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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
A Galesburg man has been arrested and charged in the 8th District Court of Kalamazoo County with eight misdemeanor counts relating to the illegal taking of two deer and two turkeys.
During an investigation, a Michigan DNR conservation officer found that Justin Shane-B Neel of Galesburg, formerly of Vicksburg, had illegally killed a deer without a license during the 2012 Michigan firearm deer season. He pled guilty in the 8th District Court of Kalamazoo County, and was convicted of taking the deer without a license. Neel was sentenced and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the states Fish and Game Fund, along with associated court fines/costs. His hunting privileges were also suspended for three years.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR will collect eggs from Great Lakes muskellunge in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair to be raised at its Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery.
The practice of collecting Great Lakes muskellunge eggs, instead of northern muskellunge eggs, began in 2011 in an effort to raise a type of muskellunge that is native to more of Michigans waters. In 2012, 1.1 million eggs were collected from the Detroit River and produced more than 28,000 fall fingerlings for 18 inland lakes in Michigan, two of which will serve as broodstock lakes for egg collections in the future. An additional 3,200 4-inch fish were transferred to Wisconsin, destined for Green Bay, through a cooperative interstate arrangement.
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The Michigan DNR reminds anyone who plans on operating a watercraft this year to take a boating safety course.
Classroom and online options are available, and boating safety is required for anyone born after Dec. 31, 1978, who wants to operate a personal watercraft (PWC) and those born after July 1, 1996 who want to operate a motorboat. Children under the age of 14 may not legally operate a watercraft in Michigan.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Little Manistee WeirThe Michigan DNR announced the annual collection of steelhead eggs on the Little Manistee River in Stronach is underway.
The Little Manistee Weir
Since 1968, the Little Manistee River Weir has served as the sole source of winterrun steelhead eggs for fish hatcheries in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Yearling steelhead produced through hatchery operations are stocked in select tributaries of all the Great Lakes. Steelhead provide one of Michigans premier sport fishing opportunities for both open water and stream fishing.
Egg-take operations began when the weir grates were lowered this month. This stops the upstream steelhead migration in the Little Manistee River and diverts them into holding ponds. Usually during the first two weeks of April, the fish ripen and egg-take operations begin. These activities continue daily until the established egg quota has been reached.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit today announced fishery management actions and activities for the 2013-2014 angling season. These include fish stocking, habitat rehabilitation projects, creel census, fish community surveys and angler access programs.
These management updates are provided as a means to notify anglers and the public of changes in management and to make lake and stream property owners aware of our survey activities, said Jay Wesley, Southern Lake Michigan Unit manager. We also value and encourage public input regarding our management actions and activities.
The Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit covers the Grand, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Galien river watersheds and all the lakes and streams within that area. Each year, fisheries biologists and technicians evaluate management options on various water bodies in order to achieve increased fishery benefits. Fish stocking actions are reviewed at least every six years based on fish community or creel surveys. Counties with specific management actions and waters that are planned for surveys in 2013 are listed below.