Agriculture

Study warns fish lovers of multiple chemicals

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By JACK NISSEN
Capital News Service
LANSING — A new study questions whether public health advice on eating Great Lakes fish is restrictive enough. Ken Drouillard, a professor at the University of Windsor, looked at whether the Great Lakes region recommends sufficient restrictions on monthly meals of sport fish. The results are in, and while they say no, they weren’t as restrictive as Drouillard expected. Consumption advisories are used to limit human exposure to harmful substances that fish may contain. Drouillard found that 60 percent of advisories would provide more restrictive advice under a method that takes into account multiple chemicals in a fish.

Agriculture

New fishing, hunting fees boost DNR resources

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By MOLLIE LISKIEWICZ
Capital News Service
LANSING – Michigan got more boots on the ground, waders in the water and eyes in the field thanks to an extra $8 million earned from restructuring sales of hunting and fishing licenses. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) did away with restricted species fishing licenses and instead began offering all-species licenses for $26 last March. A change was also made to hunting licenses, requiring the purchase of an $11 base license for small game before additional licenses for other species can be purchased. In just eight months, an additional $8 million was produced through the restructured license sales, said Ed Golder, the agency’s public information officer. The license revenue pays for many DNR efforts to manage natural resources.

Environment

Quiet water values

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING – It’s not the grandeur of ice-encrusted Lake Superior in winter or Lake Michigan under a setting summer sun. It’s not the pristine early morning glisten of the Au Sable River. It’s not the sailboat-plying juncture of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron beneath the shadow of the Blue Water Bridge. It’s not the Straits of Mackinac, Houghton Lake, the Soo Locks.

Business & Economy

Hunting, fishing provide economic boost

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By KYLE CAMPBELL
Capital News Service
LANSING — Despite drought conditions, low water levels and a rash of disease in the white-tailed deer population, fishing and hunting remained a boon to the Michigan economy in 2012. With more than 1.19 million fishing licenses and more than 2.39 million hunting licenses purchased from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) between last March 1 and Jan. 17, 2013, the state surpassed its total revenue from the previous year by more than $375,000. The license sale year runs until the end of February, but Denise Gruben, manager of licensing and reservations for the DNR, said most sales occur before the end of the calendar year. Despite the increase, Sharon Schafer, the head of the DNR’s Budget and Support Services Division, said the state still lags about $400,000 behind projections for the fiscal year, which began last Oct.

Education

Teach a child to fish and, well, you know the rest

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By PATRICK LYONS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Project FISH is focused on teaching a new generation of anglers, hoping to reverse the decline in the sale of Michigan fishing licenses. The project teaches water ecology, fishing techniques, rules and ethics of fishing and other skills like cleaning and cooking. A Project FISH — Friends Involved in Sportsfishing Heritage — workshop will be held March 6-7 in East Lansing. Project FISH was started in 1995 by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, said Mark Stephens, the education program coordinator. Since then the program has spread to 37 other states.