If passed, these bills would authorize commercial take of key recreational fish species, allowing commercial operations to net, harvest and sell sportfish caught in Michigan’s Great Lakes waters. This legislation would allow commercial operators to gillnet game fish – walleye, yellow perch, lake trout – fisheries that recreational dollars have restored, conserved and managed for decades.

After decades of careful rebuilding, Michigan’s fisheries are a testament to conservation and sustainable management. Walleye, yellow perch and lake trout populations are managed with anglers’ dollars, as the Michigan DNR relies on revenue from fishing licenses, boat registrations and Dingell-Johnson excise taxes on sportfishing equipment. Permitting commercial netting of these fisheries would unwind decades of progress, undermining science-based management and allowing a small group of commercial fishermen to profit from decades of careful conservation and recreational investment. 

Recreational fishing is the backbone of communities across Michigan. Sportfishing makes a significant contribution to the state’s economy – annually, 1.15 million anglers spend $2 billion while fishing in Michigan. House Bills 5801 and 5802, by enabling the commercial harvest of recreational fisheries, jeopardize dozens of manufacturers, bait and tackle shops, boat dealers and marinas and charter captains and guides statewide. 

Complete the action alert to your right to call on your legislators to OPPOSE House Bills 5801 and 5802, and to keep gamefish out of commercial nets.