Commercial fishermen warn Michigan lawmakers industry is shrinking amid regulations and stocking policies

Michigan commercial fishermen, processors and the Michigan Fish Producers Association told a House committee that long-standing administrative rules, recent quota changes and state stocking policies have pressured the commercial-fishing sector to the point that only a small number of full-time operators remain.

Scott Everett, a legislative consultant for the Michigan Fish Producers Association, told the committee that “In Michigan, there are 50 licenses, commercial fishing licenses owned by 13 businesses. And there are only 3 full time state licensed commercial fishermen left in this state.” He said commercial harvest in recent years has been concentrated in whitefish while perch and other species have declined in key areas.

Producers said multiple factors have reduced commercial output: 1960s-era emergency rules and later administrative rules governing which species may be commercially harvested, aggressive planting of lake trout and salmon in the Great Lakes, and quota management practices they described as opaque. Several speakers said those rules prevent commercial operators from taking species — notably walleye in some waters — that would help rebalance predator/prey relationships and stabilize fisheries.

Skyler Rulo of Rulo Brothers described a recent quota and license transaction he said reduced his company’s share of local quota and included a DNR purchase of a license for $2.9 million. Rulo told lawmakers the sequence of quota transfers and buyouts reduced Rulo Brothers’ share in a management zone from roughly 99% to 68% in a short period and characterized the outcomes as unfair and harmful to a long-standing family business.

Processors and wholesalers said reporting requirements impose heavy administrative burdens. Dustin Van Orman of Big Stone Bay Fishery and Mike Berta of Carlson’s Fish Market said differences in required reporting schedules (tribal reporting twice monthly versus state processors’ reporting deadlines) and lack of grace periods make compliance difficult for small processors, particularly given seasonal surges during the summer tourist season.

Producers asked for several changes: modernize or repeal parts of 1960s emergency rules that still govern commercial harvest, align state reporting and quota rules with tribal and federal agreements where appropriate, and create clearer, predictable quota procedures so small businesses can plan investment and staffing.

Context and history cited by witnesses

Witnesses traced the decline to several historical developments: the sea-lamprey collapse mid-20th century and the emergency orders issued to rehabilitate lake trout and other species; the legislature’s 1959 Act 154 authority allowing the Commission to modify statutory harvest provisions in emergencies; and subsequent administrative rules converted from emergency orders in the 1970s that restrict species and methods available to state-licensed commercial fishermen.

Speakers said a recent federal–tribal decree (completed in 2023) sets fishing allocations in tribal waters, while state rules governing state-licensed commercial fishers have not been updated to reflect current conditions and commercial interests.

What lawmakers said

Representative Jason Morgan, who testified about his family’s commercial-fishing background, urged colleagues to treat the industry as an important, though diminished, part of Michigan’s coastal and rural economy and to consider bipartisan statutory fixes.

Ending

Committee members thanked the witnesses and said they would take the testimony into account as they consider possible statutory or administrative changes. Producers asked for urgent action to keep small fish-processing businesses viable and to preserve family-run fisheries.