2017 Summer Presidents Report
From the Helm . . .
One of the pleasures of my job as President of MCBA is attending the Michi- gan State University fisheries and wildlife scholarships each April. This year on April 26, I had the privilege to meet two fine fisheries students that our association awarded each a $1500.00 scholarship. These scholarships are award- ed as the Denny Grinold MCBA Scholarship Award each year.
This year’s award scholarships were presented to Ben Bejzek and Anthony Alvin.
Ben is from Portage, MI and Anthony is from Indonesia. Both are actively working in fisheries related projects this summer in Michigan. Talking with Anthony, he would like to someday return to his country and work to promote better fishing and the de velopment of better methods of fishing for commercial markets.
This year the Awards banquet was held at MSU – Demmer Sports and Shooting Center…And as I arrived there early, I was taken on a small tour of the indoor rim fire gun ranges at the center. After the small tour, I found my banquet table, met up with our scholarship students, and introduced ourselves. As the evening progressed, that ultimately lead to a in-depth discussion about our fisheries here in Michigan and the Great Lakes overall with these two fine young guys.
Moving to a few other topics…we are actively working on a raffle license with the State of Michigan Gaming Commission. We have a few hoops and hurdles to go through but should have this paper process over in July. Our plans as an Association is to have raffle drawings over the next few years to help with funding along with fund- ing from other sport fishing organizations here in Michigan. This is to fund attorney fees representing sport-fishing interests with the upcoming 2020 tribal decree.
In late March, I appointed our past President Captain Terry Walsh to be our “lead person” with the ongoing commercial net- ting legislation that is being reviewed at the State level. As we get more information this summer, we will relay it to our membership via an E blast or emails.
As I finish this short report, I am happy to hear of better salmon fishing this spring along Lake Michigan. Let us hope that follows through the summer. Have a great summer and stay safe out there.
Kind regards
Capt Eric Andersen – President MCBA
