3.13.010 Findings

The Tribal Council finds that the fisheries of the Bad River Tribe, both on the reservation and in Lake Superior, constitute important communal resources possessed by the Tribe as a whole. The Bad River Tribe has a long history of lake and river fishing and a long history of respect for the fish its members pursue. Both before and after the treaty era, Bad River members fished for subsistence, consuming some of the fish they caught, and selling, on a subsistence level, others. Tribal members have also fished for market on a commercial scale, and the time is not so far past when commercial fishing wharves lined the Bad River at Old Odanah, home port to member-owned fishing steamers.

The Tribe's interests in the fish of the reservation and of the Lake continue to today. Today's interest is to see that the fish populations survive for harvest tomorrow, and into generations yet unseen. The Tribe's interest is also to provide a source of subsistence - for home use consumption and also for small scale market activity - to its members. Finally, the Tribe's interest is to provide a stable, protected source for the livelihood of those of its members who pursue the Lake's fish on a commercial scale.

To meet these interests, the Tribe has embarked on a cooperative management program with the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewas and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is only through the joint efforts of the three sovereigns with rights in the Lakes' resources that effective regulation and equitable sharing of the resource can be achieved. This chapter is therefore promulgated.