Aikens v. Department of Conservation

The plaintiffs are commercial perch fishermen, who engaged in this business in the Saginaw Bay area. During the summer of 1965, officers of the State Conservation Department seized *183catches of perch taken by the fishermen. The basis for the seizure by the Conservation Department was that the plaintiffs had allegedly caught fish which were undersized, and therefore illegal, under the conservation laws of the State of Michigan. MCLA § 308.14(d) (Stat Ann 1967 Rev § 13.1505 [d]).

This litigation concerns plaintiffs’ suit brought in the court of claims seeking $6,000 in compensation for the fish…