Michigan encourages people to release aquarium fish

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banjocat

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2007
341
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Michigan
I just found this shocking tidbit on the FAQ at the DNR site

Question:I would like to setup an aquarium with native fish; bluegill, perch, bullhead. Is this legal? Can I get a permit? what are the laws on natural aquariums.

Answer:You can keep any legally caught fish in the state, during the open season. So if you are out fishing and you catch a couple of bluegill, perch and a bass, you could take those fish home and put them in your aquarium. Make sure the bass is at least 14 inches. You could keep the perch and bluegill all year, because the season for these two species is open all year. But the bass, would have to be released by December 31st, because bass season is only open until December 31st each year. You would not be able to keep any species past the closed season. Permits are only issued to places like Nature Centers, Schools etc, that actually teach children about the fish of Michigan. You can have an aquarium, but you can not have any species during the closed season in your possession.
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http://midnr.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/M...fiZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj1_YW55fiZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=

Am I right in thinking that a fish you have kept in an aquarium could catch a disease/parasite not native to Michigan waters? Wouldn't it be easier and smarter if you could go to the DNR and get a paper proving you caught the fish during the legal season
 
good job picking that up. that is a huge problem that Michigan has to fix soon.
What sense does that make, honestly?! the other poster was right, parasites, etc. but also, the bass might die from such rapid climate change, and it might become so accustomed to being fed that it doesn't eat in the wild(not highly likely but possible) and die off.
 
That can't be correct at all.
Michigan is trying to stop the spread of certain diseases throughout their waterways, so why would they encourage people to release fish that may have been kept with infected ornamental fish or infected fish from other waterways?

I think whoever replied there either misinterpreted the law or they have a huge flaw in it.
 
It's right there in the link. I remember this from a couple of years ago....I guess they never got that fixed.
 
Yea, it seems like something Michigan would be discouraging. I think Michigan doesn't even want you transporting livewell water from one lake to another, so I doubt this would be encouraged. We have enough nuisance species, diseases,etc. I can understand if you can't transport the fish during certain times of year, but this is stupid. The FAQ is probably not reviewed by higher ups.
 
As weird as it seems, it IS the law.

Right now, because of VHS, we have super strict laws re-guarding bait fish, ballast water in boats, releasing fish caught in one body of water into another, etc. But yet this stupid law is still on the books.
 
I contacted the DNR with this:

This answer indicates that Bass must be returned to natural waters after being maintained in a home aquarium. Surely this is a typo. I can understand the state requiring the dispatch of a fish but the return to natural waters is flirting with bringing in a disease/virus not yet established to Michigan waters.
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They responded with this:
That is the reason why we discourage people from keeping species such as bass in an aquarium, and do not give collector's permits to people to do so. The spread of disease is always a concern in the state however having any species in your possession during the closed season is illegal.
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Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. hehe...that may be true in some circumstances...how about...no good deed goes unpunished.

By the reaction from the state of Michigan, it's clear that we as people who keep native fish in home aquariums must be very observant of ethical and responsible behavior. The future of our hobby depends on how we behave both in public and private. Please guys and gals of the forum, be responsible so we can still have fun with the fish!
 
What? That answer contradicts the one in the FAQ.

That is the reason why we discourage people from keeping species such as bass in an aquarium, and do not give collector's permits to people to do so.
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The answer in the FAQ indicates that you do NOT need a collectors permit to keep game species, just a fishing license, and I didn't see any discouragement of collected natives.

If it's legal to collect a species it shouldn't be legal to release them back into the wild upon close of fishing season for that species.
 
"That is the reason why we discourage people from keeping species such as bass in an aquarium"

I have never seen them discourage this. I'm pretty sure the fishing guide doesn't discourage this. The FAQ certainly doesn't. They must expect people to be psychic.

"and do not give collector's permits to people to do so."

Well maybe if they gave people permits, there wouldn't be people releasing bass back into native waters. Thus less spreading of disease from people who are going to keep the bass anyway.

Very stupid law
 
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