1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to game and fish; modifying restrictions on 
  1.3             fish houses; modifying the license period for fish 
  1.4             house licenses; extending certain angling seasons in 
  1.5             1998; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 
  1.6             97C.355, subdivision 7; Minnesota Statutes 1997 
  1.7             Supplement, section 97A.411, subdivision 1. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.10  97A.411, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [LICENSE PERIOD.] (a) Except as provided in 
  1.12  paragraph paragraphs (b) and (c), a license is valid during the 
  1.13  lawful time within the license year that the licensed activity 
  1.14  may be performed.  A license year begins on the first day of 
  1.15  March and ends on the last day of February. 
  1.16     (b) A license issued under section 97A.475, subdivision 6, 
  1.17  clause (5), 97A.475, subdivision 7, clause (2), (3), (5), or 
  1.18  (6), or 97A.475, subdivision 12, clause (2), is valid for the 
  1.19  full license period even if this period extends into the next 
  1.20  license year, provided that the license period selected by the 
  1.21  licensee begins at the time of issuance. 
  1.22     (c) When the last day of February falls on a Saturday, an 
  1.23  annual resident or nonresident fish house or dark house license, 
  1.24  including a rental fish house or dark house license, obtained 
  1.25  for the license year covering the last day of February, is valid 
  1.26  through Sunday, March 1 and the angling license of the fish 
  2.1   house licensee is extended through March 1. 
  2.2      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 97C.355, 
  2.3   subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  2.4      Subd. 7.  [DATES AND TIMES HOUSES MAY REMAIN ON ICE.] (a)  
  2.5   A fish house or dark house may not be on the ice between 12:00 
  2.6   a.m. and one hour before sunrise after the following dates: 
  2.7      (1) February 28 the last day of February, for state waters 
  2.8   south of a line starting at the Minnesota-North Dakota border 
  2.9   and formed by rights-of-way of U.S. Route No. 10, then east 
  2.10  along U.S. Route No. 10 to Trunk Highway No. 34, then east along 
  2.11  Trunk Highway No. 34 to Trunk Highway No. 200, then east along 
  2.12  Trunk Highway No. 200 to U.S. Route No. 2, then east along U.S. 
  2.13  Route No. 2 to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border; and 
  2.14     (2) March 15, for other state waters. 
  2.15     A fish house or dark house on the ice in violation of this 
  2.16  subdivision is subject to the enforcement provisions of 
  2.17  paragraph (b).  The commissioner may, by rule, change the dates 
  2.18  in this paragraph for any part of state waters.  Copies of the 
  2.19  rule must be conspicuously posted on the shores of the waters as 
  2.20  prescribed by the commissioner.  
  2.21     (b) A conservation officer must confiscate a fish house or 
  2.22  dark house in violation of paragraph (a).  The officer may 
  2.23  remove, burn, or destroy the house.  The officer shall seize the 
  2.24  contents of the house and hold them for 60 days.  If the seized 
  2.25  articles have not been claimed by the owner, they may be 
  2.26  retained for the use of the division or sold at the highest 
  2.27  price obtainable in a manner prescribed by the commissioner. 
  2.28     (c) When the last day of February, under paragraph (a), 
  2.29  clause (1), or March 15, under paragraph (a), clause (2), falls 
  2.30  on a Saturday, a fish house or dark house may be on the ice 
  2.31  between 12:00 a.m. and one hour before sunrise until 12:00 a.m. 
  2.32  the following Monday. 
  2.33     Sec. 3.  [EXTENDING CERTAIN ANGLING SEASONS.] 
  2.34     Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, sections 97C.345, 
  2.35  subdivisions 1 and 2, paragraph (b), 97C.371, subdivision 4, and 
  2.36  97C.395, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (1), the 1997-1998 
  3.1   angling season for walleye, sauger, northern pike, muskellunge, 
  3.2   largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass and the 1997-1998 spearing 
  3.3   season for roughfish, catfish, lake whitefish, and northern pike 
  3.4   is extended through March 1, 1998, except that no spearing will 
  3.5   be permitted on Cass lake, Beltrami and Cass counties, during 
  3.6   this extension.  The commissioner of natural resources by order 
  3.7   may close the season in all or parts of the state before March 
  3.8   1, 1998, if the commissioner finds it necessary for protection 
  3.9   of the resource or public safety.  Such an order is effective 
  3.10  upon filing with the secretary of state.  The rulemaking 
  3.11  provisions of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 14, section 84.027, 
  3.12  subdivision 13, and sections 97A.0451 to 97A.0459, do not apply 
  3.13  to this section. 
  3.14     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.15     Sections 1 to 3 are effective the day following final 
  3.16  enactment.