Boom, Bust, and try to Adjust

Boom, Bust, and try to Adjust. . , "The planting of millions of fish, with regulations governing the size, limiting the number to be taken each day, and the season that they may be taken from our waters will make it possible to maintain the fish supply for all time to come." , -James Nevin, Wisconsin Commissioner of Fisheries, 1921. , The greatest period of growth for the area's commercial fishing industry began in 1870 when the N. and F. Boutin fishing company moved to Bayfield. After A. Booth and Sons moved operations there in 1885, Bayfield had 182 fishermen, more than any other port on Lake Superior. , Intense fishing pressure caused sharp declines in whitefish populations in the 1890s. Bayfield fishermen caught more than two million pounds of whitefish in 1885, but only sixty-one thousand pounds in 1899. , Managing the fishery "for all time to come." , The State Steps In , Concern about declining fish numbers forced Wisconsin to create its first regulations in 1879, setting minimum mesh size for nets and minimum weight for fish to be sold. In 1891, Wisconsin established seasonal fishing closures for lake trout and whitefish. Commercial fishermen were first required to buy state fishing licenses in 1909. The Wisconsin Fish Commission began stocking whitefish in Lake Superior in 1885, and opened the state fish hatchery south of Bayfield in 1898. , Lamprey and License Limits , Fishermen first found the non-native, parasitic sea lamprey in Lake Superior in 1938. Lamprey control efforts began in 1953. The lake trout catch in Bayfield stayed at about 500,000 pounds/year through 1955, then dropped dramatically. The state halted commercial fishing for lake trout from 1962 to 1967 to ease pressure on the population. Wisconsin then imposed strict quotas on the lake trout catch and, in 1970, limited the number of Lake Superior commercial fishing licenses to 21. The number of these licenses for non-tribal fishermen fell to ten in 1997, in order to provide more fish for sportsmen and allocate half the annual catch to tribal fishermen. , "This is our way of life..." , Indigenous people fished for subsistence in Lake Superior for centuries and always played a significant role in the area's commercial fishing industry. Enforcement of state fishing laws in the 20th century conflicted with rights reserved by the Chippewa in treaties with the U.S. government. To challenge state laws, in 1969, members of the Red Cliff and Bad River bands were arrested for exercising their treaty rights by setting nets in Lake Superior off the reservation without a license. This case, State v. Gurnoe, went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court which, in 1972, affirmed the treaty rights of Lake Superior Chippewa to fish in Lake Superior. , Captions: , Bayfield fishermen mending nets ca. 1903 , Fish hatchery near Bayfield. , Sea lamprey attacking a lake trout. , Red Cliff resident Bill Gordon at Manitou Fish Camp.