Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture

Recreational and commercial fishing are a vital part of Michigan’s heritage, with a value estimated at $4-7 billion annually. Subsistence and tribal fishing, as well as aquaculture, also play important roles. Two nations, eight states, and one province that border the Great Lakes are responsible for implementing and enforcing water quality laws to maintain good water quality and healthy fish populations.

Michigan Sea Grant supports the region’s fisheries by teaching children and adults to value their connections to the lakes, by funding research that helps stakeholders and managers better understand the fisheries, and by continuing to ask and learn about emerging fisheries issues. Michigan Sea Grant has produced four editions of The Life of the Lakes: A Guide to the Great Lakes Fishery, a colorful, detailed handbook about the past, present, future, and composition of Great Lakes fisheries.