Category: Fishing

Consumers Energy Foundation awards $70,000 to support Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative

Northern Michigan University, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, has received a Consumers Energy Foundation grant of $70,000 to support efforts to bring back the Arctic grayling to Michigan waters.

Combined with support from the Henry E. and Consuelo S. Wenger Foundation, the Consumers Energy Foundation grant will fund an evaluation of several types of chambers for rearing Arctic grayling eggs in Michigan streams. Remote site incubator designs successfully used to rear eggs in Montana streams work well there, but their successful operation is less certain in Michigan streams. This project will evaluate alternative approaches to the RSI design in lab and stream environments to determine which will be most efficient and reliable for Michigan’s stream environments. .

“This is the second contribution we have received from the Consumers Energy Foundation since we started our initiative to bring Arctic grayling back to Michigan,” said DNR Fisheries Division Chief Jim Dexter. “With their partnership we are able to get closer to meeting our goals and seeing success.” Read more

Fishing

Michigan: Time to Apply for 2022 Conservation Officer Academies

Now is the time to get started for anyone interested in becoming a Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer in 2022. The DNR is currently accepting applications for two conservation officer academies to be offered this year. Applications are due Monday, Feb. 28.“

If you’re looking for a rewarding career where you can spend time outside and teaching others about the outdoors, don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of a DNR conservation officer recruit school,” said Chief Gary Hagler, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Our recruits say the conservation officer academy is one of the biggest and best challenges of their lives, setting them up for success in a one-of-a-kind career they love.

”Steps to apply

A physical fitness test and entry-level law enforcement exam are the first two steps toward submitting an application.

  • Sign up for a physical fitness test offered through the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards. Upcoming test locations include:
    • Feb. 5 at Macomb Community College (Wayne County).
    • Feb. 13 at Delta College (Bay County).
    • Feb. 13 at Wayne County Regional Police Academy.
    • Feb. 18 at West Shore Community College (Mason County).
    • Feb. 26 at Michigan State Police Training Academy in Dimondale (Eaton County). This physical fitness test is for conservation officer applicants only and will allow a maximum of 30 people. To sign up, email DNR-LED-Employment-Training@Michigan.gov.
  • Complete the National Testing Network entry-level law enforcement exam. A passing test score is valid for one year. While the civil service exam is currently unavailable, applicants residing in Michigan who have successfully completed the civil service exam within the past five years can submit those exam results.
  • After receiving passing test results, candidates can submit their applications through the State of Michigan job openings website.

Candidates should be motivated self-starters with excellent communication skills who enjoy helping others learn about natural resources.Applicants are not required to have a college education, background in law enforcement, or fish and game experience. All conservation officer recruits will receive comprehensive training during the academy, as well as being paired with veteran DNR conservation officers during their first assignments after graduation.

Anyone interested in learning more or asking about the hiring process is encouraged to contact a recruiter.Michigan conservation officers are fully commissioned law enforcement officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect citizens through general law enforcement and conducting lifesaving operations in the communities they serve. Learn more at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers.

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Montana Elk Habitat Protected, Open to Public Access

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and U.S. Forest Service worked with a willing landowner to conserve two private inholdings of wildlife habitat and conveyed them to the Lolo National Forest. The 1,040-acre transaction took place just west of Lolo, a small western Montana town about 10 miles south of Missoula.

“We greatly appreciate YT Timber for asking us to conserve this land and help transfer it into the public’s hands,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “This acreage serves as both important winter range and a movement corridor for elk, moose, deer and other wildlife species.”

The transaction opens public access to the 1,040 acres and secures new access points to several thousand acres of surrounding public lands. In doing so, it alleviates challenges for hunters and others because of the area’s checkboard ownership pattern.

“This project secures the last remaining and intact wildlife movement zone across the north end of the Bitterroot Valley between the Bitterroot Mountain Range and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to the south and west, the Sapphire Mountain Range to the east and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the north,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “Maintaining contiguous public ownership in this area ensures the protection of these larger movement corridors.”

In addition to providing prime wildlife habitat in the form of forested conifers, aspen and other vegetation, the two parcels feature key riparian habitat since more than one mile of Bear Creek, Camp Creek and Sleeman Creek, all headwater streams and tributaries of Lolo Creek below, cross the property. The transaction protects these spawning and rearing areas for native westslope cutthroat trout and other fish species. Read more

Fishing, Hunting

POMA Adds Operations Support Specialist

 

GW:  Ah, yes.  The young lady who was always helping with the administration of our media events.  She’s paid those dues and couldn’t have chosen a better major in college.  Best of luck, Cassidy!

JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, January 24, 2022 — The Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) is pleased to announce the addition of Cassidy Bailey as its new Operations Support Specialist.

Bailey will provide support to POMA’s management in the daily operations of the organization, with a focus on customer service and helping to plan and implement events.

“In the true spirit of POMA being a family, Cassidy’s involvement began in 2009 when she volunteered to help at POMA’s annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri,” said Shelly Moore, POMA Membership Director, and Cassidy’s mom. “Since then, she has been a staple at the annual event, enthusiastically helping POMA staff and members with anything needed and taking on more responsibility each year. Many POMA members have watched her grow up and their influence has helped shape her, both professionally and personally, into who she is today.”

Thomas MacAulay, POMA Executive Director, said, “Cassidy has been a tremendous team player, and we appreciate all that she has done. We are excited to see her grow in this new position that we feel is vital to our organization’s growth as we continue our efforts to provide more value for our members and the outdoor media community.”

Bailey added, “I am so grateful for the opportunity to further my career with POMA. This organization has greatly impacted my life. I am excited to be part of the POMA team and look forward to being involved in growing the organization.” Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Michigan: continuing DNR pilot project clears the way for UP winter fishing access

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is continuing a pilot program begun last winter to keep boating access sites plowed at more than two dozen popular Upper Peninsula ice fishing locations.

Various local partners have agreed to assist the DNR with the program to ensure access to ice fishing opportunities in the U.P. are available consistently during snow conditions.

The 25 locations – situated across 11 of the U.P.’s 15 counties – are DNR boating access sites managed for recreational boating. Read more

Fishing

U.S. LawShield Offers Protection for Hunters & Anglers

Houston, Texas –– U.S. LawShield®, industry leader and America’s largest provider of Legal Defense for Self Defense® coverage, protects members from legal fallout if forced to defend themselves. But were you aware they offer additional coverage that protects outdoor enthusiasts? The HunterShield® add-on provides legal protection for unintentional wildlife violations arising from hunting and fishing activities.

“Whether you’re a seasoned hunter or a novice, accidents and mistakes happen,” said P.J. Hermosa, CEO of U.S. LawShield. “Unique to the outdoor industry, HunterShield recognizes the fine print, red tape, and confusion surrounding wildlife laws. Even the most experienced hunters and anglers find themselves at risk of unintentionally breaking the law. Without proper legal defense, a violation could cost you more than just time and money. It could cost your rights to ever hunt and fish again.”

According to Tim Woods, U.S. LawShield National Director of Sales, “Outdoor enthusiasts who hunt and fish are essential to wildlife conservation, and when the laws are constantly changing, they need their questions answered by experts. We can help protect our lands and preserve our natural resources with quality education and tenacious legal defense for responsible sportsmen and women.” Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Gamakatsu® DuraScent Salmon Eggs: As Good As the Real Thing

GW: Sure looks like a good alternative to coming up with fresh eggs during any outings to catch Steelhead or Salmon.

Tacoma, Washington – Gamakatsu takes their innovations into the saltwater soft bait market with the introduction of DuraScent baits. Whatever saltwater species anglers are chasing, there’s a DuraScent offering tailor-made for that purpose, with built-in features that outfish and outlast the competition.

DuraScent Salmon Eggs are so incredibly natural-looking that they’re as good as the real thing. In fact, because of their exceptional durability and versatility, they may be better than the real thing. Whether fish are feeding by sight or scent, and whether anglers thread one egg on a hook or tie them in a cluster, the shrimp-infused extreme scent of these replicas will fool a wide variety of species into striking. Buoyant material that floats creates a natural look and feel that’s deadly on steelhead, trout, salmon, panfish and just about any other species, versatile in both freshwater and saltwater. Anglers can tie several together using a series of overhand knots to adjust the amount of bait presented. Because of their incredible ability to stretch to over six times their length, anglers will spend less time rigging baits and more time reeling in fish.

DuraScent Salmon Egg Features:

    • Infused with all-natural blend of fish attracting shrimp scent
    • Extremely durable, lasts longer than traditional soft plastics
    • Super-soft elastomer stretches to over six times its length
    • Buoyant material floats providing life-like presentation
    • Non-toxic formula free of plastisol and phthalates
    • Scent can be “refreshed” by giving them a good stretch
    • Size: 7mm (diameter of each egg)
    • Scent: Shrimp
    • Colors: Red, Creamsicle, Cerise, Pearl Pink, Pink Sheen
    • Qty/Pkg: 5 strands per package, 10 individual eggs per strand

Read more

Fishing

RFA “Fundamentally Opposed” to Selloff of 480,000 Acres of Oceanic Resources

NEW GRETNA: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today that they will hold a wind auction next month for more than 480,000 acres offshore New York and New Jersey, in the area known as the New York Bight. For perspective, this is an area 2/3 the size of Yosemite National Park or 5 times the size of the city of Philadelphia.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is fundamentally opposed to the selloff of our oceanic resources. Not only do these proposed wind farms pose threats to navigation for mariners, but they also have untold effects on marine life and the people who make their living from the sea, as well as the 1.5 million saltwater anglers who fish New York and New Jersey. The recreational fishing community’s concerns have continually been pushed aside and today’s announcement is another example.

In 2018 (the last year we have data for*), NY & NJ recreational saltwater fishing generated over $3 billion in sales impacts, $1.7 billion in value-added, and supported 2.7 million jobs in the regional marine fishing sector and across the broader economy. Wind farms have the potential to disrupt the very fisheries that drive this industry and economic output. In addition to creating an unprecedented navigational hazard, the impacts to offshore wind will be felt not just within the lease area boundaries but along the beaches and bays of coastal states as migration patterns of important fish stocks are altered or disrupted. Those impacts will mean lost jobs for many who make their living from recreational fishing– from the guy who sells tackle to the boat builder to the charter boat captain.

RFA questions why BOEM would proceed with additional lease area auctions while we are still working to get a handle on how the current 15 leases areas will impact marine fisheries, fish habitat, ocean currents and safety at sea. The increased navigational risks to fish in or sail through the 480,000 acres with its exclusionary zones during construction and around the substations, many fishermen may opt to avoid the area altogether.

And there has been far too little scientific research on the potential of wind farms to degrade the marine environment and alter the migratory paths of crucial fisheries. Seabed disturbances from construction will impact many species’ food sources. Saltwater anglers can’t fish if there are no fish.

The government sees wind farms as a political win for “green energy”. The saltwater fishing community sees lost jobs, a lost way of life, and a looming environmental catastrophe. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: Black Lake sturgeon season begins Feb. 5

Michigan’s 2022 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake in Cheboygan County will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5. All anglers must register online by Feb. 4 to participate in the fishing season.

The harvest limit for the 2022 season on Black Lake is six lake sturgeon. To prevent overfishing, Department of Natural Resources officials will close the season when one of two scenarios occurs:

  1. The sixth fish is harvested.
  2. Five fish have been harvested at the end of any fishing day.

Fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day of the season. The season will end either at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, or when one of the above scenarios is met, at which point anglers will be notified via text message and on the ice by DNR personnel that they must immediately stop fishing for lake sturgeon. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: EGLE Settles with Verso Corp. for 2020 Fish Kill

Verso to pay nearly $250,000 in civil penalties and natural resource damages

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy today announced a settlement with Verso Corp. over National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System violations at the company’s Escanaba Mill.

The permit violations concern a “black liquor” release to the wastewater treatment facility at Verso’s paper mill on Aug. 6, 2020, which resulted in fish being killed in the Escanaba River downstream of the mill.

The mill generates black liquor – a high-strength organic pollutant – as a byproduct of its process of turning pulpwood into paper pulp for the mill’s craft paper-making process. Typically, black liquor is concentrated and burned as an energy source.

Under the settlement, the Ohio-based company will pay more the $244,451 in civil penalties and natural resource damages and will make spill prevention and containment improvements to its facilities to ensure protection of the Escanaba River and Lake Michigan.

The river empties into Lake Michigan south of the mill. Read more

Fishing, General
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