1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Right? You can talk to me if your phone calls us come through, if you take it, it's not the end of the world. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Okay, we'll just turn that off. 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,000 We can pause and stop. Especially if it's about your pumps, then I get it. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 So I guess let's go back to the beginning. 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000 You were born and raised around here? Are you from Redcliffe originally? 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Yes, I'm born and raised here in Redcliffe. Both my parents are tribal members. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,000 I've been here ever since. 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:37,000 So growing up, as if you met your uncle, you were set loose in the woods, is that kind of the story? 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Oh yeah, for sure. You know, taught how to run a chainsaw from my uncle. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:50,000 We did a lot of hunting, and we also did a lot of spearing with my cousin. 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,000 He taught me a lot to it in the spearing. 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:01,000 So was there just a natural connection, or was it like being with other kids that made it more enjoyable? 13 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,000 How does that all come together? 14 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,000 I guess it was just the way we did stuff around here. 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:17,000 I didn't really, I thought it was normal to be able to go spearing or go hunting. 16 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,000 We also were in the woods running our sugar bush in the spring. 17 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:32,000 We did a lot of our treaty rights. We were exercising. 18 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:41,000 It was a conscious choice. What was it very intentional when asserting the rights is an important step to maintaining those rights? 19 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Yeah, for sure. I didn't know it at the time. 20 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 You know, I thought, like I said, I thought it was normal. I thought everyone was doing it. 21 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:59,000 And then, you know, as I got older, I realized that, you know, those rights are very important for our tribe and, you know, tribal members in general. 22 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Right here in footsteps. 23 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,000 I did too. 24 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Oh yes. 25 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:08,000 You're okay. 26 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,000 We didn't make you make the whole test. 27 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Wow, look at this. 28 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 Yeah, fancy setup. 29 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,000 All right, carry on. 30 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Does Andrea have all this stuff? 31 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:30,000 Oh, yeah. 32 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,000 Okay. 33 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,000 That's a good enough answer. 34 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,000 Yeah. 35 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:42,000 So, when did you first start working in the natural resources department then? 36 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,000 So, I've been with the tribe in natural resources for 11 years now. 37 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:55,000 But before that, I worked for the University of Wisconsin, Stephen's Point Aquaculture Facility for five years. 38 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 And that's really what got me into raising fish. 39 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Okay. 40 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:00,000 So you were at NADF? 41 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Yeah, I was at NADF for five years. 42 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Okay. 43 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Yeah. 44 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,000 So, was it a natural progression to cross the street? 45 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,000 Yeah, for sure. 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 It was, I mean, I pretty much got taught everything. 47 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,000 I needed to know to come here and be able to raise fish indoors and outdoors. 48 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Was that something that the tribe had been doing here? 49 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,000 Or was it important for you to come with that knowledge and bring that with you? 50 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Yeah, it wasn't really something the tribe was doing. 51 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 It was just, it just kind of happened that way. 52 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000 Like, I actually just had come home from college and was looking for a job. 53 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:46,000 And I knew that I was into fish and I just, it worked out good. 54 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:51,000 So, when you came here, what was the program, what did it look like? 55 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:56,000 I guess, and how much has it changed since you came with that knowledge about it? 56 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Yeah, so, I mean, the program is running pretty good. 57 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:09,000 I did bring more knowledge and we were able to improve on raising the fish, like having 58 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,000 better quality fish. 59 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:19,000 We have a, we improved our ponds and we're still improving every year by getting better, 60 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:25,000 you know, more knowledge with how to raise fish and it's getting a lot better. 61 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:32,000 Explain to me the philosophy that comes behind the whole hatchery process that you have here. 62 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,000 What goes into the judgments that you make about where to get eggs from, where to go back, 63 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 how much to stock, you know, all that? 64 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Yeah, so, with walleye, we get eggs from the lakes that are tribe spears. 65 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,000 So, we're not only, you know, taking fish from, taking walleye from the lake, 66 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,000 but we're also putting the walleye back in the lake, you know. 67 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Most people don't know that we, you know, stock walleye back in the lake. 68 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,000 We're not just taking walleye. 69 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Is that, I mean, how do you choose which lakes? 70 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,000 Like, these last year, the Upper St. Croix this year, you get Claire. 71 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,000 Middle Claire, little Claire. 72 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:15,000 Yeah. 73 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,000 That's a different relationship. 74 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Yeah. 75 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000 It's just kind of like you have a running pattern. 76 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,000 Yeah, pretty much. 77 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:29,000 So, really, it's all about the density of the lake. 78 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,000 You know, right now, middle, when I, when I used to spear middle, Claire, 79 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:39,000 there was four adult walleye per acre in each, in the lake. 80 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,000 And right now, there's only one adult per acre. 81 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,000 So, we're trying to, you know, increase the production. 82 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,000 I mean, trying to have more, put more fish in. 83 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:53,000 So. 84 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Hey. 85 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:59,000 How do we do most of the, the tribal members know about that process that you guys do? 86 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Is that obviously a lot of the publics. 87 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Yeah. 88 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,000 But does your own community even aware of, of that part of that? 89 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Yeah. 90 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 The community is aware for sure. 91 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,000 I mean, now with social media, it's the past few years, 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,000 it's really been getting out there. 93 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Like, it's, yeah. 94 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,000 I mean, social media is making it well known that we're, you know, 95 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,000 stock and fish. 96 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,000 And we're getting some really good feedback. 97 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:32,000 So, we were obviously with you last year when we went to, to St. Croix. 98 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,000 What were, I don't know if you remember off hand, but roughly, 99 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,000 what were some of the numbers you got out of those ponds? 100 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,000 We were there for the first day in the ponds, I believe. 101 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,000 Yeah. 102 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,000 So, last year, we stocked, um, nine thousand, over not, 103 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,000 just a little over nine thousand extended growth walleyes. 104 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,000 So, they were seven to nine inches. 105 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:58,000 And that's, uh, I mean, in that lake, that's, that's a really good number. 106 00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,000 Yeah. 107 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,000 And those are healthy looking fish. 108 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,000 Yeah. 109 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Yeah. 110 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,000 And those are healthy looking fish. 111 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,000 I mean, so just growing them from spring to fall, and that's, that's it. 112 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 And what does that, what does that mean for you to be, to be a part of that process? 113 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Yeah. 114 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,000 It makes me feel really good. 115 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:21,000 You know, and with the, you know, with talking with the Lake Association, 116 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,000 they're super happy with it. 117 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,000 And it makes me feel, you know, pretty proud and happy to do it. 118 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:32,000 And it's kind of, I mean, I don't know how far back your history is, 119 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000 I mean, your uncle was talking about, you know, the early days of a serving treaty 120 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,000 rights and some of the conflict that existed there. 121 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,000 And some of the, you know, the stereotypes that still came out of that, 122 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,000 that some people still hold. 123 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000 How much of, how important is it to try and break through to people? 124 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,000 Yeah. 125 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,000 That's where it's a different era. 126 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Like you guys are putting more fish in that are actually coming out. 127 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Yeah. 128 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,000 It's very important. 129 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,000 I mean, like I said, most people don't know that we put fish back in. 130 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:07,000 And, you know, the, just, I mean, it is getting better. 131 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:13,000 But it still, you know, still needs more, more to get out there. 132 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Some people know. 133 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,000 One of the other factors is there, I mean, the, the safe, 134 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 the mercury safety level maps. 135 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 I mean, are there, I guess I was overhearing at the youth night, 136 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 there was talking about like some people were still putting in claims 137 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,000 on lakes that, you know, other people were saying, 138 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,000 I would never need a fish out of that lake. 139 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:33,000 Yeah. 140 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,000 So, I mean, mercury is always a thing to worry about. 141 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:42,000 I mean, that's why they have the parameters out there for people to, 142 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,000 you know, not eat too much or try to catch a certain size, 143 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,000 a certain limit and leave the big ones alone. 144 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,000 So hopefully they can spawn and keep things going. 145 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,000 Do you guys actively avoid stalking or interacting with a lake that has mercury? 146 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,000 I mean, would it make ever make sense to put fish into that lake? 147 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Yeah. 148 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:10,000 So we don't actually stalk any lake that has a high mercury in it. 149 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,000 So all the ones we do usually, that's not a factor. 150 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,000 We're not worried about it. 151 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,000 Okay. 152 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Does that reduce the number of lakes that you're interacting with? 153 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:22,000 Yeah. 154 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:27,000 It definitely does. 155 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,000 It's, yeah, it's tough. 156 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,000 I mean, it makes it a little tougher to be able to, you know, 157 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,000 try to keep everyone happy. 158 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,000 But, I mean, there's also not that many lakes. 159 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:47,000 So it's, we try to, whatever lake our tribe is appearing is what we're trying to restock. 160 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,000 And how does that overlap work? 161 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,000 Because we saw that Bad River was there on Friday night, 162 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,000 and obviously we put a raise very close by. 163 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,000 We do guys kind of work with each other to talk about who's going to go where, 164 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,000 who stalks where, how that works. 165 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,000 Yeah. 166 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,000 We definitely talk with the other tribes, and then we also talk with the state, 167 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,000 because the state does stalk certain lakes and whatever the lake, 168 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,000 whatever lake the state's not stalking is what usually wants wool stock. 169 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,000 So they'll do different years. 170 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,000 And so tell me a little bit about how, how the Namacogan project came to be about, 171 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 because that's a unique relationship, right? 172 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:24,000 Yeah. 173 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Yeah. 174 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:33,000 So I guess it came about when Mike came to me and said that they want more walleye in their lake. 175 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:38,000 And we were the ones that were, since we're a tribe, we can actually, you know, 176 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:42,000 collect our eggs without having a bunch of permits. 177 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,000 And we can also stalk the fish back in the lake without having, you know, 178 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,000 a bunch of permits. 179 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,000 So is that an unusual relationship? 180 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:56,000 I mean, it's not just a lake association of the tribe, like you have any DFT, you have a TNR. 181 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,000 Yeah. 182 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,000 I guess I don't know if it's an unusual relationship. 183 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:10,000 I guess it, they really were the only ones that reached out saying that, you know, 184 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,000 can you help, you know, with our population of walleye? 185 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:21,000 I mean, is that, are you more inclined to want to work with them if they're actually reaching out? 186 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Yeah. 187 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:28,000 I mean, so we always factor in, you know, what, what lake we're spearing. 188 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,000 And in the Namacogan, we do spear a lot. 189 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,000 So that's, that was a big factor. 190 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,000 And, I mean, if, and it also always comes down to funding, you know, 191 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:45,000 if we don't have funding to feed our walleye minnows, then we can't raise them. 192 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,000 So we need funding to be able to raise walleye. 193 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,000 And does the lake association help with that or is it? 194 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,000 Yeah, they definitely do. 195 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:01,000 So this year we do a middle of Claire and they, they donated some money to help with feeding our walleye. 196 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,000 Yeah. 197 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,000 As you mentioned, it's, it's not cheap. 198 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:05,000 No. 199 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,000 Yeah. 200 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,000 Those, those, those, those minerals are getting trucked in from out of state. 201 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,000 Yeah. 202 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:11,000 Yeah. 203 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,000 The out of state for sure. 204 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:21,000 And what, I guess when, when you look at the, the bill like that is, is there federal money and then tribal money and then donated money? 205 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Does the DNR kick in or where, where does all that, all the different pots and money? 206 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:26,000 Yeah. 207 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:31,000 Usually we get funded from the BIA, which is the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 208 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,000 And then the, we don't get any money from the state to do it. 209 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,000 And then yeah, it's just the lake associations and BIA. 210 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,000 Okay. 211 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,000 And so all of those factoring what, what you're able to do. 212 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:44,000 Yep. 213 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:53,000 And then Glyphwick is also a big partner and hopefully they can get some funding for us too. 214 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,000 And they, they've been doing surveys there, right? 215 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,000 Yep. 216 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:58,000 Glyphwick. 217 00:12:58,000 --> 00:12:59,000 What have you learned from, from any of the surveys? 218 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,000 They did a young of year and I think they did a spring survey this year. 219 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Do you know anything from what they've gotten? 220 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,000 We, we don't know yet. 221 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:14,000 So they, we, the only thing we know is by mother word, they've told us that they've seen them, but they haven't analyzed the data yet. 222 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,000 Okay. 223 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:16,000 So. 224 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,000 And what, I mean anecdotally, what would you expect to see? 225 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,000 And then do you think that this has been a positive relationship? 226 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:24,000 Yeah. 227 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,000 I mean, I'm not only hoping that it's a, you know, working. 228 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,000 I mean, we're putting in a lot of work for it. 229 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:36,000 So I'm hoping and I think that it's working. 230 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:46,000 Like this, this last study that Glyphwick did is, we made sure that they looked for fin clips on our walleye. 231 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,000 So we'll know more within a year. 232 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,000 Okay. 233 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,000 And then the left and right fin clip too. 234 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Yep. 235 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:55,000 That's, that's interesting. 236 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,000 Yep. 237 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Yep. 238 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,000 So different fin clips for the indoor raised fish. 239 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Is that, I mean, how, how important is that distinction long term? 240 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Could that really change how batteries work? 241 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,000 Yes, for sure. 242 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:15,000 It's a lot easier to raise fish indoors with, you know, you can control the, everything. 243 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:16,000 Pretty much. 244 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,000 And then outdoors, it's, you know, some other nature. 245 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,000 She's in charge. 246 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,000 And we just have to do what she says. 247 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,000 I mean, how many times have you just walked by the ponds and just like, well, we don't know? 248 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,000 Yeah. 249 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Yeah. 250 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,000 For sure. 251 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,000 And then, you know, it's the ducks for major factor. 252 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:42,000 And then you get also get the, um, musk rats can mess up your ponds. 253 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:47,000 And then you have otters that, if otter gets in there, they can eat a lot of fish. 254 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:53,000 So when you get the, like, we were there when you guys were taking the first pond out and 255 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,000 you had all the volunteers come up. 256 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,000 I mean, how, how important is that? 257 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Not only for the labor, but just to have those people come and see. 258 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000 This is what we're working towards. 259 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,000 Or this is what some of our money is going towards. 260 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Or this is what's going into our lake. 261 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:08,000 Yeah. 262 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,000 It's very important to, you know, get the lake associations to help. 263 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:19,000 And then they actually get to see what we are doing and know that it's not just easy just 264 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,000 to raise fish. 265 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,000 And then everyone thinks it's just easy. 266 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,000 You put fish in water and they grow and you don't have to feed them. 267 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:32,000 And then you can just take the fish out and put them in the lake. 268 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,000 But yeah, it's a long process. 269 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,000 So for you, you've been doing this a long time. 270 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:43,000 Like, how much of your, of your mental energy is devoted to thinking about fishing a pond 271 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,000 at any given time? 272 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,000 Yeah. 273 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000 I mean, it's, I think about it all the time when the, well, the fish are in there. 274 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:55,000 It's, like I said, it's outdoors, so it's, anything can go wrong. 275 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,000 I mean, are you, like, you look out in the weather and you go, oh, some of you can hear me. 276 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,000 Yeah. 277 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,000 Oh yeah. 278 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,000 So that's one thing we do with our ponds is we, once there's fish in there, we'll check 279 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,000 them every single day. 280 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,000 You know, we're checking to make sure the oxygen is good. 281 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,000 We're checking for making sure that the water is turbid. 282 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,000 It's darker. 283 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,000 I mean, you don't want it too turbid either. 284 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:27,000 You want it to, so the fish, so while I are very cannibalistic, they'll eat each other 285 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,000 a lot. 286 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:33,000 So if you keep the water darker, that definitely keeps down the cannibalism. 287 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,000 So we're there checking every day. 288 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:44,000 So walleye themselves should be on the list of things that can ruin the walleye population. 289 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Yes, for sure. 290 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,000 And that happens in regular lake as well. 291 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:48,000 Yep, for sure. 292 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,000 I mean, walleye are very aggressive fish and they'll eat their brothers and sisters. 293 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,000 They don't, they don't care. 294 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,000 They're hungry. 295 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:01,000 So I guess take me back to when you were younger. 296 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:06,000 How aware were you of what the walleye populations were at that time? 297 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:11,000 And some of the shifts that were occurring is, I guess a lot of lakes went from the late 298 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:12,000 90s and the early 2000s. 299 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,000 There were some severe declines just due to a lot of different factors out there. 300 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:18,000 Yeah. 301 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000 So I guess when I was younger, when I was spearing a lot, it was, so every time you go spearing 302 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000 you get a permit and it has a certain amount of fish on it. 303 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Like, you know, you get a permit and it says you get to spear 25 fish. 304 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:36,000 And then as the years kept going on, it was, you know, go down and say 20 fish this time. 305 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,000 Then all of a sudden it was 15 fish. 306 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:43,000 And that was when I realized that, you know, something was going wrong. 307 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,000 Like, where are these fish going? 308 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Why, why is there less? 309 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:52,000 And as I got older, I realized that, you know, there's a lot of factors. 310 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:59,000 You know, it's not only the tribes taking fish, it's also the sports fishermen. 311 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,000 They'll take a lot of fish. 312 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,000 The tribes, you know, they're regulated. 313 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:11,000 Like I said, you get a permit and there's wardens at the landing to make sure that you're 314 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,000 taking your limit and not over doing it. 315 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,000 I mean, can you imagine how much the hook and line fishermen would howl if every time their 316 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,000 hook came in, they had to like open up the thing? 317 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:30,000 Yeah, they for sure would be, I think it should be the law to report how much fish you're 318 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:31,000 catching. 319 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,000 And, you know, there's a limit for a reason. 320 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,000 An honor system. 321 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Yeah, honor system is very hard. 322 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:46,000 I mean, that's kind of, it's a sad irony of the whole stereotypes of the tribes taking 323 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,000 all the fish when, like, you guys are under the strict limits that are actually watched, 324 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,000 and they're not. 325 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:58,000 And there's tons of documented evidence of fishermen just going back to the same, like, 326 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,000 day after day after day, and filling the freezer. 327 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Yeah. 328 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,000 Yeah. 329 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,000 So we're working with the lake associations. 330 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,000 A lot of the people actually live right on the lake. 331 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,000 You know, they have, you know, they can see right out their front windows. 332 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,000 There's a lot of commercial, or not commercial. 333 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,000 Sports fishermen out there catching a lot of fish. 334 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:23,000 And you do see them, you know, bringing them back to shore and then going back out and 335 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,000 catching more fish. 336 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:33,000 So it's definitely not regulated as hard and as strict as what tribal fishermen spear. 337 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:38,000 And that's certainly not what the public might think if you asked the average person, like, 338 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,000 who has high tougher regulations on it. 339 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,000 Yes, for sure. 340 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:49,000 So when you go through, when you work with lake associations and you're changing minds one 341 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:53,000 at a time, hopefully, I mean, do you feel like that's changed? 342 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,000 Do you think that the perceptions have shifted over time? 343 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,000 Yes, for sure. 344 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:05,000 So in my almost 11 years here, it's, like I said, this social media has gotten a lot better. 345 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:10,000 I mean, there's always your haters on the social media saying that we're taking all 346 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,000 the fish. 347 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:17,000 But I think we are getting the word out a lot better that, you know, we are putting fish 348 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:18,000 back in the lake. 349 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,000 So talk to me a little bit about the youth spear fishing. 350 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,000 I know you weren't able to be there. 351 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,000 But have you done it before with your boys? 352 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Yeah, yep. 353 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,000 We've done it before. 354 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:34,000 So every year the red cliff and bad river band put on a youth spearing night. 355 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:42,000 And it's really nice because a lot of kids don't get the opportunity to go spearing. 356 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:49,000 So it's really nice that the boys and girls club of red cliff will take, you know, probably 357 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:56,000 25 kids to just that one night and that would be their, probably their only chance to be 358 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,000 able to do it. 359 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:03,000 And it's been great that we've been getting kids involved and they are, they are taking 360 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,000 a liking to it. 361 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,000 So it's nice to keep it going really. 362 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:15,000 I mean, you know as well as anyone what it's like to be a parent and have kids attention 363 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,000 everywhere. 364 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,000 Yeah. 365 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:22,000 So what is that battle like to have kids like recognize, hey, this is not just a past time. 366 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:23,000 This is culture. 367 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,000 This is your history. 368 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,000 Yeah. 369 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,000 It's different than just something to do on a Sunday or a weekend. 370 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,000 Yeah. 371 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:34,000 So I mean, it's great because most kids don't know that they can actually get a tribal ID, 372 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:40,000 you know, because without a tribal ID you can't, you know, get your permit and having kids 373 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:45,000 having that tribal ID gives them, feels like gives them some power, you know, and they 374 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:51,000 get to get their permit and they get to go spear some fish. 375 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:56,000 And just, I mean, at the end of the night we saw a lot of kids and they'd play them and 376 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:01,000 hang blocking around and, you know, there's gotta be, that's a big part of it too. 377 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,000 It's like having the fillets either to get to someone else or to use yourself. 378 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000 Yeah. 379 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:12,000 I mean, being able to feed your family with what you harvest is really big. 380 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:17,000 And that's something that, you know, can carry over into a connection that's here. 381 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,000 Yep. 382 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Yep. 383 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,000 We're hoping so. 384 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,000 We always say it's for the next seven generations is what we're trying to work for. 385 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,000 And is that an old, an older saying? 386 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,000 Yeah. 387 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,000 As far as I know it, I just heard it a lot. 388 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,000 Is that, I mean, that's a long time. 389 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,000 Yeah. 390 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,000 Yep. 391 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,000 But that's the length of history that you guys are working with. 392 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,000 Yep. 393 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Which is different from, you know, a lot of the rest of the state, you know, seven generations, 394 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000 they're not on this continent. 395 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,000 Yeah. 396 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,000 Right. 397 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,000 They can't go back that far. 398 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,000 But that's a reality for people up here. 399 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,000 Yep. 400 00:22:54,000 --> 00:23:01,000 We're definitely, you know, fighting for our treaty rights to make sure that we get to 401 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,000 exercise them and use them. 402 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:10,000 What is the competition like in terms of kids' interests of like leaving, just going to 403 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000 other parts of the states for opportunities versus having something that might be able 404 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,000 to draw them back one day. 405 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,000 To understand that they've got a connection here no matter what. 406 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000 Yeah. 407 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,000 I mean, that is the connection you have. 408 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:28,000 I mean, your home, you have, I mean, you have your rights on your reservation. 409 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:37,000 You have your treaty rights to be able to harvest and, you know, harvest fish, animals, anything 410 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,000 really. 411 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,000 So talk to me a little bit about like walleye itself. 412 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,000 What sense that species apart? 413 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,000 I mean, why is it so culturally important? 414 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Yeah. 415 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,000 So, I mean, culturally important, it's just, it's just what I've known. 416 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,000 You know, it's just always been the walleye. 417 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,000 It's always been, you know, in my family and in my house. 418 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:15,000 You know, it's just food, fish for food and it's, I guess it's just what I've known. 419 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:22,000 I guess it's just walleye has always been like our go-to fish. 420 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,000 I mean, they taste the best, I think. 421 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:32,000 And it's, I think they look the coolest and they've always been, it's always been part 422 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,000 of my life. 423 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:38,000 It's probably more difficult to explain something that's that innate. 424 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000 It's almost like, tell me why air is important. 425 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,000 Yeah. 426 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,000 Yeah, exactly. 427 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,000 I mean, it's also, it's my job. 428 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:54,000 It's been, you know, it helps pay the bills, you know, feed my kids. 429 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,000 And it's just what have, what have we done for years? 430 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,000 I mean, is there ever a day when you're looking at the fish? 431 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,000 You're like, oh, I'm so sick of looking at walleye. 432 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,000 I guess I want to say I get sick of them. 433 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,000 I mean, some days you have your problems with that. 434 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:20,000 It gets, you know, hard to keep going. 435 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:27,000 But it's, you know, I like to look at them as we are their parents, you know, raising 436 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:32,000 these fish and hopefully giving them the best path to survive. 437 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,000 Yeah, because I mean, that is a big part of, I mean, some of the reason why they're 438 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000 hard to find is natural recruitment is down. 439 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:44,000 So like you are contributing to part of making sure that they're still fish in the water. 440 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,000 Yeah. 441 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,000 Yes. 442 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:51,000 I mean, that's got to be an interesting relationship to build. 443 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,000 Yeah. 444 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,000 Yeah. 445 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,000 Yeah, you do, I do feel like I grow connected to the fish and, you know, feel like a proud 446 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,000 parent sending them off once they get them in the lake and they swim away. 447 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Yeah. 448 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Well, it's because you get to the end of the season and they come out and they look gorgeous. 449 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,000 I mean, these are beautiful looking fish. 450 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Yeah. 451 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:14,000 I'm sure, you know, if they came out runty or something, you'd be like, okay, what would 452 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,000 run? 453 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,000 They look that good and it's got to be that way. 454 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:18,000 We did a good job. 455 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,000 Yes, for sure. 456 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,000 It's very proud moments put them in the lake. 457 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:29,000 So for you and for your boys, I mean, if you're out spearing and you get one that's 458 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,000 got the fin clip, I mean, is that a different connection? 459 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Not really. 460 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:41,000 I mean, it's nice to see, I mean, without, you know, without spearing that fish, we wouldn't 461 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,000 know that it was a hatchery raised fish. 462 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:52,000 I mean, if we don't have assessments on the lakes, there's no other way of knowing. 463 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:58,000 And if people don't report back to us and there was a fin clip fish, we wouldn't know. 464 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,000 So it's nice to see. 465 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,000 And in the spring, you know, it gets a busy season when you're out. 466 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,000 I mean, we've ended with you setting fight nets, collecting from fight nets and night 467 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,000 shocking. 468 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:18,000 I mean, are those long, draggy days or is that like, that's the beginning of this whole 469 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,000 process? 470 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,000 Yeah. 471 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,000 So every year is different. 472 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:28,000 We, I mean, we always call it ice out, wait for the ice to get off the lake. 473 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:35,000 And every year, it's, uh, the walleye aren't always spawning right away when the ice is 474 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,000 gone. 475 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,000 And we've had years where the walleye have actually spawned under the ice. 476 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,000 So we weren't able to collect eggs. 477 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,000 But I mean, it's, when you're in the moment, it's, uh, it feels like you're doing a lot, 478 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,000 but then you look back and it's only been, it's only a month at the most. 479 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,000 You're like, I guess it wasn't too bad. 480 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:03,000 You know, you definitely do get draggy from working, you know, mornings, lifting your 481 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:08,000 fight nets and then working that same night, shocking and trying to collect eggs. 482 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,000 It's, it's tough work, but it's rewarding. 483 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,000 And then, I mean, what's that like for you when you've got a jar full of them and then 484 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,000 all of a sudden they start to hatch? 485 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,000 Oh, it's nice. 486 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,000 It's, uh, it's real nice. 487 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,000 It's, I mean, walleye eggs are so small. 488 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:30,000 But it's crazy that you can get something the size of your eyelash to grow it at nine 489 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,000 inches from just spring to fall. 490 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,000 And that's, you know, and it goes back and it starts to cycle over. 491 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,000 Yep. 492 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,000 Yep. 493 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,000 That's the whole point of it. 494 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,000 So when we were at the, the spearing event, um, it was two fish per permit for the kids. 495 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Is that just enough to kind of wet their appetite? 496 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,000 Yeah, for sure. 497 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,000 We definitely try to set a limit. 498 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,000 I mean, we try to, I mean, we want everyone to at least get one fish. 499 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,000 Every kid to get at least one fish, but you know, it's, some kids are better at it and 500 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,000 you just want to make sure to give each one an opportunity to spear fish. 501 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 So when we were there, we also, we saw, uh, is it the fish dance that we, 502 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,000 Yeah. 503 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:18,000 I mean, like there's a, there's a whole celebration, like a whole festival surrounding event. 504 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,000 Yep. 505 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,000 It just, it was, it's not just we go here, we get the boat, we go see if we can spear some fish. 506 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,000 Right. 507 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:26,000 Yep. 508 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,000 So we definitely do the, the, uh, the fish dance. 509 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,000 It's all the males. 510 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:38,000 Try to, you know, it's showing appreciation and, uh, you know, trying to give thanks that, 511 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,000 you know, that this water and this lake is giving us fish and we want to make sure that it's 512 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,000 showing that we're just not there to take fish. 513 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:54,000 We're, you know, following our tradition and trying to keep it right. 514 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,000 Mm hmm. 515 00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:00,000 But making, making everything feel, I mean, there's a holistic process to all of that. 516 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,000 It's got to, I mean, that is part of the inspiration for the kids. 517 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,000 It's not just me going to boat. 518 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,000 It's like the whole thing is a celebration. 519 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,000 Yes. 520 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,000 Definitely is. 521 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:13,000 I mean, we always, you know, we always want to offer something. 522 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:21,000 If we're taking something, you know, and, uh, we did see the one kid who spear a car. 523 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,000 Yeah. 524 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,000 There's, so there is, um, suckers out there. 525 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:32,000 I mean, you also have your, um, pike fish and then you'll have perch and then, uh, northern, 526 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,000 so the northern pike and then you have muskies out there too. 527 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000 Those are always fun to spear, but. 528 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,000 So are there separate seasons on those? 529 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,000 Or you can spear spear. 530 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:43,000 You can spear. 531 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Um, so muskies usually only has, they usually only get like one on your permit because they're 532 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:59,000 so big and so sought after, like they're, they're fun. 533 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,000 It had to be a little harder to pull the boat. 534 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:03,000 Oh yeah, for sure. 535 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:09,000 Um, and you talked about how, you know, while there's an important food in your house 536 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,000 and we're living. 537 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,000 So then, I mean, how regular do you eat it? 538 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:19,000 I mean, do you, following the guidelines or guidelines for pregnant women and kids? 539 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:20,000 Yeah, definitely. 540 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:25,000 So growing up, it was, uh, I mean, you would have a fish fry every other week. 541 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:32,000 You know, it's always good for a family to get together to have a big walleye fish fry. 542 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000 I definitely didn't follow the guidelines myself as a young man. 543 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:40,000 A young man knows definitely indulging on a lot of walleye, fried walleye. 544 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,000 It was just, it was just like candy. 545 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,000 And, uh, new boys take after you and that? 546 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:47,000 Oh yeah. 547 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,000 Yeah, they definitely, uh, like fish. 548 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:55,000 That's, that's gotta be fun to, to, I mean, to see that come through in them. 549 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,000 Like that, that's multiple. 550 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:00,000 I mean, that's three of the seven generations right, right there, right between your, your 551 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,000 uncle and you and your boys and, you know, now you've got another boy coming back. 552 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:05,000 Closer to home. 553 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,000 Yep. 554 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,000 And hopefully he takes it on too. 555 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:14,000 Is that, I mean, is that, is that difficult for you when, like, because I'm sure there's 556 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,000 other dads that are setting up for spirit and around the same time when you're working 557 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,000 your 20 hour days? 558 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,000 Yeah. 559 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:26,000 It's definitely become a lot more difficult now that I have this job because, um, it's 560 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,000 our, one of our busiest times is collecting walleye eggs. 561 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,000 And that's right when spirit happens. 562 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:38,000 So it's, makes it a little tough and they only spawn for so long. 563 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:43,000 And it's hard to get out there when you're trying to collect eggs. 564 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:51,000 So part of what our documentary is looking at is, um, like the, the historical and cultural 565 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,000 connections that the, the state has to, to walleye. 566 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,000 And, you know, obviously in different areas of the state, you know, it's, it's, there's 567 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:04,000 an economic connection or there's, you know, the resorts or guides. 568 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:11,000 Do you think there's a similarity between the connection between the bands up here and walleye 569 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:12,000 that's different? 570 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:19,000 Or is it just everyone can kind of universally, you know, have a connection to that fish? 571 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:20,000 Yeah. 572 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,000 I mean, so we don't, you know, diversify anybody. 573 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,000 You know, we, we want it to be for everyone. 574 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,000 You know, we, we know that it's not just for us. 575 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,000 You know, we want everyone to be able to get a part of it. 576 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,000 As you can, I mean, you can understand like that, that connection runs for everyone. 577 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,000 I mean, it's an easy fish to love. 578 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:40,000 Yeah. 579 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,000 Yeah. 580 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:45,000 I know a lot of people have their, you know, their summer or spring summer homes on the 581 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:52,000 lakes and they've, you know, they've spent money to have land there, have a dock there and be 582 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,000 able to catch these fish to it, you know, it's for them too. 583 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,000 And, you know, obviously there's a lot of money that goes into keeping this species alive 584 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:07,000 and thriving in some areas and barely hanging on in others, not only in terms of, you know, 585 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:12,000 brazing the fish and the stocking, but also the research that, that is being done to find 586 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,000 out about habitats and when's the best time for this or that or the indoor outdoor 587 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,000 grazing. 588 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,000 I mean, I'm assuming that you think that all that money is worth it, that all that time 589 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,000 is justified for it? 590 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,000 Yeah, I definitely think it is. 591 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:32,000 Like, I mean, you don't just get funding to have fun and go out there and make sure there's 592 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:33,000 fish. 593 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,000 I mean, you're out there actually, you know, making sure there is fish and making sure there's 594 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:43,000 fish habitat and, you know, trying to regulate and everything. 595 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,000 Keep the population up. 596 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:54,000 So what would be the outcome if that wasn't possible, either the lack of funding or more 597 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:59,000 environmental changes and these, there are some places where, you know, walleyes going 598 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,000 away out of those lakes or those areas and, you know, it's harder to justify trying to 599 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,000 keep them alive. 600 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,000 And, you know, for some fish, you know, I'll then move on to a crop here to a bass or something 601 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,000 different. 602 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,000 What would be the loss if walleye were that much more difficult or harder to find? 603 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:20,000 Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest loss would be food for feeding your family. 604 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:29,000 I mean, if it wasn't, you know, regulated and like there would be, you would, it would 605 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:35,000 be overfished, over speared and you would just run out of fish, really. 606 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:40,000 There's nothing you can do if it's not regulated. 607 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,000 All right. 608 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:47,000 Anything else that you want to add along the lines that we've been talking about? 609 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:48,000 Anything I might have missed? 610 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,000 No, I think I got it pretty well covered. 611 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:57,000 I think I said the same thing a lot of making sure that we know that people know that we 612 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,000 aren't just taking fish. 613 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:04,000 We're putting fish back in, you know, and that's one of my biggest things. 614 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,000 Things I want people to know is, you know, we're putting fish back. 615 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:10,000 Yeah. 616 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:11,000 Well, we've got video of that. 617 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,000 Yeah. 618 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:13,000 Plenty of evidence. 619 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,000 Yeah. 620 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:18,000 Can I get you to say and spell your name and your title just so I have it correct? 621 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:19,000 Yeah. 622 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:20,000 Okay. 623 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,000 My name is Lance, L-A-N-C-E. 624 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:28,000 Brisette, B-R-E-S-E-T-T-E. 625 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000 And I'm the hatchery specialist at Redcliffe Tribal Fish Hatchery. 626 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,000 Perfect. 627 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,000 Does he get like 20 seconds of room time? 628 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:37,000 Yep. 629 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:41,000 So we're just going to, we'll be quiet and he's going to record the signs of the room. 630 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,000 Awesome, thanks.