State Board Of Fish Commissioners

Nineteenth-century commercial fishing and logging operations helped grow Michigan’s economy but also posed threats to resource sustainability. The logging industry’s use of waterways to transport logs contributed to pollution in rivers and destroyed fish spawning areas. The widespread installation of dams prevented fish passage and caused other damage to fish habitats. Each year relatively unlimited commercial fishing harvested millions of pounds of fish at a rate higher than the regeneration rate for some species. To prevent the extinction of the state’s fish species, the Michigan legislature established the Board of Fish Commissioners in 1873 to study the importance of “fish culture” and to establish a state hatchery to repopulate the state’s waterways.

[Back]: In the mid-nineteenth century the State of Michigan began regulating hunting and fishing to prevent extermination of the state’s wildlife. In 1859 it enacted a law creating hunting seasons for deer, turkey and other game. The fine for violations was $25. Another law outlawed the use of continuous fishing nets and seines in certain locations. Other game laws were passed over the years but implementation was left up to local and county officials, resulting in uneven enforcement. In 1881 the Michigan Sportsmen’s Association began lobbying for a state game law enforcement office. In 1887 the legislature created the office of Game and Fish Warden. Governor Cyrus Luce appointed William Alden Smith as the first warden. He was Michigan’s first statewide law enforcement officer.