The bill that could change who catches what in Lake Michigan
Two bills moving through the Michigan Legislature would allow licensed commercial fishermen to harvest walleye and lake trout on the Great Lakes, a shift that could reshape fishing access in waters off the Muskegon shoreline.
The state House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee held a hearing on the legislation last week. The hearing drew sharp division between commercial fishermen who say their industry is dying and recreational anglers who say the change would threaten popular sport fisheries.
Whitefish collapse drives the push
Lake whitefish are the backbone of Michigan's commercial fishing industry. But catches have plunged 70% since 2009, according to data cited at the committee hearing. Invasive mussels are siphoning the whitefish's main food source, and the decline shows no sign of reversing.
"If something's not done, we're all going to go away in the next five or 10 years," said Dana Serafin, a commercial fisherman out of Pinconning.
The bills would open access to lake trout and walleye, species that are currently off-limits to most state-licensed commercial fishers. Supporters say the change would give the struggling industry a lifeline.
Recreational anglers and the DNR push back
The proposal faces organized opposition. Michigan has 1.2 million recreational fishing licenses with a collective economic impact of about $4 billion, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The state's commercial fleet has dwindled to just a handful of boats bringing in a few million dollars' worth of fish annually.
The Michigan Anglers Consortium sent a letter to lawmakers contending that commercial fishing would "introduce industrial-scale harvest pressure on species whose populations remain fragile."
The Department of Natural Resources also opposes the bills. DNR fisheries chief Randy Claramount warned the legislation would invite lawsuits and increase tensions between fishing communities.
"These attempts at a wholesale rewrite of the entire commercial fishing statute are accomplishing one thing. It's deepening the divide between recreational and commercial fishers," Claramount said.
Muskegon's charter captains weigh in
The debate is not confined to Lansing. Charter boat captains along the Lake Michigan shoreline, including in the Grand Haven area near Muskegon, have raised concerns about how the bills would affect their operations.
Brian Moat, co-owner of FishGH in Grand Haven, said he understands the commercial industry's struggle but warned that the same population problems could spread to other species if the bills pass.
"In other places throughout the world commercial fishing has decimated a lot of the population, so we just don't want to see that happen here," Moat said.
Brian Butts, owner of Sea Flea Charters, said he opposes the current bills but remains open to changes that would support the fishing industry without affecting charter operations.
Lawmakers divided on the path forward
Both sides agree that current fishing regulations are outdated. Many were written decades ago, when overfishing and invasive lamprey were the top concerns and the mussel crisis had not yet begun.
"Temporary rules became permanent policy while the lakes changed, the science changed, the economy changed," said Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, a chief sponsor of the legislation.
Fishing access in the Great Lakes is controlled by a web of state law, policy, and court settlements that divide access between recreational anglers, tribal anglers, and state-regulated commercial fishers. Commercial operations generally harvest whitefish. Recreational anglers target salmon. Tribes and recreational anglers share lake trout.
Rep. David Preston, R-Cedar River, a cosponsor of the legislation, described the hearing as the start of a prolonged conversation about the future of fisheries.
"We're going to solve this. I've got a room full of people that love fish, and we're talking about fishing," Preston said.
The bills remain under consideration in the House committee. No vote has been scheduled.