If your leisure-time plans include boating or fishing, recent changes in Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) may affect you.
Beginning March 21, watercraft users in the state are required to take steps to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. Also, anyone fishing with live or cut bait or practicing catch-and-release fishing will need to take precautions to limit the movement of invasive species and fish diseases.
What boaters need to know
For boaters, amendments to Sec. 41325 of NREPA (Act 451 of 1994), finalized near the close of the 2018 legislative session, affect both motorized and nonmotorized watercraft, trailers and other conveyances used to move watercraft.
In addition to the existing law requiring all aquatic plants be removed from boats and trailers before launching, the changes require the following, prior to transporting any watercraft over land:
- Removing all drain plugs from bilges, ballast tanks, and live wells.
- Draining all water from any live wells and bilges.
- Ensuring the watercraft, trailer, and any conveyance used to transport the watercraft or trailer are free of aquatic organisms, including plants.
This means after trailering boats, and before getting on the road, boaters must pull plugs, drain water and remove plants and debris from all watercraft, trailers and other conveyances. A short video from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality shows the steps boaters can take to comply with the new law.
What anglers need to know
For anglers, NREPA amendments codify the Michigan DNR’s Fisheries Order 245 regarding the release of baitfish, collection and use of baitfish and cut bait, and release of captured fish, specifically:
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