Spearing: The Problem With Northern Lakes
Living in northern Wisconsin my whole life I’ve dealt with the hunting and fishing regulations a time or two. The biggest debate I have ever heard about fishing is the technique used to harvest fish. Growing up I had a view that this country was equal to everyone and anyone no matter what the person was doing, the law is the law.
The fish population in northern Wisconsin is declining because of this unethical technique. Up here the Native Americans abuse the right to spear our local lakes basically unattended. They have the right to spear with no purchase of a license using modern equipment.
I could see if they stuck to their guns and wanted their tready righnts and adopted everyone’s laws, but when they out fish our resources and limit everyone its unfair.
5 comments:
Where exactly are you getting your information? Based on everything I've read and learned about the natives spearing in Wisconsin, it sounds like the natives have dealt with a lot of racism and scrutiny from non-natives (ie: local residents) since the 1980's. And to my understanding, the Ojibwe set quotas for the lakes they fish on to ensure that they don't have a detrimental impact on the fish populations. They spear because it has been a tradition in their culture for hundreds if not thousands of years. I'm pretty sure they're cautious not to destroy the fish populations that their own traditions depend on. Furthermore, these quotas are set based on rigorous data collected from all of the lakes. Considering all of the hype that's been created around their spearing, its not surprising that we've set up a system of close monitoring to ensure the sustainability of this practice. It seems ridiculous to even be upset that the Native Americans have this privilege. We inflicted mass genocide on their people and took over nearly all of their land, the least we could do is allow them to continue with this tradition.
Here's a link to one of the many articles I found about this topic just by doing a quick Google search. If you scroll down near the bottom you'll see where they discuss the restrictions and rigorous monitoring that is done.
http://www.glifwc.org/Accordian_Stories/Passingthetorch.html
Again...I'm very curious to see your source about how the fish populations are in fact declining as a result of the native spearing practices.
I'm sorry my blog was short. I stared spring break early and spaced off the assignment until the last minute leading me to be cut short and turn it in before the deadline. I have read many articles discussing this topic and whether or not the fish are declinging due to spearing. I have also read articles pertaining to how low the law enforcement in the northen lakes is becuase of the amount of lakes being speared both on and off the reservations. This is definately a large contrevery topic with many arguments coming from both sides. Living in a town bordering the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, I have been around the issues my whole life and have been interested. I can't dissagree with you on the fact that many locals have acted wrongfully toward the issues and went about dealling with the issues in the wrong ways. Being interested in the issues I have even watched documentaries on the conflicts and issues surrounding the topic. I however am not an avid fisherman and have tried to remain neutral to the issues at hand.
After reading the above comment and reply by the author, I agree completely with Athena. European settlers virtually stole the entire U.S. from Native Americans. I think that the least we can do is allow them to practice traditional methods of harvesting fish which dates back thousands of years as a part of Native American culture. It seems to me that the author’s original statement and reply to Athena’s comment are the same, highly opinionated with virtually no logic or intuitive rational. Furthermore, Native American spearing has not been a controversy for quite some time. There may be some negative attitudes that remain with some individuals, but most of the fishermen have realized that there is no evidence which suggests that spear fishing by Native Americans is depleting the Northern Wisconsin fisheries.
I think that the Native American spear fishing issue has not received any attention for quite some time due to the fact that it is no longer an issue. Where did your information regarding the statement that the fish population in northern Wisconsin is declining? The entire blog seems to be based on personal opinion with little regard to scientific fact. Furthermore, maybe you should consider the fact that we basically stole all of the Native Americans’ land with little regard for their culture and traditions. All of the tribes in Wisconsin manage their own reservation land. I have read numerous reports that compliment the results of Native American natural resource management in our state. I suggest spending some time researching the current status of Native American spear fishing in Wisconsin.
Tuggs, your tone is offensive and you are banned. This is a class blog and I will not have my students spoken to like that.
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