Competing bills in the Michigan House have two very different views of allowing fish farms in Michigan. Michigan Radio Network recently reported that Rep. Ed McBroom (R-Escanaba) has sponsored a bill that would allow fish farms on the Great Lakes and provide rules and regulations for operation on a limited basis. Rep. Jon Bumstead (R-Newaygo), on the other hand, has sponsored a bill that would prohibit fish farms due to environmental concerns. Opposition groups say the farms would spread disease and allow caged fish to escape and breed and compete with wild fish.
These bills come in the wake of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s issuance of a permit which allows trout farming at the former DNR fish hatchery in Grayling. That permit is the subject of a contested case hearing brought by environmental groups, currently ongoing in Lansing.