LANSING, MI (AP)-- A panel of experts will study proposals to allow fish farming in Michigan's Great Lakes waters.
Department of Environmental Quality officials said in March they'd heard from two operators interested in raising rainbow trout in netted enclosures in Lakes Michigan and Huron. They would take fish from small hatcheries and raise them until large enough for the consumer food market.
DEQ Director Dan Wyant said Tuesday the proposals raise questions about protecting the lakes. State agencies are preparing recommendations for Gov. Rick Snyder.
The newly appointed panel will take public comments later this month.
Among members are scientists with the NOAA Great Lakes Ecological Laboratory in Ann Arbor, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Michigan Sea Grant and others. The chairman is Roy Stein, a professor emeritus at Ohio State University.