THE CHALLENGE | Misportfishing

Michigan’s commercial fishing regulations have not been updated since the 1960s, and most of the state statute language dates to 1929. Commercial license fees have not been modified since 1968 and are inadequate to fund the program’s administration and enforcement. Today, recreational anglers bear the burden of subsidizing the commercial industry… funds that could otherwise be used for habitat improvement, fish stocking, fisheries education programs, and more. This legislation is supported by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, local, state and national conservation organizations, and communities around the state.

The recreational fishing community seeks proposed legislation that uses a common sense and scientific approach to managing our fisheries resources. We support legislation that:

Creates a list of all species available for commercial harvest, in turn protecting game species
Requires commercial netters to check their nets regularly and regulates the allowable gear in relation to the time of year and location of net.
Requires commercial netters to publicly disclose GPS coordinates of nets
Establishes penalties for the taking, possessing or selling of specific species. Game fish unlawfully taken will incur a higher fine
Creates penalties for a person intentionally obstructing the legal taking of fish
Updates the commercial netting fee structure so that the commercial industry moves toward paying its own costs for management and administration
Allows the DNR to better enforce and promulgate laws related to commercial netting - currently that authority resides with the legislature
Requires the DNR to conduct a bycatch study at least once every three years in at least three active commercial fisheries and use the results of those studies to adjust harvest, allowable gear, and other license conditions.