MINNEAPOLIS — Science can come in handy when it suits your biases. Otherwise — especially in the case of fish and wildlife management — it can be a hassle.

Just ask those who are complaining about the Department of Natural Resources' recent declaration that anglers this spring and early summer on Mille Lacs can't keep any walleyes.

None. Nada.

Only beginning on Aug. 16 will anglers on the big lake be able to stow one walleye, and then only if it measures between 21 and 23 inches or is longer than 28 inches.

A little history:

In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in an 1837 treaty case, laid the groundwork for co-management of Mille Lacs fisheries by the Department of Natural Resources and eight Chippewa bands. One result was establishment by the DNR and the bands of annual "safe harvest levels" of Mille Lacs walleyes, with each party taking a portion of the surplus.

The 2024 Mille Lacs harvestable walleye surplus, for example, is 157,500 pounds, with the state's share (to be taken by sport anglers) set at 91,550 pounds. These amounts are lower than the 2023 Mille Lacs harvestable walleye surplus of 175,000 pounds, with anglers getting 103,000 pounds and the bands awarded the balance.

This year's reductions — and particularly the DNR's edict that no angler-caught walleyes can be kept from Mille Lacs in spring and early summer (when fishing is generally productive, compared to the dog days of August) — are being challenged by various anglers and angler groups, who complain the DNR is underestimating the lake's walleyes and therefore unnecessarily imposing its no-harvest restriction.

Some anglers also say a percentage of Mille Lacs walleyes should be harvested to better balance the number of big and small walleyes in the lake, or so Mille Lacs walleye numbers are better aligned with the lake's reduced forage base.

My opinion is that DNR fisheries scientists who study Mille Lacs are correct on this one, and any attempt to muscle agency management or the governor's office to overturn the no-harvest restriction not only constitutes a bad look for anglers, it could backfire and shut the lake down this summer, even to catch-and-release walleye angling.

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