AG asks court to throw out tribe’s suit on fishing rights

Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The state's attorney general asked a federal judge on Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit filed by the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma seeking commercial fishing rights on Lake Erie without government restrictions.

The lawsuit, filed in June against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, says the state should not be allowed to regulate or limit the tribe's fishing rights based on a 200-year-old treaty.

The tribe told the state this year that it wanted Ohio to recognize its fishing rights and that it intended to use gill net fishing in Lake Erie, a practice that's illegal in Ohio.

Petro earlier this year rejected the tribe's claim for at least part of the North Bass Island. He said professors at two Ohio universities found no credible evidence the tribe had inhabited, used or controlled the island.

The state bought much of the island in 2003.

An attorney for the tribe has said that the Ottawas were not planning to use the claim as leverage to win a casino deal. The Ottawas are among at least three tribes that have pursued a casino in Ohio.

There are no federally recognized Indian tribes or lands in Ohio.