Commercial Walleye Netting on Saginaw Bay!?!?!?

[mrbreeze]

Fellow walleye fishermen...there is a movement in Michigan to open commercial walleye netting for profit and export on Saginaw Bay. As you know, Saginaw Bay is one of the world's great walleye fisheries and we cannot afford to allow this to happen. This package of bills in front of the state legislature also allows for unlimited perch harvest, by netting methods including trawling. Virtually every species of gamefish fish in the Michigan waters of the Great Lakes would be subject to these new rules, including recreationally important species such as smallmouth bass.

Luckily, there is opposing legislation that would stop this and create, for the first time, a list of gamefish species that cannot be taken commercially. That list would include Lake Trout, Walleye, Perch, Bass and other species.

We need your help. A petition has been organized to show support for the "good" legislation that is being supported by the DNR, conservation groups, cities and tens of thousands of individuals around the Great Lakes. Please consider signing. We don't want Michigan to set a standard for the taking of sportfish for other states in the Great Lakes and Midwest.

Here is the online petition. We have an "unofficial" goal of 5,000 signatures in 24 hours.

http://chng.it/Jz6J8WVPqD

[kzoofisher]

Thanks for leading the fight on this. The more fishermen that get involved the healthier all our fisheries will be. It would terrible to see the fisheries of IN, IL and WI damaged by overfishing on the Michigan side. Nets from Union Pier to Cedar River keeping their "by-catch" of walleye and salmonids. One of the bills calls for keeping 30% of the walleye harvest in Lake Huron. Anyone who fishes southern Lake Michigan, Saginaw Bay, the Bays De Noc or even Green Bay should sign the petition.

[Juls]

Done...

[Zander Man]

I'm in!

[kona77]

I signed and thanks for sharing. I will pass along to some buddies who fish Green Bay

[sylvan81]

Done ✅

[vteye3]

I hope you will also line up to fight the pending Pebble Mine in Alaska.
Pebble Mine is in the watershed of the worlds greatest salmon, rainbow trout fishery.

[WallyWarrior]

Originally Posted by vteye3

I hope you will also line up to fight the pending Pebble Mine in Alaska.

Pebble Mine is in the watershed of the worlds greatest salmon, rainbow trout fishery.

You fly me up there to line up and I will take the time off work. You’re correct that this is another disaster about to happen. Vote one way, they want your guns. Vote the other way, they want your land.


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[mrbreeze]

Thanks for the signatures y'all. There is competing legislation (and a competing petition) that we are fighting. The competing petition even has more signatures thus far, so let's keep the pressure on.

The legislation that is pro-conservation and pro-sportsfishermen is important in Michigan, but also will set the stage for discussions in other states. In Michigan "our" good legislation is being supported by the MUCC (our largest conservation association) the DNR and many others.

The commercial industry likes to point to what "everybody else" is doing as part of the justification about why they should be doing it and have "equal rights". For example, because there is a fishery that uses trawling on Green Bay, the commercial industry in Michigan believes that they should be allowed to do that in Michigan waters generally, and Saginaw Bay in particular.

Please sign up, learn more about it at this link, and SHARE with anyone you know that would be willing to spread the word. The fact that the pro-commercial petition has more signatures is baffling to me. Thank you!

https://www.change.org/p/conservatio...share_petition

[Zander Man]

My only regret is now I get a barrage of emails from this change.org. At least 4 to 5 messages wanting me to care about this and that.