MSSFA Issues Awareness
Five Things Putting Our Lake Michigan Fishery at Risk Right Now
Before you dig into the latest Great Lakes Sport Fishing News below, here’s what your Southwest Michigan Steelheaders leadership is watching. As President Alan Douville put it in this issue, “we are facing a convergence of risks” — not one bill or one bad decision, but funding, invasive species, and habitat pressures all landing at once. None of these get decided if we stay silent.
-
1
Legislative · Utility Regulation Decision pushed to Nov. 9
Consumers Energy dam sale: MPSC skipped its deadline, decision now pushed to November
Consumers Energy is still seeking approval to sell 13 hydroelectric dams to Confluence Hydro, a private-equity-backed buyer. The Michigan Public Service Commission’s September 10 deadline came and went — rather than rule on an administrative law judge’s June finding that the sale is not in the public interest, the Commission let Consumers Energy extend the case by 60 days to negotiate directly with opponents. Consumers calls it a push for a “collaborative solution”; the Environmental Law and Policy Center says the parties aren’t meaningfully engaged. A final decision is now expected November 9, 2026, with Governor Whitmer’s maintenance and safe-removal concerns still unresolved. The window for public comment on Case U-21985 stays open until then.
Michigan Advance → -
2
Legislative · Fisheries Funding Stalled — losing GOP support
HB 5093 — the bill that would fund the DNR Fisheries Division — is stuck, and slipping
Fishing license fees haven’t moved since 2014, and the state still isn’t reimbursing the Fisheries Division nearly $3 million a year for mandated senior and resident discounts. HB 5093 would raise fees modestly, add a hatchery stamp, and fund biologist positions and cormorant control — but it remains parked in the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee with no floor vote scheduled. Momentum has actually gone backward: multiple Republican co-sponsors have formally withdrawn their names, and the bill is tie-barred to a companion measure that hasn’t even been introduced, which is a structural deadlock, not just inaction. Division Chief Randy Claramunt has warned that without new revenue, Chinook egg-take could be cut by as much as 50% — a separate, budget-driven cut on top of the biological stocking reduction below.
Great Lakes Echo → -
3
Invasive Species Resumed Sept. 2 — cause still unexplained
Brandon Road carp barrier is back under construction — but nobody has explained the halt
In August, biologists found hundreds of juvenile silver carp in the Illinois River’s Marseilles Pool — the furthest upstream young carp have ever been detected, and proof they’re now spawning within striking distance of the Great Lakes. The Army Corps of Engineers had halted work on the $1 billion Brandon Road barrier in late July, citing only “federal administrative review.” After Governors Whitmer and Pritzker pushed the White House directly, the stop-work order was lifted September 2–3, ending a five-to-six-week halt. Construction has continued without incident since, but neither the Corps nor the administration has ever explained why the order was issued or why it was lifted — meaning the real risk isn’t that Brandon Road is stalled today, it’s that it can be stalled again with no warning and no stated criteria.
WTTW News → -
4
Fishery Management Preliminary — Wisconsin undecided
Chinook salmon stocking is headed for cuts, but the 2027 numbers aren’t final yet
Alewife — 99% of a Chinook’s diet — are showing up younger, smaller, and in fewer numbers, while king salmon biomass keeps climbing. The average 3-year-old female Chinook dropped more than 2 pounds between 2024 and 2025, and the predator-prey ratio crossed its critical threshold in 2025. Fishery managers are recommending roughly a 25% cut to Chinook stocking beginning in 2027 (Ludington alone would drop from about 100,000 to 75,000 fish), but this is still a preliminary recommendation, not a finalized decision. Wisconsin has historically not matched Michigan’s cuts, and Michigan DNR has signaled it would withhold the salmon eggs it supplies to Wisconsin’s hatchery program if Wisconsin doesn’t cooperate — so the final lake-wide number depends on how that negotiation lands.
MSU Sea Grant → -
5
Resource Allocation Ongoing
Commercial harvest and resource allocation are back on the table — and anglers need a seat
As President Douville wrote in this issue, renewed discussions are underway on commercial harvest and resource allocation across the Great Lakes, and “every stakeholder has a seat at the table.” Recreational anglers are no exception. History shows that when sportfishing interests go quiet, decisions still get made — just without us in the room. MSSFA continues to engage decision-makers directly to make sure that doesn’t happen here.
An eight-part deep dive on everything above — the science, the funding fight, the 2023 tribal consent decree, the dam sale, and a chapter talking-points guide with a fall decision calendar.