put their lives at risk. But it happens.
What to do if you find a gill-net:
A suspect area may show up on a fish finder as a big blob or a line of small fish. The gill-net floats will show up on fish finders as a small fish because the air trapped inside the float is akin to the airbladder of a fish. That is what fish finders are seeing. Report the finding of any nets to local wardens or conservation officers so they can investigate and pull it out of the water if it is indeed a ghost net. Call GLIFWC: 1-800-943-4447 or MN DNR at 1-800-652-9093. The DNR can call GLIFWC.
I am afraid. I am afraid for the spirit of mankind. I have only heard two people express concern for the lives of anyone on either side of this situation. The first was a woman on shore at Garrison Bay Wednesday morning. She was a tribal member who struggled to get her nets off the lake. She did, but others from her tribe did not. “Those men are risking their lives out there,” she said. The second was Mille Lacs Band commissioner of natural resources Curt Kalk. His first question when he heard about the situation was, “Did anyone get hurt? No. OK, now we deal with it.”
I am afraid because people walk around with tunnel vision, expecting things to happen their way. If that doesn’t happen they stomp their feet, puff out their cheeks and take their bat and ball and go home leaving the rest of the team at the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded.
If you put yourself on an island, do not be surprised to find yourself alone.
Peace.
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