Whitehall the nets are gone

[westwind]

Great news the nets are gone! some company from Bever Island came and removed all of the nets... Yaaaaaaa.

[Porcupine]

Didn't see any of the nets north of Muskegon tonight either. Lets just hope they keep them away!

[mvmaas]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the nets off of whitehall have been missing since the ice left. The barge that was working on pulling on could not find any nets(as of the last update i was told earlier this morning). With the currents and the nets being set for so long. Nobody knows where there at. Unless the crew found the nets today there still out there somewhere.

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[SeaCatMich]

I inquired about the net situation with Jim Vander Maas early this week. Jim is representing the Michigan Steelheaders in regards to nets in the Great Lakes and has been working with the DNR and the LRB on the net situation from Big Sable Point to off Whitehall. Jim informs me that a net removal crew was hired by the LRB to remove all of the nets from that area of the lake and the removal tug arrived in Whitehall on Wednesday (5/28). This includes the loose/drifting nets and any that were still moored.

Here is the exact email I got from Jim and he authorized me to post it on the GLF and GLA forums:

LRB hired a contractor out of Charlevoix and he is currently pulling nets at Ludington and when finished he will move down to Whitehall. He is using a crane and barge as these nets have become extremely heavy with the weight of quagga and zebra mussels and algae. It is questionable that he will get everything that was at Whitehall because ice has moved portions of these nets and we are not finding them at the old waypoints from last year. The MDNR Commercial Law Unit has worked very hard on this and have found what appear to be nets or net remnants and they are no more than nine feet off the bottom. A portion of a net was found floating in 170 ft of water by a charter boat operator and he gave me the coordinates which I passed on to the DNR. They had a patrol boat out there the same day but they were unable to find it. The Whitehall situation is pretty serious because these nets have spent two winters in the water and probably were not set properly. To my knowledge there are no abandoned nets off Manistee.

As of now, there is no one fishing from the LRB and I am not sure when the tribe will issue permits. LRB Tribal waters run from Arcadia south to about Stoney Lake then the Stoney Lake to Grand Haven area is called the Southern Lake Michigan Development Zone which is open to all Tribes by permit from Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA.) LRB is the only Tribe that requested permits to fish it and it appears they may want to keep the Manistee area clear of nets and if that is the case it could be for pr purposes.

Further Jim proved the following info on reporting if a sportfishing boat encounters a net:

If sport anglers get their boat or fishing tackle caught in nets whether the nets should or should not be there is irrelevant, please get the GPS position and call the incident in to the MDNR using the RAP line. These issues are responded to very quickly by the MDNR Commercial Law Unit and they take these incidents very seriously. There is a chance that if an angler gets caught up in a net that it was possibly an abandoned net or possibly the net was not marked properly and they can resolve the issue.

[mvmaas]

Jim is also who i got my information from as he is my grandfather. I will be talking to him tommrow. As soon as i get more information on the nets i will post it on here.

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[young gun]

Do you guys think the nets in between grand haven and muskegon will be removed?

[mvmaas]

Correction from my post last night. Yesterday the did pull part of a net and today they pulled another part. after sitting for so long the nets have broken apart no one knows where the rest of them are. Still be on the lookout guys they could be floating somewhere or could be collapsed on the bottom.

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[E-FISH-N-SEA]

Sounds like a pretty dangerous situation.

Why the heck would the Indians leave all that money in the water?

B

[mvmaas]

Its not all the indians its more of just the LRB tribe thats a pain to work with. Like the email said there is no one fishing from the LRB tribe. And to my understanding now the nets are so heavy that one the the boats the the tribes use couldnt even pull the net if they tried.

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[SeaCatMich]

Sounds like a pretty dangerous situation.

Why the heck would the Indians leave all that money in the water?

B

The LRB licensed Thomas Battice to set and run the nets. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison when convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the fall of 2013 (http://m.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/article_09c9d1b3-f5d4-51fc-9472-975491751e74.html?mode=jqm). Prior to being sentenced he was in custody and consequently didn't service the nets set from Whitehall to Big Sable Pointe in 2012-2013. They stayed in the water over both winters as a result. This article from the Ludington newspaper has lots of good info on the process the LRB had to do to take control of the nets to be able to remove and dispose of them.

http://m.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/article_388983b5-b21b-5073-8469-93f8f810fcb0.html?mode=jqm

[SeaCatMich]

Do you guys think the nets in between grand haven and muskegon will be removed?

Those nets are state licensed -- not Native American. Jim Vander Maas told me that the permit is issued to a gentleman named Petersen.

Also from Jim: LRB Tribal waters run from Arcadia south to about Stoney Lake then the Stoney Lake to Grand Haven area is called the Southern Lake Michigan Development Zone which is open to all Tribes by permit from Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA.)

[Boltman]

Found one in Whitehall , drifting marker rope , lost 300 ft of brand new copper and a new flasher spoon combo too. We had NO idea that the barge was recovering nets or we wouldn't have fished WhiteHall .... Glad it didn't find the props .

Edited June 1, 2014 by Boltman
spelling

[sparky30]

They should loose there ability to give permits to set more nets, if we run an extra line, not that its right, we get huge fines, how many fish did these nets kill in vain.

[Far Beyond Driven]

Why is this ok? Any net that is poorly marked or left one day after season should be pulled immediately, and the Fisher and the issuer of the permit fined stupid, and that permit revoked forever. The way these jack wads have been running things that would have thinned out 80% of the nets in the past few years.

[gusto]

The barge and tug have left the waters off Whitehall after pulling one net and not being able to find any nets at the locations they were at last year. The ice and currents have torn these nets apart and moved them and to where no one knows.

There was a portion of a net spotted off Whitehall on 6/1 and that location was reported to the RAP line. The location was: 4319.688N 08629.784 W but this net could be moving.

The question was asked about the nets between Muskegon and Grand Haven, these nets belong to a state licensed commercial fisherman and in my opinion he has never been a problem. He knows how to set his nets so they don't move, he marks them properly, he tends to them regularly and I could never envision him abandoning them.

Jim Vander Maas

Michigan Steelheaders

[gusto]

The nets off Whitehall did not belong to Tommy Battice, Tommy's nets were set up in the Ludington area.

[Boltman]

I did not get the GPS coordinates when we caught the net, should have radioed the tug captain though.

[Capt. Brian]

Do you guys think the nets in between grand haven and muskegon will be removed?

The nets between GH and Muskegon are actively fished by Petersons a state licensed commercial fisher out of Muskegon (no affiliation with the tribal fishers). They have I believe 12 tags that can be fished (1 tag per net) and will most likely have nets both south and north of Muskegon. I also Know that NOAA occasionally runs a few nets from time to time for research purposes. Here is a link that has some more information on commercial trap nets http://www.fishdock.net/trapnet

[scoopy]

Can we radio the coast guard if we find a net?

[Capt. Brian]

You are going to be better off to record the GPS coordinates and contact the DNR through their RAP hotline at 1-800-292-7800. The USCG will only be of help if you're caught in it or hurt. This is only for loose or floating nets, not properly marked and working trap nets.

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[gusto]

I have been told that the preferred method to report an abandoned net or unmarked net is to call the MDNR RAP line at 1-800-292-7800. If your props get entangled in a net then the USCG would be the agency to call if you feel you are in danger. MDNR has the responsibility to manage the situation and they work with the Tribes.

Just to clarify, if a net is properly marked then there would be no reason to report it.

[gusto]

Michigan Sea Grant has a web site that shows how a trap net is supposed to marked, it may be possible that the commercial fisherman out of Muskegon may add additional markers, if Fishing Addiction could respond to this that would be great.

Search: What are trap nets Michigan Sea Grant

Again, Michigan Sea Grant shows the minimal acceptable markings according to the 2000 Consent Decree and what is required of state licensed commercial fishers.

[Capt. Brian]

Petersons' mark their nets with both staff buoys and orange jugs. The double orange flag staff buoy is over the pot (main part of the net). Then there are 2 shorter staff buoys that mark the wings(funnel into the pot typically towards shore slightly N & S of the pot) Then there are 2 more staff buoys 1 towards shore and 1 away from shore. Then you have the orange jugs which mark anchors typically 2 north and 2 south of the pot. Occasionally there will also be more jugs between the pot marker and the shore side buoy to mark anchors on the lead. Again here are some links for more info http://www.fishdock.net/trapnet and http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/fisheries/know-your-nets/trap-nets/

[gusto]

Captain Brian, thanks for the clarification on how Petersen marks his nets. He goes way above the minimum requirements with his net markings and this is the reason why we do not have any incidents involving his nets, along with the fact that he takes care of them and tends them on a regular basis. I guess one word sums it up, professionalism!

[CITM]

Found one in Whitehall , drifting marker rope , lost 300 ft of brand new copper and a new flasher spoon combo too. We had NO idea that the barge was recovering nets or we wouldn't have fished WhiteHall .... Glad it didn't find the props .

I got into it too, on Sunday morning, and it did find one of my props. Thankfully I took it out of gear before it tore something up. Also took out the chute rigger and both port side divers. Couldn't get it out of the prop so we went into White Lake in shallow water and were able to get it out. I'm not sure it was a marker line though as it looked pretty new, no algae or muscles hanging off from it that we could see. Sorry I couldn't mark it, too much chaos trying to get it out of my prop and gear and I had to cut it.

Ruined a potentially good finish in the Grand Haven tournament. Shame.

I did call it in to USCG, should have called RAP.