Welcome to the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen’s Association
Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fisherman's Association (MSSFA) was organized in 1971 by a handful of individuals who knew that Michigan's newly formed trout & salmon fishery was something worth working to protect. They were a small group who wanted not only to protect their fishery, but learn how to catch their elusive prey and tell fishing stories.
MSSFA Chapters have membership meetings with guest speakers to learn all the aspects of sport fishing. MSSFA Chapters also sponsor fishing clinics, seminars, sport-fishing shows, derbies and tournaments. And are active sponsors for fishing outings for kids, seniors, veterans and our handicapped.
For those who love to fish but have no means, MSSFA chapters sponsor a "Crews" program that allows a sign up as a crew member for a day of fishing.
With a common goal, and a close working partner with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, MSSFA helps to enhance the resource and sport fishing in our rivers, streams, inland lakes and of course the Great Lakes. MSSFA is a front-runner at all levels of the legislature and in courtrooms and has spent countless hours working behind the scenes and attending hearings.
Angling groups say State is not protecting its interests in ongoing Tribal negotiations
HOLLAND, MICH – A coalition of conservation organizations filed a motion to intervene Wednesday in the ongoing consent decree negotiations between the State of Michigan, federal government and five sovereign Native American tribes. Judge Paul Maloney will decide on the motion, filed in a Western Michigan federal court.
The Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources (“CPMR”) has its roots in a 1979 court ruling that affirmed rights under an 1836 Treaty. In 1984, the Coalition was granted amicus status as the first agreement on fishing rights was negotiated and has worked closely on each iteration of the decree since.
A Great Lakes Consent Decree governs fishing regulations in certain waters of lakes Michigan and Huron from Grand haven north around the tip of the mitt to Alpena and most of eastern Lake Superior. Primarily, the decree governs the balance between recreational and tribal commercial fishing of lake trout and whitefish in waters in the treaty of 1836 through a zonal approach.
The motion states “the breakdown in the relationship with the State has gotten to the point that Intervenors believe the Great Lakes fishery resources are threatened through the abandonment of sound biological principles that we believe should guide decisions related to the fishery, abandonment of a roughly 50-50 shared allocation of the fishery set forth in the 2000 Decree and abandonment of terms from the 2000 Decree that have allowed tribal commercial and state recreational fisheries to coexist for decades.”
The State of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are not protecting the interests of recreational anglers in ongoing negotiations. Pressures have increased to finalize a decree quickly rather than trying to address areas of possible conflict, said CPMR President Tony Radenjovich. He said that this has limited the Coalition’s ability to defend the interests of its members.
“The State is not protecting the interests of our members who are sport fishermen, charter boat captains, conservationists, boaters, paddlers and users of our Great Lakes,” Radenjovich said. “The increased urgency to finalize a decree has not included the Coalition.”
The Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources
CPMR is made up of a board of directors whose members include the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen’s Association (MSSFA), Michigan Charter Boat Association (MCBA), Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), and Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association. It includes numerous other supporting groups throughout the state.
CPMR is joined in the filing by Bay de Noc Great Lakes Sportfishermen, and other amicus to the ongoing negotiations. Members of CPMR and all parties to the negotiations are bound by non-disclosure agreements — this limits the ability to discuss specific proposals related to zones, gear and enforcement.
Dennis Eade, MSSFA executive director, said “Sport fishermen deserve to have their concerns considered at the negotiations table and recent pressure to finalize a decree has caused the State of Michigan and DNR to abandon the recreational angling interests and force our Coalition out of the negotiating room. CPMR has not received the same partnership role as an amicus from the state as in all past decrees which have allowed tribal commercial and state recreational fishermen to coexist for decades.”
DNR not protecting anglers’ interests
Since the first decree was adopted by the court in 1985, the parties have agreed upon a roughly 50-50 shared allocation of the fishery resource.
Radenjovich said that during this recent round of negotiations, CPMR members have not been allowed to participate at the negotiating table in a meaningful way.
“The lasting effects of this decree will reverberate throughout all of the port towns, small communities and industries that rely on healthy, sustainable fisheries to support them,” Radenjovich said. “Our members are anglers, conservationists and boaters who have been partners of the State in these negotiations for 40 years.“
A short history of the 1985 and 2000 decrees
The 1985 agreement allocated the fishery among the parties by lake, tribal and recreational zones, species and catch limits. It was premised on a roughly 50-50 allocation of the fishery between state and tribal fishers.
The tribes were principally allocated whitefish stocks and the state was principally allocated salmon stocks. Lake trout stocks were shared with the allocation to each party differing based on the area of the Great Lakes at issue.
Generally, the tribes were allocated more lake trout in areas where they were pursuing whitefish and state-licensed fishers were allocated more lake trout in traditional recreational fishing areas. The zones created for reduced gear conflict between commercial nets — particularly gill nets — and traditional sport fishing gear.
The 2000 decree took a slightly different approach to achieve a roughly equally-shared fishery. The agreement created commercial fishing zones where Tribal or state-licensed commercial fishing was permitted. Within those zones, certain areas had gear limitations (such as trap net only areas), closed areas (such as near harbor mouths or near refuges reserved for lake trout rehabilitation) and reserved areas designated for a particular tribe and fishing practice.
A changed fishery
Since 2000, the Great Lakes fishery has changed. Whitefish generally reserved to the tribes and salmon generally reserved for recreational anglers are not as plentiful.
For whitefish, the harvest by both state and tribal fishers in lakes Michigan and Huron is less than half what it was several years ago. For salmon, both state and tribal harvests of Chinook salmon are 25 percent of what they were at their peak 20 years ago.
Lake trout natural reproduction is under duress in some parts of the lakes. Preserving lake trout spawning stocks will be critical to the future of that fishery, said Jim Johnson, CPMR member and former DNR fisheries biologist.
“Reasons for the decline are not a secret,” Johnson said. “All parties involved should be working to rehabilitate the lake trout and whitefish fisheries. All of us depend on healthy fish stocks that we can share equally.”
A sustainable lake trout fishery is now especially important. The near collapse of whitefish and declines in salmon mean lake trout could prove to be the mainstay of lakes Huron and Michigan fisheries now and long into the future.