Wholesale Fish Dealer License

Applications for these tasks may be submitted and paid for online through the Michigan Business One Stop portal.

Completing Wholesale License Application

1. Name of the applicant will be the person whose name the license will be operating under.

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>If the application is for a Business then the contact name would be "name of the applicant."

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>Business name would be the name / number of the individual business outlets

2. Physical location of the business must go in the section noted as business address.

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>The mailing address would be completed if there is an alternate address receiving mail for the physical address.

3. Business Federal ID Number is mandatory for using File Upload or Web based reporting methods.
4. Telephone number is for the owner/contact of the business.
5. Fax number is not required.
6. E-mail information is required for mandatory reporting through File Upload or Web.
7. County must be completed with the Michigan County of the physical location of the business.

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>If the applicant is applying for a non-resident license and the physical location is outside of Michigan, choose "Other" as the county.

8. A Business type and Monthly reporting method must be selected.
9. If Wholesale Dealer or Wholesale/Retail Dealer is selected you must enter Vehicle information under the appropriate section. Fish Cleaning Station or Egg/Bait Dealers are not required to enter vehicle information.
10. Licenses expire at the end of the calendar year, December 31st.

Legislative Background

The Wholesale Fish Dealer program gets its legal mandate from Act 451 of 1994. The law states, in part, "Every person who deals in fish by operating a wholesale fish market or fish house, or who solicits the purchase of or buys fish for wholesale distribution, shall secure a license from the department."

This law allows the Department to set reporting requirements. Reporting requirements have been promulgated in Administrative Rule #308.1.

Reporting Requirements

The Department must receive purchase records by the 10th of each month immediately following the date of fish acquisition by the dealer. This due date also applies even if there are no purchase records to report.

Penalties

Failure to report purchase records by the 10th of each month immediately following the date of fish acquisition by the dealer may be treated as a misdemeanor and/or result in the revocation of your wholesale fish dealer license.

Reporting Options

The Department provides three options for reporting your purchase transactions. The three methods are: paper form, Internet file upload, and Internet web page entry. Wholesalers are to choose one reporting option. Each is described below.

Paper Form

The paper form reporting option entails filling out Wholesale Fish Dealer Purchase Record forms. This form is a 3-part form that identifies seller, wholesaler and items purchased by the wholesaler from the seller. One form is filled out for every seller/date acquired combination.

Internet File Upload

The electronic file option entails having a file created by you – based on Department specifications – that is uploaded to a Department server. Once uploaded to the server, the file is checked for various errors. If errors exist, the upload process lists all errors within the file so that you can correct them and resubmit the file. When the file passes error checking and is accepted the process creates a confirmation number indicating that the Department has accepted the file for the month being reported.

The file itself will be comprised of four record types each being of fixed length. The file will be an ASCII text file. The file will have to conform to the file specifications that the Department will communicate to you if you choose this reporting option. The file itself can easily be created from freely available text editors (on the Internet) or by writing a program to extract data from your computer system and writing the data into the appropriate fixed-length positions in each record type.

Web Page Entry

The web page option entails entering purchase records into a form. Web page entry allows you to store your records until you are ready to release them to the Department. All online entries are immediately checked for errors so that you can make on-the-spot corrections. Once a month's worth of records are released, a confirmation number is displayed (and printable) for your records. The wholesaler is responsible for releasing their stored records to the Department within legally required timeframes.

Filling Out the Application

Each application section needs to be filled out completely. When choosing an Internet based reporting method you must also fill in the e-mail address field. The e-mail address is a required value for use of either Internet reporting method.

Revised: 9/2013