Six suspects were arrested in connection with an alleged illegal commercial fishing operation on Little Bay de Noc. Now it is been a year and no charges have been officially filed yet. The current status of the case is that the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Marquette continues to review the matter, said Cpl. Shannon VanPatten, a local conservation officer with the Commercial Fish Enforcement Unit of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Quality.
It is told that the arrests were the result of a DNRE investigation which revealed an unusually high amount of walleye being sold in the wholesale fish market, initially brought to attention by VanPatten. After getting the surveillance report the conservation officers seized 265 pounds of fish illegally harvested from the bay and 1,200 feet in gill nets in late February.
Five tribal members from the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe and one resident of Delta County were arrested in connection with the alleged illegal commercial fishing operation. VanPatten said that a portion of the case is still being reviewed by the US Attorney’s Office in Marquette. Since the six men were arrested, DRNE officials have met with officials from Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S Attorney’s Office in Marquette.
