Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Michigan’s Free Fishing Weekends: An annual tradition
The 2016 Free Fishing Weekends are scheduled for this winter: February 13 & 14 and this summer: June 11 & 12.
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
“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
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.
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
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
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
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
The following rebates are being offered from January 1 to June 1, 2016, on some of Minn Kota’s most popular motors: Read more
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