Local Fish Markets Involved in Federal Investigation

A two-year federal undercover operation into illegal fishing on Lake Superior has resulted in a series of recent raids, involving three northern Michigan fish markets and their fishing operations. A federal search warrant and criminal complaints recently filed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LED show that the Fish and Wildlife Service set up a bogus fishing company on tribal land in Baraga County that was used to buy fish from those under investigation. The targets included members of numerous tribes in Wisconsin and Michigan, including the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Red Cliff Band of Chippewa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. The investigation also includes non-natives. The sting involved creating the bogus Upper Peninsula North Fish Company on US-41 in L’Anse — in a building with a history of being a fish-buying business — and located on the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community reservation. It’s unclear if KBIC officials knew the fishing operation was a front to nab those illegally selling. The investigation involves millions of pounds of illegally caught fish on the Great Lakes including Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The fish include sturgeon, lake trout and walleye.