(1) Aquaculture is an agricultural enterprise and is part of the farming and agricultural industry of this state. The director shall assure that aquaculture is afforded all rights, privileges, opportunities, and responsibilities of other agricultural enterprises.
    (2) Aquaculture is a form of agriculture. Aquaculture facilities and aquaculture uses are a form of agricultural facilities and uses.

Terms Used In Michigan Laws 286.874

  • Aquacultural products: means any products, coproducts, or by-products of aquaculture species. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Aquaculture: means the commercial husbandry of aquaculture species on the approved list of aquaculture species, including, but not limited to, the culturing, producing, growing, using, propagating, harvesting, transporting, importing, exporting, or marketing of aquacultural products under an appropriate permit or registration. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Aquaculture facility: means a farm or farm operation engaged in any aspect of aquaculture in privately controlled waters capable of holding all life stages of aquaculture species with a barrier or enclosure to prevent their escape into waters of the state. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Aquaculture research permit: means a permit issued by the director to researchers to study and culture aquaculture species not included on the approved list of aquaculture species for the evaluation of aquacultural potential and to provide a scientific basis for including the aquaculture species on the approved list. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Aquaculture species: means aquatic animal organisms including, but not limited to, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, reptiles, or amphibians reared or cultured under controlled conditions in an aquaculture facility. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Aquaculturist: means a person involved in or engaged in any aspect of aquaculture. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Confinement research facility: means a facility holding an aquaculture research permit, enclosed in a secure structure, and separated from other aquaculture facilities and in which aquaculture species are isolated and maintained in complete and continuous confinement to prevent their escape into the environment and to prevent the release of any possible pathogens into the environment. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Department: means the Michigan department of agriculture. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Director: means the director of the Michigan department of agriculture or his or her designee. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • Genetically engineered: refers to an organism whose genome, chromosomal or extrachromosomal, is modified permanently and heritably using recombinant nucleic acid techniques, or the progeny thereof. See Michigan Laws 286.872
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
  • Waters of the state: means groundwaters, lakes, rivers, and streams and all other watercourses and waters within the jurisdiction of the state and also the Great Lakes bordering the state. See Michigan Laws 286.872
    (3) Aquacultural products lawfully taken, produced, purchased, possessed, or acquired from within this state or imported into this state are the exclusive and private property of the aquaculturist.
    (4) This act does not prohibit an aquaculturist from exercising riparian rights for water diversion. If water is discharged back into the waters of the state, the discharge shall be pursuant to any appropriate permit issued by the department of environmental quality, if such a permit is required.
    (5) An aquaculturist harvesting aquaculture species from a registered aquaculture facility or a permitted confinement research facility is exempt from size, catch, and possession limits, closed seasons, and any other restriction imposed in parts 459 and 487 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.45901 to 324.45908 and 324.48701 to 324.48740.
    (6) This act does not give an aquaculturist authority to take wild species from the waters of the state and held in trust, in violation of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.101 to 324.90106, unless under a permit issued by the department of natural resources.
    (7) This act does not give an aquaculturist authority to release any aquaculture species into any waters of the state that are not an aquaculture facility unless the aquaculturist first obtains an appropriate permit from the director of the department of natural resources. It is intended that the department of natural resources shall consider a registration issued under this act as the equivalent of a game fish breeders license issued under part 459 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.45901 to 324.45908.
    (8) Any movement, importing, or exporting of aquaculture species shall be in compliance with the animal industry act, 1988 PA 466, MCL 287.701 to 287.745, for purposes of obtaining a planting permit.
    (9) For the purposes of this act, each genetically engineered variant of an aquaculture species shall be considered a distinct aquaculture species. A genetically engineered variant of an aquaculture species is not included on the list of approved aquaculture species under section 5 unless specifically identified on the list or specifically identified in a rule promulgated under section 12 as being included on the list. A genetically engineered organism that is a variant of an aquaculture species is not covered by an aquaculture research permit under section 8 unless specifically identified in the permit. An entry on the list of approved aquaculture species under section 5, a rule promulgated under section 12, or an aquaculture research permit under section 8 may be limited to a genetically engineered organism.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Act 199 of 1996 Contents