Credit Kelly House / Bridge Michigan
Dana Serafin still hauls in 20,000-pound boatloads of whitefish to supply regional restaurants and markets, but in recent years, the Saginaw Bay fisherman has found it more difficult to fill his orders.
Native whitefish, the main livelihood for Serafin and other Great Lakes commercial fishers, have been in decline for years amid changes to the food web, replaced in Serafin’s nets by healthier populations of walleye and lake trout that he’s not allowed to keep.
Mark Lentz tosses back a walleye that turned up in a Serafin Fishery net earlier this week in Saginaw Bay. As whitefish numbers decline in the Great Lakes, Lentz and other commercial fishers argue they should be able to keep the walleye that swim into their nets.
‘It is full steam ahead for us’ says Great Lakes fishing company after Michigan DNR lifts 2021 restrictions
Updated Feb 19, 2021;
Posted Feb 19, 2021
A view of some of the whitefish that were collected during a day of commercial fishing on Lake Huron with Bay Port Fish on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, Bay Port, Mich. Rachel Ellis | MLive.com
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LANSING, MI - Whitefish fans may be in luck this year after all now that Michigan’s commercial fishermen say that they’re able to go ahead and fish as usual after the state reversed recent restrictions on their industry.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reversed a set of regulations that it had issued for 2021 related to commercial fishing in the Great Lakes. The DNR normally issues a fishing order each year to set the stage for the upcoming season, however this year’s order 243.21 was different than past years. New restrictions were implemented that sounded the alarm among the state’s commercial fisherme
Bay Port Fish Company sees fishing season reopen with DNR decision
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Bay Port Fish Company and the other commercial fisheries in Michigan received good news Feb. 11 when the DNR updated the fisheries order and restored their season. (Michigan Sea Grant/Courtesy Photo)
The owners of Bay Port Fish Company along with a dozen other active commercial fisheries in the state could breath a sigh of relief Feb. 11 when they received a revised fisheries order from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which effectively restored the 2021 fishing season.
According to Bay Port Fish Company Co-Owner Lakon Williams, the business received the fisheries order update Feb. 11.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is responsible for managing the state’s natural resources and for balancing the interests of businesses, residents and visitors to the Great Lakes. The DNR’s recent decision to overhaul fishing regulations and delay the licenses for commercial fishers, however, appears to have tipped the scales against one interest without sufficient reason.
A 2019 report, published by the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, claims recreational fishing in Michigan generates $2.3 billion in economic activity. The hundreds of thousands of people who fish for fun and sport represent the lion’s share of fishermen and the bulk of the economic activity associated with fishing in the state. Families hitting the nearest pond or river, fly fishers casting into their favorite pool and riffle, and competitors heading out for a local walleye tournament are collectively the “big fish” in terms of economic impact. But fishing’s overall economic value is sp
Michigan fish producers fighting for survival
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Bay Port Fish Company owners Tod Williams and daughter Lakon Williams are fighting for the survival of Michigan s longest operated business on the Great Lakes. (Scott Nunn/Tribune File Photo) Show MoreShow Less
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Michigan s commercial fisheries are suing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources because of recent actions which they say could end their businesses. (Scott Nunn/Tribune File Photo) Show MoreShow Less
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MICHIGAN Faced with the loss of livelihoods and shutting down some of the state s oldest businesses, the Michigan Fish Producers Association has filed a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and some of its leadership for neglecting to renew the fishing licenses of the state’s commercial fisheries.