Courtesy Photo One of six fish caught during the 2022 Black Lake sturgeon season rests on ice in front of a morning sun on Saturday in this photo taken by Sgt. Mark DePew of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Congressman Jack Bergman introduced the Michigan Sturgeon Protected and Exempt from Absurd Regulations Act, or the Michigan SPEAR Act, which would prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services from listing Michigan lake sturgeon as an endangered species.

Black Lake in Presque Isle County is one of two places in the U.S. where spearfishing lake sturgeon is allowed and is regulated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, applauded Bergman’s act introduction in a statement, today.

“It is impossible to understate the broad cultural significance of lake sturgeon fishing in Northern Michigan,” Cavitt said in a statement. “The SPEAR act would guarantee the feds cannot supersede the authority of our local fish and wildlife experts to please environmentalist radicals who want to see lake sturgeon fishing banned nationally.”