New regulations to address a low population of adult walleye in Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County were approved at Thursday’s Michigan Natural Resources Commission meeting in Lansing.

The regulations, approved by Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries, are the result of a collaborative resolution reached by the DNR and the five Tribes in the 1836 Treaty-ceded territory of Michigan. The new regulations will allow for harvest of walleyes to continue on the lake in 2010 by state-licensed recreational anglers.

The new regulations take effect for the 2010 fishing season on April 1.

The regulations were developed in collaboration with many of the recreational fishing groups in the area, as well as the Indian River Chamber of Commerce. Changes to the regulations include a change in bag limit and season length for walleye for state-licensed recreational anglers. The regulations cover Mullett Lake proper, the Cheboygan River from Mullett Lake downstream to the Cheboygan Dam, and the Black River from Alverno Dam downstream to its confluence with the Cheboygan River.

In those areas, the bag limit for the harvest of walleye by state-licensed recreational anglers will be three walleye per day. The walleye season for state-licensed recreational anglers on Mullett Lake will be May 15 to March 15.

The State and Tribes have agreed to work together to develop a multi-faceted approach to monitoring and enhancing the walleye population over next five years, through the 2014 fishing season.

The plan includes a collaborative assessment and monitoring program by both the state and the Tribes that encompasses continued creel surveys for the 2010 fishing season, a joint assessment of the entire chain of lakes, and longer term the potential to develop a joint fish stocking effort.

"These changes will protect the adult walleye population in the lake, while offering state-licensed recreational anglers the opportunity to continue harvesting walleye," said DNR Fisheries Chief Kelley Smith.

"Both the State and the Tribes are concerned with the walleye population in the lake, and our plan is to address it together."

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, accessible use and enjoyment of the State’s natural resources for current and future generations.