# Tribal angler denies illegal harvesting



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Tribal angler denies illegal harvesting January 13, 2005

http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/jan/13angler.htm

MANISTEE - A tribal fisherman says he played by the rules when harvesting 3,857 pounds of fish from Lake Michigan last fall, denying an accusation that he missed the deadline for making the catch.
Tommy Battice, a member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, told a tribal panel Wednesday that he had landed the whitefish and lake trout near Ludington on Nov. 6.
But he insisted he had stopped removing them from the water before noon, when the season ended. 
Officers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources say Battice caught the fish after the deadline had passed. They issued him a citation and seized his catch, which they sold to wholesalers for $1,141.90. The money went to the tribe.
The Little River Band's Natural Resource Commission heard testimony from both sides. Chairman Jimmie Mitchell said it would rule within 10 days.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

Probably give him a slap on the wrist and a "Don't do that anymore". These guys don't care.................... :rant:


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Tribal fisherman denies breaking rules; DNR disagrees
MANISTEE -- A tribal fisherman says he played by the rules when harvesting 3,857 pounds of fish from Lake Michigan last fall, denying an accusation that he missed the deadline for making the catch.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/outdoors/0501/13/outdoors-59008.htm

ALSO:

Hearing held on alleged trap net fishing infraction

By BRIAN MULHERIN, Daily News Staff Writer 

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=25898

MANISTEE TOWNSHIP  A commercial fisherman accused of keeping 3,857 pounds of whitefish hours after a spawning-season fishing closure had his night in court Wednesday. A verdict is expected within 10 days.

Tommy Battice of Custer, who is licensed to use trap nets for whitefish by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, appeared before the tribes Natural Resources Commission on Wednesday, along with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers who issued him a citation. Battice, who has been licensed by the tribe for three years, faces a maximum penalty of a $250 fine, forfeiture of his catch and a 30-day suspension of his license if found guilty of the the violation. 

While the DNR ticket states Battice was retaining fish during a closed season, he maintains the fish were legally taken and he was on the water after a spawning closure only because he was repairing his nets. 

DNR Commercial Fisheries Division Conservation Officers Richard Bonner and Steve Huff said they were on patrol on Nov. 6, 2004, because the season closed at noon that day. They said that while in the Ludington area, they noticed a tug, the Robert Neil, moored at the Pere Marquette Township launch ramp on Pere Marquette Lake. It was a vessel they had not seen there before. Bonner told the commissioners that he and Huff then visited Coast Guard Station Ludington and asked to be notified if any vessels left the harbor. 

Bonner said it was roughly 12:50 p.m. when he got a call from the station notifying him that a tug had just passed the station on its way out of the harbor and had turned south upon entering Lake Michigan. 

Bonner said he and Huff, who had been northbound in their vehicle, turned around and returned to the Pere Marquette launch site, where they observed a reddish pickup truck loaded with fish boxes that were filled with ice. 

Bonner testified that he and Huff then left the access site and parked near the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant where they believed they would be able to see any activity. He said they observed what appeared to be two people pulling fish from a net. He said the men were working with long poles and removing fish from the net, although he said they could not see the individual fish from the distance, even with 14-power binoculars. 

Battices attorney, Angela Sherigan of the Warren-based law firm Wojnecka and Sherigan, asked Bonner to examine a photograph of a boat taken in roughly the same area where Battice was accused of fishing past the deadline. She presented Bonner a second photograph taken with 10-power magnification and asked him if his binoculars presented him with a better view. He said the boat in the picture appeared to be a gill-net tug, not a trap net tug, as Battice was aboard on Nov. 6. Bonner testified that he had a much better view of the situation than the photographs represented. 

Sherigan then asked Bonner and Huff if the vessel had been escorted in by the Coast Guard, as Bonner was quoted saying in newspaper stories. Bonner testified that the Coast Guard actually did not meet the boat on Lake Michigan, but instead followed the fishing boat in Pere Marquette Lake. Coast Guard Station Ludington officer-of-the-day Matt Fuller, a boatswains mate, second class, testified that when his boat arrived the fishing boat was already moored. 

Sherigan also asked Bonner about newspaper stories that quoted Bonner as saying, hopefully, these guys will get the message that this (behavior) wont be tolerated, and asked him if he believed it was fair that tribal fishermen operated under different rules than those licensed by the state. Bonner said it wasnt his place to judge what was fair, only to enforce the laws on the books. 

Battice testified that he was not, in fact, fishing after the closure, but repairing his nets, which had as many as 50 holes each. 

Bonner said Battice was one of the more helpful captains hed dealt with, noting that Battices mood seemed to be almost humorous, even while lobbying to keep his catch and calling a tribal law enforcement officer to ask about the rules governing the situation. 

The catch was transported by DNR conservation officers to several fish wholesalers  some as far away as Brevort in the Upper Peninsula  and sold for about $1,400; the money was given to the tribe. 

The laws governing tribal fishing are part of the 2000 Consent Decree between the State of Michigan and the tribes collectively represented by the Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority. The tribes retained the right to fish in the Great Lakes in a treaty signed with the federal government in 1836. The consent agreement gives the state the right to issue tickets, but the authority to administer judgment on violations rests with the tribes. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians has had a licensed commercial fishing operation since 2001. The tribe also employs its own conservation officers who issue citations for fishing violations. 

Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Natural Resources Commission Chairperson Jimmie Mitchell said Battices hearing was the fourth commercial fishing violation hearing heard by his panel. The panel will issue a decision on Battices case within 10 days. 

Also on Wednesday, the tribes NRC issued a press release with a decision on another case involving commercial fishing violations by a Little River Band-licensed fisherman. 

Levi Stone, who had a hearing Dec. 8 before the panel, was sentenced on eight of 11 charges ranging from failure to mark nets properly to failure to file catch reports. Stone pleaded no contest to the three failure-to-file-catch-report charges and was found guilty on five of the eight charges of failure to mark nets properly, which were brought by both state and tribal officers. 

Stone was fined $250, ordered to remove any and all nets not being used during the winter, to adequately store the nets and mark the remaining nets according to the most current standards as required by tribal regulation. Stone was also directed to produce evidence that he had taken proper steps in marking his nets and checking them according to Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority regulations. 

Bonner, who wrote several of the violations levied against Stone, said, Like I said Saturday (at the Michigan State University Sea Grant Meeting in Ludington), it wasnt our concern whether he was fined one dollar or $250, it was that the situation was corrected. 

Said Bonners superior, Sgt. Dan Hopkins: I think were definitely pleased with the outcome.


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## WILDCATWICK (Mar 11, 2002)

Do we have anybody gill netting at the mouths of Lake Huron rivers? None that I'm aware of . And our fishery is going to hell! I can tell you one thing the fishing boats based out of Sarnia run non stop and are bringing in alot of fish. They post up out from the St.clair river all the way to the Ausable river in Grand Bend Ontario.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Tribal fisherman fined, license suspended for violation

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=26022

By Brian Mulherin, Daily News Staff Writer, 1-24-2005

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Natural Resource Commission today announced its determination in the case of a tribally-licensed commercial fisherman charged with fishing during a whitefish season closure.

Tommy Battice was found to be in violation of Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority regulations that set a closure on the commercial whitefish season from noon Nov. 6-Nov. 30, 2004. Michigan Department of Natural Resources officers seized 3,857 pounds of whitefish from Battices boat after noon on Nov. 6. 

The citation issued by the MDNR conservation officers was referred to the NRC for hearing. Battice, who defended his case in front of the NRC on January 12, was fined $250, received a 30-day suspension of his trap net fishing permit and forfeiture of the proceeds from the catch  a total of $1,141.90. 

According to a press release from the tribe, the finding was mitigated by inconsistencies in reporting on the part of all parties that were brought out during the hearing. The NRC emphasized in its finding that it was difficult to reach the conclusion it did because a number of statements attributed to the MDNR officers in the media were inconsistent with the facts as testified to by the MDNR officers, something the MDNR officers could not explain. 

In spite of the inconsistencies in reporting, the NRC believes that the proofs submitted by the MDNR officers were substantial and that Mr. Battice was on the water beyond the mandated deadline. the press release states. The commission noted that Mr. Battice did not produce more direct testimony rebutting the proofs of the MDNR officers and that if he had,  this case may have reached a different outcome. 

Battice maintained during his hearing that he was repairing nets while observed on the water during the closure. 

Sgt. Dan Hopkins of the Michigan DNR commercial fisheries enforcement division said he could not comment on the NRC findings.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Tribal commission rules commercial fisherman made illegal catch

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw110593_20050125.htm

January 25, 2005, 9:42 AM 

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A panel with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians has ruled against a tribal fisherman accused of illegally harvesting 3,857 pounds of fish from Lake Michigan last fall. 

The tribe's Natural Resources Commission late last week upheld a citation issued by state conservation officers to Tommy Battice, a resident of Custer in Mason County. 

Battice was fined $250 and forfeited $1,141.90 paid by wholesalers for the whitefish and lake trout he caught. His commercial fishing permit was suspended for 30 days. 

"This ruling shows that the tribe and in particular the Natural Resources Commission do take this type of thing very seriously," tribal spokesman Glenn Zaring said Tuesday. 

Battice's attorney, Angela Sherigan, said she was disappointed and would appeal to the tribal court. 

"I am very surprised that the decision came out this way," she said. "My client has maintained from day one that he did not do this." 

Officers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources issued the citation Nov. 6 after Battice docked his boat near Ludington. 

During a hearing earlier this month at tribal headquarters in Manistee, DNR Sgt. Richard Bonner said he and another officer were tipped by the Coast Guard that a tribal fishing tug had entered Lake Michigan shortly after commercial fishing season had expired. 

Regulations set by the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, an organization representing five Michigan tribes, prohibit commercial fishing in parts of the Great Lakes from noon Nov. 6 through noon Nov. 29 to protect spawning. 

Bonner said he and another officer used high-powered binoculars to observe the boat from shore. He said men on board appeared to be dipping fish onto the deck for several hours from large trap nets that had been set in the water. 

Battice acknowledged catching fish that day, but insisted he stopped before the noon deadline. He said he didn't return to shore right away because he needed to repair holes in the nets.


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## steelhead1 (Jan 2, 2005)

I wonder if take a bunch of walleyes after season if I'll only get a 250 dollar fine? Some how I doubt it.


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