Skip to main content
Invasive Species Prevention: Boaters and Anglers

Invasive Species Prevention: Boaters and Anglers

Invasive Species Prevention

What boaters need to know:

Michigan law requires that a person remove all aquatic plants from watercraft, watercraft equipment and trailers before placing these into Michigan waters.

Prior to transporting any watercraft over land, boaters are required to do all of the following:

  • Remove all drain plugs from bilges, ballast tanks, and live wells.
  • Drain all water from any live wells and bilges.
  • Ensure that the watercraft, trailer, and any conveyance used to transport the watercraft or trailer are free of aquatic organisms, including plants.

This means that after trailering boats, and before getting on the road, boaters must pull plugs, drain water and remove plants and debris.

Violation of the law is a state civil infraction and violators may be subject to fines up to $100.

For more information on this law, see Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (Act 451 of 1994) Part 413.

stop aquatic hitchhikers

 

What anglers need to know:

Michigan law includes regulations regarding the release of baitfish, collection and use of baitfish and cut bait, and release of captured fish, specifically:

  • A person shall not release baitfish in any waters of this state. A person who collects fish shall not use the fish as bait or cut bait except in the inland lake, stream, or Great Lake where the fish was caught, or in a connecting waterway of the inland lake, stream, or Great Lake where the fish was caught if the fish could freely move between the original location of capture and the location of release.
  • A person, who catches fish other than baitfish in a lake, stream, Great Lake, or connecting waterway shall only release the fish in the lake, stream, or Great Lake where the fish was caught, or in a connecting waterway of the lake, stream, or Great Lake where the fish was caught if the fish could freely move between the original location of capture and the location of release.

Whether purchased or collected, unused baitfish should be disposed of on land or in the trash – never in the water. Any baitfish an angler collects may be used only in the waters where it was originally collected.

Anglers who are catching and releasing fish should only release the fish back into the same water or in a connecting body of water the fish could have reached on its own.

Violation of the law is a state civil infraction and violators may be subject to fines up to $100.

For more information on this law, see Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (Act 451 of 1994) Part 413.