State Representative Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, recently introduced a bill that would raise fines for people who obtain or possess sturgeon illegally.
HB 6409 would amend the 1994 Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to raise the fine from between $500 and $2,000 to $5,000.
In July, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources began investigating a six-foot sturgeon dumped on the road in Muskegon County, near the access point to the White River. Lake sturgeon fishing is prohibited in White River, as with most places in Michigan.
“I can't even imagine, throughout the state and throughout the Great Lakes, the amount of money invested in sturgeon rehabilitation,” said Jay Woiderski, president of Sturgeon for Tomorrow’s Black Lake Chapter. “So, for somebody even just to take one of those fish out with everything's been invested… that's what we're trying to stop.”
In Michigan, lake sturgeons have been designated as a threatened species since 1994. Since then, restoration projects have been underway. In January, Woiderski said the sturgeon count in Black Lake has increased by about 700 since 1997.
Sturgeon can be profitable as females produce caviar, according to Woiderski.
“The penalties did not treat it as a threatened species or a protected species at all,” Cavitt said. “And we're a little concerned that the financial benefit of poaching would be more than the cost of the penalties for committing the crime and taking the sturgeon out of season without permits.”
Cavitt represents Onaway in Presque Isle County, which is known as the "sturgeon capital of Michigan." He also represents Cheboygan County, which is home to Black Lake. Black Lake has a limited Sturgeon fishing season in early February.
The goal for Cavitt is to get to a point where Mullett Lake and Burt Lake—both connected to Black Lake—can also have limited fishing seasons. Decreasing poaching is part of that process.
“As soon as all the numbers in the studies indicate that there's enough fish there, they too will be open for a limited sturgeon season,” Cavitt said. “I know a lot of people want to see those larger bodies of water opened up to the sturgeon season.”
Sturgeon are not regulated at the federal level. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to place the species on the endangered species list in 2024. This was in large part due to the success of restoration projects.
“Michigan has a very robust sturgeon program,” Cavitt said. “We're very blessed with natural resources, and, you know, it comes with a responsibility, and that's to manage and maintain resources for generations to come.”
