A controversial proposal to gill net lake trout in Flathead Lake has highlighted the distrust and often-cantankerous relationship between some Northwest Montana anglers and government.
In December, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes released a draft pilot project proposal to reduce the population of lake trout by 25 percent by 2012 through a combination of angling and gill netting. The tribes’ estimate of Flathead Lake’s current population is about 400,000, counting fish between 10 and 30 inches.
But Tom McDonald, manager for the tribes’ fish, wildlife, recreation and conservation division, said gill netting would only be a last option if management through increased angling doesn’t work.
The tribes and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have worked together for a decade to manage lake trout in Flathead Lake in an effort to rejuvenate native fish populations, namely bull trout, which are federally protected, and westslope cutthroats. The 10-year co-management plan expires at the end of this year.
The crux of the 10-year plan has been angler harvests, led by the twice-annual fishing tournament called Mack Days. The plan’s harvest goal, McDonald said, is at least 60,000 lake trout – or mackinaws – in 2010.
But management hasn’t achieved its goals, McDonald said, and the 10-year plan states that other tools may be used if angling falls short. In an interview before the Feb. 11 meeting, McDonald said that opposition to gill netting from anglers and charter operators is “hypocritical.”
“A lot of critics are in favor of lake trout management as long as they’re the ones doing it,” McDonald said.
Under the tribes’ draft proposal, a combination of angling and gill netting could achieve harvest goals of 60,000 lake trout in 2010, 80,000 in 2011 and 100,000 in 2012, using an estimated 1,000 gill nets by the final year.
If the plan is carried out through 2012 and proves successful, it would serve as the template for future management, according to the proposal. If determined to be unsuccessful or detrimental to the fishery, the project’s language states that the planning process will be re-considered or, depending on the findings, “efforts to reduce lake trout will likely end.”
McDonald and Art Noonan, deputy director for FWP, discussed the gill-netting proposal with a large crowd of anglers and other citizens at the Hampton Inn in Kalispell on Feb. 11. The meeting was organized and hosted by Flathead Wildlife Inc.
Noonan expressed a desire to continue co-management between the two entities. The tribes control the southern end of the lake while FWP is in charge of the northern portion. But through the 10-year plan, the two agencies have been able to streamline management for the entire lake.
McDonald said the tribes have agreed with the state to hold off on any tribal gill-netting projects until other options can be explored and an environmental assessment is conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. But McDonald said the tribes could move unilaterally without FWP approval.
The gill-netting proposal, McDonald said, has the blessing of the Flathead Reservation Fish and Wildlife Board, a joint committee comprised of three state-appointed members, three tribal members and one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative. The board, McDonald said, is the “judge and jury” for management on the reservation.
McDonald said gill netting could happen by the end of the year. Gill netting has been used elsewhere in Montana, including in nearby Swan Lake, and is an effective method of removing unwanted species, said Barry Hansen, a tribal biologist.
“It’s not the preferred method; it’s in some ways the least preferred,” Hansen said. “But it’s the most reliable.”
At the two-and-a-half-hour Feb. 11 meeting, anglers – both professional and recreational – raised a laundry list of concerns and management alternatives. Nobody spoke in favor of gill netting.
Among the suggested alternatives presented by the public were: introducing smallmouth and largemouth bass to feed on lake trout fry; introducing ling to eat lake trout eggs; raising bull trout at the Creston National Fish Hatchery and putting them in the lake; and trying other forms of netting, among other ideas.
One angler questioned the tribes’ bull trout population estimates, which McDonald pegs at 3,000-4,000. Several in the crowd then spoke about how many bull trout they pull out of Somers Bay, suggesting the population is higher than McDonald says.
There was also concern regarding the effect gill netting would have on other fish populations. With gill netting, any passing fish can get caught in the net, lake trout and cutthroats included. McDonald said areas known to be lake trout hangouts would be targeted and other criteria would be considered to keep “bycatch” numbers down.
For many of the questions, McDonald recommended that people write them down and present them during the environmental analysis period.
While the tone of the meeting was generally civil, if not a bit tense, there were several instances of undisguised anger from both sides, the public and government officials alike. One angler told Noonan and McDonald that they have “forked tongues.” Noonan chastised him for “insulting us” and, following an exchange, McDonald spoke up.
“If it were somewhere else, we’d go outside and settle this,” McDonald said.
The angler responded: “We can do that.”
“I don’t think you’d want that,” McDonald said.
Chuck Hunt, president of Flathead Wildlife Inc., pleaded with the crowd to stick to the topic and remain cordial.
“Please guys, don’t insult these guys,” Hunt said. “They’re just like us; they bleed like we do.”
Tim Shattuck, a fishing guide of eight years with Flathead Lake Charters, said lake trout numbers have already dropped considerably in recent years, a belief echoed by many at the meeting. Shattuck worries that gill netting could devastate the 14 charters on the lake’s northern waters – commercial fishing is not allowed on the reservation’s half of the lake.
“When my fish rate goes from 12 fish (per trip) to 5.9, it’s not because I don’t know how to fish or the fish are swimming to the other end,” Shattuck said. “There’s a drastic change on the north end of the lake.”