Netting

[dbattley]

Can anyone tell me what happened to the guys that were caught netting walleyes during the winter?

[The Bait Shop Guy]

All in the court's hands, now. I would assume the one non tribal netter will be tried in local court, but who knows how long it will be before it goes to trial. Not sure where the tribal court is located.

[bignoccursg]

Does anyone know which fishing operation on BBDN was involved? Garden or Fairport? Maybe same owners but which one was taking in the illegal fish?

[DooFighter]

There's talk that the tribe may wash their hands of the issue and let the feds prosecute the case. Nothing decided yet, that I know of, though.

[duckiller2]

The tribe is going to handle it but the feds might also go after a few items like them not paying taxes and such.

[hook em and cook em]

So, what you are saying is the tribe will be telling these cats "dont go and get caught again"? They sure have a way of sweeping things under the rug eh?

[fishmaster]

thats what I was saying before hook-um, from what I've heard they only caught the Fish Market(in Garden) with 29 fish, they bought the fish from liscenend indian fishermen---so the the Fish Market didn't get ticketed or fined from what I heard. Now where the guys who sold it the fish market got the fish is the story, and there are no shortage of guess's on that, who, when, how, where etc etc.

So I would suspect that for the amount of fish that thier actually talking about these guys won't get much more then a slap from the tribe. I read about a bust from a few years ago, some guys from Garden got caught with about 5,000lbs of illegal fish, they got a hefty fine but it was broken down in a payment plan and they only ended up paying like $100 bucks a month or something like that, I'm sure that really put a hurting on them!! and I would suspect the feds have a few bigger problems to worry about then this for them to prosecute, but you never know.

[bottle_bass]

Illegal fishing probe continues

ESCANABA - Investigation continues into illegal commercial fishing operations uncovered on Little Bay de Noc earlier this year.

During a review of commercial fisheries records, an official from the Department of Natural Resources discovered an unusually high amount of walleye being sold in the wholesale fish market during the past few winters. Upon further investigation, six men were arrested.

Because five of the suspects are members of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe, DNR officials met with the tribe prosecutor on Friday. The sixth man is from Delta County.

DNR officials are also meeting with agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S Attorney's Office in Marquette, said DNR officer Cpl. Shannon VanPatten, who discovered the illegal fishing. "Because of the magnitude and complexity of the case, there will more than likely be several avenues of prosecution at both the tribal and federal levels," VanPatten said. "The case has begun to spider-web out a bit since the initial seizure of fish and interviews. Because of this, there is some additional investigative follow up that remains to be completed."

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Seems like a lot of the things people "have heard" are incorrect. It also seems like a waste of time to complain about their sentences before the case has even gone to court.

[bottle_bass]

I Agree!.....

[Wisconsin Guy]

You know what guys? We in Wisconsin and you all in Michigan should have traded the fishing rights for the casino privileges they got for nothing! It would have been no brainer for the Native Americans to chose between a truck load of fish for the millions of dollars they get from gambling.