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VHS in Lake Superior another blow to tribal fishing
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Story posted Tuesday at 10:35 a.m. 2/2/2010 |
The deadly fish virus VHS in Lake Superior is threatening one of the Anishinaabe people’s most valuable resources. Joe Cadotte reports from Superior.
The Anishinaabe people have relied on Lake Superior for centuries, fishing its waters as one of its main sources of food. Red Cliff Band of Chippewa Vice Chair Marvin Defoe says the presence of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia in Lake Superior could cause major fish kills, as it has in other Great Lakes.
“Our village, our area here is a fishing village. Not only our ancestors have utilized the lake for subsistence fishing for our food source not only currently today our people utilize the lake for food and for livelihood. There’s a substantial amount of individuals that go out there and home use fish, there’s commercial fisherman that go out there and fish for the community. You may have one person who’s going to feed 100 families.”
Defoe says VHS in Lake Superior is frustrating.
“Here again is another foreign body to not just the native fish but to the native community, the native part of the native water. Even the tribal members who aren’t born yet are affected. And they are going to be affected by what’s happening today. It may be a miniscule little part where VHS is coming into the lake. I think that’s one part of the picture, the Chippewa world view of the lake.”
To reduce the risk of VHS contaminating tribal waters Red Cliff Treaty Natural Resources Biologist Matt Symbal says they’re taking precautions.
”With our hatchery with have brook trout and walleye and we’ve had those fish tested for VHS prior to our stocking. We spray out boats down before we go from one lake to another.”
Defoe says nearly all tribal members eat locally caught fish. And there are 18 commercial fishing boats operating from Red Cliff.
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