Category: Fishing

New Legislation Introduced to Ban Fish Farms in the Great Lakes

New legislation has been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives by Rep. Jon Bumstead (R-Newago) to ban commercial net-pen fish farms in the Great Lakes, which poses disease, escapement and effluent risks to Great Lakes fisheries. House Bill 5255 would ban commercial cage culture operations from Michigan-controlled waters of the Great Lakes

Call your representatives on the House Natural Resources and Agriculture committees and tell them to protect Great Lakes fisheries!

“This is just common sense,” said Bumstead. “The Great Lakes support a $7 billion sport fishery. Why would the state authorize an unnecessary risk to the Great Lakes economy? This legislation will ensure that it doesn’t.”

This legislation comes in the midst of competing legislation to specifically authorize commercial net-pen fish farms – also called cage culture – in the Great Lakes following two proposals for siting in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

“Commercial cage culture poses serious risks to wild fisheries,” said Dr. Bryan Burroughs, executive director of the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited. “These risks include escapement and breeding with wild fish, making them less genetically fit to survive in the wild, passing disease from immune domestic fish to wild fish which are not immune to the diseases, and, especially, the effluent deposited by concentrated populations of domestic fish into lakes.” Read more

Fishing

U.S. Senate Committee Approves Top Sportsmen’s Priorities

Sportsmen Contacts Needed ASAP

On Jan. 20, the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee approved a bill containing some of the top priorities of the hunting and fishing community, including the Sportsmen’s Alliance.

  1. 659, the second half of the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2016, includes a key provision sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R- Montana) directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List. Despite greatly exceeding population targets for delisting, anti-hunting groups successfully persuaded a federal judge to keep wolves protected. The amendment returning wolves to the state management, which has been advocated for and supported by the Alliance, passed on a voice vote.

The committee also rejected an attempt by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) that would have stripped language preventing the EPA from regulating lead in ammunition. Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act Advances to Senate Floor

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee improves and passes important fisheries legislation

Alexandria, VA – The sportfishing industry applauds the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for advancing the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015. This bill, which will improve fisheries conservation and recreational fishing access throughout the country, has now cleared all committees of jurisdiction in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and now awaits action on the floor of both chambers. Read more

Fishing, Hunting

MI DNR creel clerks collecting angler information this winter

Creel clerk interviewing an angler along river

As the winter fishing season gets under way, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds anglers that fisheries staff again will be interviewing them about their fishing trips. The DNR appreciates anglers’ cooperation in obtaining these critical data for fisheries management.

DNR creel clerks will, through brief interviews, ask anglers thow long they fished, what species they targeted, what they caught and where they live. In a few instances, they will ask to measure or weigh fish and take scale samples to gather key biological information on anglers’ catches. Read more

Fishing

Sportsmen’s Act Scheduled for Senate Committee Markup

On Wednesday, January 20, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is scheduled to hold a markup on the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 659).

In March 2015, after a testimony before Congress with various stakeholders and supporters, including Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, S. 405, was split for two mark ups: S. 556 includes provisions that were marked up the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, and S. 659 includes the remaining provisions that will be reviewed by the EPW Committee. After the passage of S. 556, with overwhelming support from the ENR Committee in November, the second portion of the bill awaits its review in order to move forward to a full Senate floor vote.

S. 659 includes: the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (adding lead fishing tackle and components to the list of exempted products from EPA regulation); Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act; Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act; Farmer and Hunter Protection Act; protecting the right of individuals to bear arms at water resource development projects; and the reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Act.

In anticipation of next week’s markup, contact your Members of Congress on the Senate EPW Committee and urge them to support the interests of America’s sportsmen and women during the mark up of S. 659.

– See more at: http://www.sportsmenslink.org/the-media-room/news/sportsmens-act-scheduled-for-senate-committee-markup#sthash.e0voN157.dpuf

Fishing, Hunting

2016 Michigan Lake Sturgeon Season on Black Lake to begin Feb. 6


Shanties participating in sturgeon season on Black LakeThe Department of Natural Resources has announced the 2016 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake (Cheboygan County) will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. All anglers must register to participate in the lake sturgeon season.The 2016 total harvest limit for Black Lake is seven lake sturgeon. However, to reduce the chance of exceeding the harvest limit, officials will close the season when one of two scenarios occurs:
1) Once the sixth fish is harvested, or
2) If five fish have been harvested at the end of any fishing day. Read more
Fishing

No-License Days in Michigan Feb. 13-14


Free Fishing WeekendThe Department of Natural Resources wants to remind everyone the annual Winter Free Fishing Weekend is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13, and Sunday, Feb. 14. That weekend, everyone – residents and non-residents alike – can fish without a license, though all other fishing regulations still apply.

Michigan has celebrated the Winter Free Fishing Weekend every year since 1994 as a way to promote awareness of the state’s vast aquatic resources. With more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and 11,000 inland lakes, Michigan and fishing are a perfect match. Read more

Fishing

New Plano® M-Series Hydro-Flo™ Tackle Bag


Award-winning Hydro-Flo design applied to hanging bait storage in all-new Plano® M-Series Hydro-Flo™ Tackle BagPlano, IL – In 2011, Plano’s original Guide Series 4674 Hydro-Flo™ Tackle Bag earned an ICAST “Best of Show” for an ingenious design that allowed water to flow right through the base of the bag, an industry first. Since then, the Hydro-Flo has become a favorite with anglers the world over. Read more
Fishing

New LED Angle Lights from Nightstick®


Additional standard features include low battery indicator, multiple power options, and 3.5 day Survival mode increase safety at affordable priceBayco Products, Inc has introduced three new Nightstick® branded Intrinsically Safe Class I, Division 1 Angle lights that offer more standard lifesaving features and functions than existing angle lights currently offered in the market today. New models: XPP-5570R, XPR-5572R, and XPR-5572RM now available for global sale.

Each new Nightstick angle light model is cULus and MSHA certified Intrinsically Safe Permissible, water-rated as IP-X7 waterproof and meets requirements of NFPA-1971-8.6 (2013). Made from durable glass-filled nylon polymer, these individually serialized angle lights feature a heavy-duty stainless-steel pocket clip that eliminate slippage when attached to a firefighter’s jacket or respirator pack and include a top-mounted visible low-battery indicator that illuminates in low battery situations. Read more

Fishing, Hunting
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