Lakeland Currents, your public affairs program for north central Minnesota.

Production funding for Lakeland Currents is made possible by Bemidji Regional Airport.

Serving the region with daily flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

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Hello again friends, I'm Jason Eden's your host of Lakeland Currents Thanks for joining the conversation and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Tv.

Fishing and Minnesota are nearly synonymous.

Fishing is a way of life for some and a pastime for many families.

People come from all corners of the globe to fly and try our waters here in Minnesota.

Regardless of whether you're a seasoned angler or looking forward to fishing for the very first time.

This season a lot happens behind the scenes to facilitate a fun safe and a productive fishing season each and every year.

My guest today Henry Drewes is a regional fisheries manager for the Minnesota DNR, here in Bemidji.

Henry welcome to the program and thanks for making time.

Henry: Hello Jason.

It's great to be here.

Jason: Well first of all let's talk about some of the changes with the licensure this year.

It's my understanding that the Minnesota DNR fisheries department has changed things up.

For example the combination angling license is a little bit different.

Can you tell us about that?

Henry: Oh yes, the license itself is the same.

What changed is is the requirement that both the husband and wife need to be present at the time of issuance.

When they're buying that in person.

So the price is the same the license is the same.

But based on the need to comply with some state statutes now, the anglers both the husband and wife have to be present.

So, nothing structurally has changed with the license, just the requirements for getting that license issued.

And it has created some consternation for folks that are learning about that when they go to buy the license.

Jason: Sure, are there any other changes that we should be aware of regarding what licenses are needed in various parts of the state?

Henry: No, there are no new license changes going into this year.

There's been no price adjustments what the folks will pay for the various licenses.

This year will be the same as last year.

Jason: Okay.

What about limits?

I understand that there are changes to some of the limits for some species?

I learned from my colleague in fact that panfish limits have changed.

So, what can you share with us about that?

Henry: Yes, we just completed a three-year process working with the public.

Working with lake associations, determining what level of support there was around the state for reducing bag limits for for Bluegills, sunfish species and also Crappie.

And so we went through a two-year public input process.

We proposed statewide about 118 waters for new panfish limits about half of those are up here in in Lakeland news country, northern Minnesota.

And as a result of that process on March 1st we implemented new panfish regulations on about 112 lakes statewide.

Those regulations may be a five Bluegill bag limit, they may be a 10 bluegill bag limit or it could be a five fish Crappie limit.

Those regulations took effect on March 1.

And like I said we went to an extensive public input process and we were rather surprised we had over 85 percent public support for those regulations.

Which is remarkable.

And in fact just by going through that in that public information gathering process, we've generated a whole lot more interest in other lakes and lake associations wanting us to consider those additional waters for future regulation.

So, basically the panfish regulation changes and those are all identified on our website and in the regulations booklet.

Those are the big changes that anglers should be aware of for the 2021 fishing season.

Jason: Henry, I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about how citizens get involved?

You mentioned before our conversation that citizens were involved in the changes of those bag limits.

So what's the mechanism whereby citizens can lean into those conversations?

Henry: Well, I think the first mechanism is to walk into their local area fisheries office and meet the area fisheries supervisor.

We have 29 field offices in the state.

In your listening area, we have Brainerd and Bemidji and Park Rapids and Walker, Grand Rapids and all of those offices have area fisheries managers and staff.

And they are a wealth of information and a resource for the anglers to go in and talk talk regulations, talk stalking, talk about the management plan.

That's where I would start.

You know with under the pandemic, if you don't want to visit those offices, pick up the phone give them a call.

You can get on our website and email the staff there.

So, that's where I would start.

And then as you get more involved down the road, we actually have some citizens committees for each of the major species.

We call them our work groups.

We have a bass work group, a walleye work group, pike, walleye, panfish, catfish.

You can get more engaged.

So, there's really a window of opportunity for everybody that wants to to join in the conversation about managing fish in the state of Minnesota.

Jason: So, are there limits to the number of people that can participate in those species specific work groups?

Henry: We do try to keep those at around 15 people.

That doesn't mean others can't listen in on the conversations but we do try to have a working number of folks on there.

Jason: Well, it's because you're a wealth of information that we're having this conversation today.

But how many people do what you do across the state?

How many people have the wealth of information that you have?

How many politics do you have in fisheries?

Henry: In the section of fisheries in the state of Minnesota and we are one of the largest fisheries organizations in the United States.

We have 250 people that includes the fisheries technicians that go out and collect the field data, the fisheries specialists that collect data and analyze the data.

I include the area supervisors.

Myself, I'm a regional manager.

There's four of us that supervise the 29 field offices around the state.

The region that I'm responsible for includes seven field offices.

That go from Baudette all the way down to Alexandria and Fergus Falls.

This region is 24 counties from the Dakota border all the way to the east side of Cass Lake and Leech Lake.

And includes the borders with Ontario, Manitoba, North and South Dakota.

So, these 250 people all have different roles and responsibilities.

Of those 80% are out in the field.

They're in those field offices.

They're running the nets, they start with the walleyes spawning in April.

And they don't finish their field season until October-November when the walleye fingerlings are harvested out of the ponds.

In between, there's lots of lake surveys helping us understand are our management actions working?

Are the fish populations healthy?

Do we need to change on different approaches?

So, that's who does the work.

Jason: I'm glad you brought up the surveys.

I was going to ask you about that.

Do you have an opportunity to fish on the clock or what does that survey look like that process?

Henry: Yes, our season really starts in early April, with the spawning operations for Walleye and Muskie, Northern Pike.

Come about June 1st, all of our field stations are 100 percent time out in the field.

Doing what we call as lake surveys and stream surveys.

And typically that includes setting a complement of gill nets and trap nets doing some electro fishing.

And all of the effort is kind of scaled larger lakes require more effort.

And then we collect that data all summer long.

We typically statewide we survey about 500 lakes a year.

And then that information is analyzed later that fall into the winter.

And then that information is used to update our management plans.

On average a lake, like Lake Bemidji we survey that every three to four years.

Jason: Electoral fishing is a new term to me.

Could you explain that please?

Henry: Yeah, that's one of the more fun aspects of the job.

We have a large boat 19 20-foot boat and in that boat we have a generator.

And then that generator induces electrical current through a series of anodes and cathodes that hang over the side of the boat.

And when you step on the pedal on the front of the boat, we have people on the front of the boat netting and there's a driver in the back.

When you step on that pedal it induces the direct current into the water and it it temporarily stuns the fish.

And the two employees in the front of the boat net those fish put them in a tank of water.

The fish revive themselves.

When we get enough fish in that tank, then we go ashore and we take length and weight and other other measurements off of those fish and then return those fish back to the water.

So, a lot of that work is done at night because the fish have tended to move in shallow at night and they're they're more vulnerable at night in the shallow waters.

So, if somebody around a lake sees a something that looks like a spaceship out off the end of their dock.

And hear a generator humming and see people frantically swinging nets on the front of the boat.

Those are DNR Fishery staff out electro fishing and sampling that fish population.

Jason: And do you have an opportunity to participate in these surveys as a fisheries manager?

Henry: Not near as much as I would like to.

You know early in my career, that's all I did was that sort of field work.

And really that's what got me into the profession and I miss it.

But the fun part of the job on my end, is I get to read and all of the reports that are written.

In this particular region, our seven field offices I read probably 125-150 lake surveys a year.

And then the management plans that are updated from that data.

So, I find great joy at this time of my career of reviewing all that great field work that's going on even if i don't get to participate in it.

Jason: Well, let's talk about the hatcheries.

I understand that there's a fleet of hatcheries managed by the Minnesota DNR.

And I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about what it does, where they are and anything else that's of interest to our viewers?

Henry: Yeah, we have five cold water hatcheries that produce our trout.

But in addition to that those are year-round staffed facilities.

We don't have a vast trout resource up here in Lakeland News a listening area.

We have some unique stream and small lake opportunities.

But mostly what the your listeners are most interested in is, our production Walleye.

Statewide we take Walleyes in the spring from natural runs in the lakes and rivers from nine different locations in the state.

And then once we take those eggs, they go into 11 hatcheries that are seasonal in nature.

That we operate for about two months.

In this listening area you know we have hatcheries in Bemidji and Park Rapids, Detroit Lakes, Grand Rapids and Brainerd.

And those hatcheries will put up close to 400 million eggs a year.

From those spawning runs to hatch for either direct stocking as you know just quarter inch Walleye fry or to go into our rearing ponds to grow to six to eight inch fingerlings.

The spawning runs, there's nine of those I mentioned.

There's one on the Pine River.

There's one at Cutfoot on near Winnie upstream of Lake Winnie.

We have one on the on the Boy River near Walker.

We have one on Big Lake Creek, which is just upstream from Cass Lake.

And then we have one in over in Detroit Lakes on Lake Sally.

And that work gets started about the first week of April and runs through the middle to the latter part of April.

Where we strip the eggs from the from the Walleyes and then transport those to those seasonal hatcheries.

It really heralds the beginning of our field season the cycle.

Right about now, this time of year in March, staff are pretty tired of being cooped up in their offices or teleworking and are getting very excited to commence our spring field operations with the Walleye spawning.

Jason: So those hatcheries are around two species in particular Walleye and Trout?

My next question is does the DNR stock any other species other than those two?

Henry: Yeah, we also have culture operations for Muskie, albeit much smaller than our Walleye program.

But we do some other stocking in the southern part of the state.

They do take some Northern Pike eggs and that's because down there they don't have the Northern Pike reproduction that we tend to have in northern Minnesota.

We have probably too much of it up here.

So some Northern Pike stocking takes place in the south.

And then there's some limited stocking of catfish and also again in the central and southern part of the state.

For the most part our fish culture operations are you know number one is Walleye in Minnesota.

And Muskie and Trout and then to a lesser degree Northern Pike.

Jason: How does a Trout lake become designated as such?

There's a Trout lake near where I live that I frequent.

And I've always been curious how a Trout lake becomes one?

Henry: Well most of our small, we call them stream Trout Lakes because we stock those little lakes with Trout that are originate from streams.

Most of those have been in place for a long time.

And how they came about was the field office, the biologists in those field offices went out and did temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles.

Not every lake can support drought, most can't.

What we're looking for is usually lakes that are pretty deep and they have oxygen down quite a ways in the water column.

And also cold water in that water column that is well oxygenated, those are the ingredients.

So, we do temperature oxygen profiles on those lakes and to determine if they have the potential of supporting trout.

Then we actually have a formal designation process.

We have to go through, to establish them in rural state statute rule as as a designated trout water.

Jason: Well that brings up another question, I learned that there is a committee in the Minnesota legislature that's specifically responsible for fisheries?

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

And who serves on it and are you involved in those conversations?

Henry: I'm not familiar actually jason with a specific fisheries committee.

There's senate and house environment and natural resource committees.

That focus on natural resources as a whole.

And in the state of Minnesota that usually means fish and wildlife.

Fishing and hunting but I'm not aware of a specific fisheries committee.

If there is that's a rather new entity and no I haven't been involved with it.

Jason: Well let's talk a little bit about the environment and how that affects your work and our fisheries across the state.

How many lakes and streams are either impaired or have fish consumption advisories on them?

Henry: You know I don't have those metrics that would be a question you'd need to direct to the pollution control agency.

In terms of advisories and that I think it's about a third of the waters that would be my estimate from my knowledge.

And that information isn't updated on an annual basis, it's updated as periodically as so surveys are done.

And I think PCA targets those at 10-year intervals.

So, I apologize I can't be more It's still a rather small percentage of the total waters in northern Minnesota.

Jason: So, the fish consumption advisories is not something that the Minnesota DNR is responsible for then?

That's more Minnesota department of health and Minnesota Pollution Control agency?

Henry: That's correct.

We have what we call a fish consumption advisory work group and that includes all the agencies you mentioned.

Our role in DNR fisheries is to provide the fish to the laboratories for the sampling.

Because we're out on so many lakes and rivers every year, we have access to the fish, those fish get tested.

There's a contract to send them to a lab and get tested and then ultimately it's the department of health which issues the fish consumption advice.

Jason: Well let's talk about lead in fishing tackle.

Obviously this is an ongoing conversation and I'm wondering if you can tell us a little bit about what the position is of Minnesota DNR fisheries?

Or how you're involved in that conversation about switching from lead to non-led fishing tackle?

Henry: I think the the DNR's position on that and our involvement in fisheries is that of education right now.

We certainly acknowledge that lead in the environment is not a good thing and there are negative consequences to that.

But we are not proposing to ban it or make it eliminate it.

So, we are working again with the Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Health to on programs like "Get The Lead Out".

And trying to advocate for a transition by anglers to participate in switching from lead-based tackle to alternatives.

It would be a lot easier for that transition to take place if the the availability of that equipment was was larger.

So, it's not just the anglers it also is the industry needs to move in that direction.

And the decision there is not to force it by a decree but to try to encourage it through incentivizing.

And also education to move in that direction.

Jason: Well, speaking of education what is the risk of using lead in our fishing tackle?

Henry: Well, it's not so much about the fish, it's about the lost tackle and the fact that split shot.

For example can be consumed by Waterfowl Trumpeter Swans for example Loons that are taking grit or or dead fish into their diet.

Or even Bald Eagles that might ingest some lead-based fishing tackle.

When they're consuming dead fish on the shore and then that becoming ingested and then having the the impacts to their their health.

Jason: Let's talk a bit about Tulabee or Cisco.

Are you observing or is this even the jurisdiction of the Minnesota DNR?

Any change in the population as a result of climate change.

My understanding is that Tulabee have a rather specific ecological niche?

So, what can you say about the population and its overall health?

Henry: Yes Jason and that is in the fisheries world.

The tool to be they're part of the fish community.

What we've seen with our long-term data with Tulabee or Northern Cisco, as they're formally referred to is that those populations are declining from south to north.

They are a cold water sensitive species.

They require cold oxygenated water not unlike Trout to survive.

And what we're seeing is their numbers in general are are declining.

It's not every year they go further and further down.

But like for instance there's a number of lakes around Bemidji right now that have very high Cisco populations.

But the long-term trend in Whitefish and Cisco's as our lakes warm is to decline in abundance.

Jason: So, what can be done about that?

Henry: Well, what we're trying to do is, we have a number of what we call refuge lakes.

Those are the lakes where we think that even in a warming environment those lakes populations of Cisco and Whitefish will persist.

An example would be like 10 Mile Lake, near south of Bemidji, deep Lake, good water quality.

So, the focus there isn't so much on the water, it's on the watershed.

If we can protect what our what our research has showed us.

Is if we could protect three quarters of that watershed, keep it in a forested wooded environment.

Then the impacts of water temperature and climate change to those lakes will be minimized.

So, our focus is on the watershed with the goal of protecting those sensitive Tulabee Whitefish populations.

Jason: Does Minnesota DNR fisheries do anything with regard to Aquatic Invasive Species?

And if so, what?

Henry: You know, we're a partner to another division.

Our division of Ecological and Water Resources really plays a lead on Aquatic Invasive Species.

Fisheries is involved, we're trying to measure what the impacts.

Once a lake is infested it becomes real heavy population.

And what are the impacts to the fishery from that?

We also assist with some of the monitoring.

We do trawling, which is a large net we pull behind a boat with small mesh to collect the Zoloplankton samples.

That gives us an idea of the abundance of the basic of the food chain in the lake.

But that trawling also collects young zebra mussels called Villagers.

And that sometimes is an early detection device.

So, our role from fisheries from where I sit, is to assist with the monitoring and assist with the assessment of what the impacts are.

My colleagues in the Ecological and Water Resources division, handle a lot of the nuts and bolts of the access inspection programs.

And the designation process for designating infested waters.

Jason: Well, Mille Lacs is certainly within our viewing area.

And Henry I'm not sure if this falls under the northwest territory or not that you govern.

But iI was wondering if you could speak just briefly about the public comment period?

Regarding the Walleye harvest this summer on Mille Lacs?

Henry: Yeah Jason.

I'd like to but that is out of this region and I'm not up to speed on where that process is at.

Jason: Understood.

Well then, more generally I was wondering if you could tell us whether or not the Minnesota DNR Fisheries governs Western Lake Superior?

Is that part of Minnesota DNR?

Henry: Yes.

Our office out of Lake Superior, out of Duluth.

We have a office it's actually we call it French River.

It's right at the mouth of French River.

We have a fisheries office there, where all the staff and all their time is dedicated to population monitoring, setting regulations on the western side of Lake Superior.

And then they in turn participate with the Great Lakes fisheries Commission.

And the other entities involved with the management of the Great lakes.

So, we're a member to the group that works directly on that particular body of water.

Jason: Interesting, I was going to ask you about how it works.

If multiple states are regulating the same fishery?

And so I think you just mentioned the Great Lakes Fishing.

I'm sorry can you say that again?

Henry: The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.

Jason: So, are the states then do they come to consensus with regard to what the limits will be?

Or are there differing rules and regulations?

Henry: I think they reach consensus as to the management framework.

And then it's up to the individual jurisdictions to set their their harvest regulations.

Jason: Interesting.

Henry: And also I believe it includes more than three states.

I think.

Jason: Okay.

Henry: I think there's about eight or nine states that participate.

Jason: Right.

I'm sorry.

You're absolutely right.

I was referring to Lake Superior specifically.

Thank you.

So, what are you looking forward to as a 2021 season success story?

What do you think we'll look back you know at the end of the year and look at this fishing season and say that was a smashing success from fisheries?

Henry: Well, what I'm really looking forward to is... We didn't run our walleye spawning operations last year because of Covid.

So, we're actually going to resume that work heading into this spring.

And that's good news.

Good news for the anglers.

It's good news for staff.

So, I think one of the highlights just right out of the gate this year is going to be resuming those activities.

That are important to the sport fishing in the state of Minnesota.

That's going to be good news.

Next I would say that, I think the continuing abundance, increasing abundance of Lake Sturgeon on Rainey River and Lake of the Woods.

And also in some of our other introduction basins.

Where we're re-establishing Lake Sturgeon around the state of Minnesota all the primary watersheds.

I think anglers are going to continue in increasing numbers, start to participate in the joy of catching a large Lake Surgeon.

And for us over here it's a Red River Basin Tribal State coordination on that, collaboration is really good.

And then I think it won't be 2021 but I think just in a few years anglers are going to start seeing the benefits of these these new Bluegill, Crappie regulations.

So, those are some of the highlights I see going forward in 2021.

Jason: Well, we only have about time for one more question Henry or two questions possibly.

I'm curious what does the public not know about the Minnesota DNR Fisheries program?

That we should know about?

Henry: Well, I don't know.

We try to be an open book.

So, I don't think there's really anything hidden.

I think one thing that they may or may not know is, that the folks that get into fisheries, they got the bug early in their life at age.

Three, four or five their parents taking them fishing.

And that then they went to school and they saw, and they learned that there were programs where they could actually study these animals.

And get a degree and actually go out and work and live it.

And I think the passion and the roots of our fisheries employees how deep they go.

I think is something that maybe not all of our anglers understand.

We live it, walk it, breathe it and do it well.

Jason: I'm glad you shared that.

And it's a perfect segue to my last question, which is.

What's your preferred sport fish?

And tell us a little bit about your fishing, your angling and what excites you about this upcoming season, personally?

Henry: Well, I started fishing at a very young age and I owe it to my mom, who got me most interested in fishing.

And I started out fishing on the east coast, for everything.

Flounders and the creek jumps in the streams.

And I can't tell you Jason honestly what my favorite fish is.

It's seasonal.

If that's an answer you.

I'll start early, I'll start with walleyes first and then I move into Bass and then I move into Panfish and then maybe Musky fish a little later in the year.

So, it's all of the above for me Jason.

What am I looking forward to most this year?

I think it's it's getting out of the house.

The working from home like most many many of your listeners are doing.

On top of winter in northern Minnesota it's time for that to wind down.

And six inches of snow we got last night is a rude reawakening that it ain't here yet.

But I'm looking forward to getting out on the water, I really am.

I think that's the excitement Jason around the fishing opener is like none other than the state of Minnesota.

It's fun.

Jason: Well, Henry thank you so much for joining me.

And thank you so much for everything you do on behalf of Minnesota's Fisheries.

We really appreciate it.

Henry: Thank you Jason.

I'd be happy to be your guest on your program anytime.

Jason: And thank you all for joining us.

Once again I'm Jason Eden's your host of Lakeland Currents.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next week.