PlanetCatfish.com

Old news but just came across:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... atfis.html

ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI — Laws that led to the arrest of a fisherman who was allegedly trying to sell his sport-caught catfish are in place to keep the fish population intact and the public safe, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

A Grand Rapids man was recently arrested for attempting to sell 14 catfish caught in the Kalamazoo River to undercover members of the Wildlife Resources Protection Unit, authorities said. Prior to the attempted sale, the department received several tips that the man was using Craigslist to try and sell the fish online.

The man is set to be arraigned on the charge July 9. If convicted, he faces a fine between $250 and $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail — a stiffer penalty than most of the DNR's other hunting and fishing violations.

Many MLive readers sympathized with the fisherman, including workingmomof3, who was unsure why the man shouldn't be able to sell his fish after going through the effort of catching them:

This is interesting because fishermen buy licenses, buy bait, buy fishing tackle, and then can't turn around and sell fish that are legally taken. I am not sure where I come in on this. It would seem that once the guy catches the fish and legally possesses it that he ought to be able to do with it as he pleases.

But Lt. Timothy Robson of the DNR contends the law keeps consumers safe while helping protect state resources.

To sell or buy fish in Michigan, fishermen must have a commercial fishing license. Allowing anyone else to profit from game fish sales could diminish the fish population and leave less fish for those licensed to sell or catch them, Robson said.

"It takes away from true and honest sportsman — greed takes over if people are making a profit on it," Robson said.

In addition to protecting resources, the law is in place for serious safety concerns. While it's unclear where on the Kalamazoo River the man caught the fish, Robson noted there are signs at every public access point along the river warning patrons not to eat the catfish and other bottom feeders they catch.

Robson said various contaminants left over from the 2010 Enbridge oil spill and factory activity along the river makes fish that eat along the riverbed more dangerous for human consumption. Because those not commercially licensed to sell fish aren't held accountable for its safety, illicit fish sales could mean bad news for a consumer.

"Due to the contaminants in that river, it's highly recommended that people don't eat those fish," he said. "If you buy fish under the table, there's no recourse if something happens. You have no idea how it's taken care of or where it came from."

MLive reader cj had similar concerns about catfish coming out of the Kalamazoo River, and said fishing along the river is better served for personal use only.

Eating a bottom feeder at a river with PCB's, agricultural run-off and oil spills can't be good. Catch and release or just paddle and enjoy the sites.

The DNR encourages anyone who sees a natural resources violation to call the Report All Poaching Hotline at 800-292-7800.

Are there any states that allow fisherman (with non-commercial licenses) to sell their catch? You can give it away, but I've not heard anyplace that allows sale. Commercial licenses (including for baitfish) are a completely different class, more expensive, and more heavily regulated.

I've never heard of recreational fishing licenses with exemptions for making commercial sales and quite honestly, I would be surprised if there was. Wouldn't that kind of shake the system? Sport fishing is what it is, recreation. We have bag or possession limits in recreational hunting and fishing for a reason. We also have the FDA and commercial food processing permits and regulations for places making and selling food products. Even giving away your catch, done in the wrong context, is illegal at least in Canada. For example, in Canada only recreational, commercial, or aboriginal licenses can transport whole salmon between catch source and processing destination, so a sport fisherman gifting a whole salmon to someone without a license is technically illegal the moment it changes hands. I would suspect some American states would have some similar laws. Other countries have much tougher sport fishing licenses, like Japan. Anyways, I'm saying this all because its discouraging to see so many people out fishing, clearly breaking laws and often knowingly poaching. My father owned a fishing tackle store and was always educating people, but we'd still hear disgusting stories of people poaching protected fish or stealing other fishermen's catches, but enough about that.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there are people who believe they should be able to sell their catches with their recreational licenses, even when the fish come out of a nasty waterway. I hope the much greater majority of people recognize the reasons why doing that isn't allowed, and the crowd that abides by "I do what I want cause 'Merica" constitutes a dwindling few. Don't feel bad, we have our share of those up here too.