Board recommends netting on Flathead Lake

POLSON— At a meeting last Wednesday night, the Flathead Reservation Fish and Wildlife Board reached a proactive decision to reduce lake trout numbers in Flathead Lake, paving the way for Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal officials to proceed with their controversial plan to net the introduced fish species.

According to Barry Hansen, a fisheries biologist for the tribe, a specific management plan outlined in the draft environmental impact statement has yet to be chosen by tribal officials.

“[The Board] did not select an alternative, but they did select to take action,” Hansen clarified, alluding to the four management alternatives described in the impact statement. The board’s decision means that Alternative A — which would have maintained the status quo — will be tabled, and that fisheries managers will opt instead for Alternatives B, C, or D, which call for 25, 50 and 75 percent reductions in lake trout levels, respectively.

Those alternatives would involve a combination of angling and progressively more aggressive gill netting efforts.

“It will be the Tribal Council’s decision to select an alternative,” Hansen said. That decision likely will be made in the coming weeks.

The meeting lasted more than three hours and there was a summary of the public comments received by tribal fisheries personnel. The floor also was opened to those in attendance, at which point “strong sentiments on both sides” were expressed, according to Hansen.

Board Chairman Joe Brenneman estimates the number of people expressing opposition to gill netting was about equal to the number calling for the most aggressive netting alternative. About a third of those who spoke fell somewhere in between, he said.

Brenneman said he questioned whether the draft environmental impact statement should have been a matter within the board’s jurisdiction. The main purpose of the joint board, which has members appointed by the governor and the tribes, is to oversee development of a co-management plan for Flathead Lake. While it is still recognized to a degree by the tribes and the state, a co-management plan for the lake expired in 2010.

The state, or more specifically Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, has raised multiple concerns about the use of gill netting in Flathead Lake and the agency wasn’t involved in the development of the impact statement. State officials are concerned that ongoing lake trout suppression could have detrimental effects on bull trout because of “by-catch” in gill nets, as well as impacts on the lake trout sport fishery that would lead to economic impacts.

State officials also have said netting could destabilize Flathead Lake’s food web, leading to unintended effects on water quality.  

Brenneman said board members had differing views on how to approach the matter, and because they are required to make decisions by consensus, the only agreement was to support all three netting alternatives.

“What the board decided to do and the decision we agreed to support was that additional action should be taken to further reduce lake trout,” Brenneman said.

Chuck Hunt, a spokesman for the Flahead Wildlife Inc. rod and gun club, questions why Brenneman would support netting when he had acknowledged the matter might be outside the board’s jurisdiction.

“I thought our state representatives, to do what they did, was very reckless because they didn’t have time to review the 600-page document. How could they absorb something of that magnitude?” Hunt asked.

Hunt said the state representatives also didn’t heed reservations within Fish, Wildlife and Parks about proceeding with netting.

Norm Brewer, a charter boat captain for Norm’s Fish-N-Fun, considered the board’s state appointed members to be a line of defense against netting on the lake.

“They gave [the tribes] free reign to do whatever they want,” said Brewer, who contends that netting will deplete the sport fishery to a degree that it will put an end to seven charter businesses on the lake and hurt recreational angling, all with dire economic consequences for other businesses that anglers support.

“It’s going to hurt everybody. Not just the fishing people. It’s going to hurt tourism. It’s going to be bad news,” Brewer said.

The spring and fall Mack Days fishing events, designed to remove lake trout from the lake, have already had an impact on the quality of the fishery, Brewer said.

Five years ago, Brewer said, the average daily catch on his boats was 15 to 20 lake trout. This year, he is averaging three to five fish a day.

“The tournaments are doing what they were intended to do,” said Brewer, who contends netting is not necessary to suppress the lake trout population.

The board’s decision means that the Mack Days fishing event will most likely still be held this fall. According to Hansen, there was a chance that the costly events would be discontinued if the board had decided not to step up efforts to reduce the lake trout population.