1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; providing a Mille Lacs 
  1.3             lake walleye plan; modifying daily and possession 
  1.4             limits on Mille Lacs lake; establishing a process for 
  1.5             determining annual harvest limits; proposing coding 
  1.6             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 97C. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [97C.404] [MILLE LACS LAKE WALLEYE PLAN.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) The terms used in this 
  1.10  section have the meanings given in this subdivision. 
  1.11     (b) "Fisheries committee" means the Minnesota 1837 ceded 
  1.12  territory fisheries committee established under protocol number 
  1.13  one in the treaty rights litigation in federal court between the 
  1.14  state and the eight Chippewa bands, which adjudicated treaty 
  1.15  hunting, fishing, and gathering rights in the Minnesota 1837 
  1.16  ceded territory. 
  1.17     (c) "Fishing year" means the period beginning on December 1 
  1.18  and ending on November 30, 12 months later, and referenced by 
  1.19  the calendar year in which the period ends. 
  1.20     (d) "Harvestable surplus" has the meaning given in protocol 
  1.21  number five in the treaty rights litigation in federal court 
  1.22  between the state and the eight Chippewa bands, which 
  1.23  adjudicated treaty hunting, fishing, and gathering rights in the 
  1.24  Minnesota 1837 ceded territory. 
  1.25     Subd. 2.  [WALLEYE POSSESSION AND SIZE LIMITS.] Beginning 
  1.26  June 9, 2003, the daily and possession limit for walleye on 
  2.1   Mille Lacs lake is four fish.  While on or fishing Mille Lacs 
  2.2   lake, all walleye in possession or under control, regardless of 
  2.3   where taken, must be less than 17 inches in length or greater 
  2.4   than 28 inches in length.  All walleye that are 17 to 28 inches 
  2.5   in length, inclusive, must be immediately returned to the 
  2.6   water.  A person's possession limit may not include more than 
  2.7   one walleye over 28 inches.  The commissioner may adopt 
  2.8   additional restrictions for taking and possessing walleye on 
  2.9   Mille Lacs lake to meet requirements established in this section.
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [HARVESTABLE SURPLUS DETERMINATION.] (a) At its 
  2.11  January meeting, the fisheries committee shall use the best 
  2.12  available data in making harvestable surplus determinations, 
  2.13  including reliable data derived from the ongoing walleye 
  2.14  mark-recapture study on Mille Lacs lake. 
  2.15     (b) The fisheries committee, with the assistance of an 
  2.16  independent fisheries consultant jointly selected by the bands 
  2.17  and the state, shall: 
  2.18     (1) investigate the issue of retrospective bias in the 
  2.19  models utilized to evaluate the condition of the walleye 
  2.20  population in Mille Lacs lake; 
  2.21     (2) investigate the effect of data derived from the tagging 
  2.22  study, as well as other available data on estimates of the 
  2.23  walleye population in Mille Lacs lake; and 
  2.24     (3) adopt measures to minimize retrospective bias and 
  2.25  incorporate reliable information from the walleye mark-recapture 
  2.26  study in estimates of the walleye population in Mille Lacs lake 
  2.27  at or before the January 2004 fisheries committee meeting. 
  2.28     (c) If the commissioner develops a proposal for the use of 
  2.29  data derived subsequent to the determination of the harvestable 
  2.30  surplus at the January fisheries committee meeting to determine 
  2.31  the extent of any overages or underages for the previous fishing 
  2.32  year, the fisheries committee, with the assistance of the 
  2.33  consultant selected under paragraph (b), shall evaluate the need 
  2.34  for and feasibility of the proposal, including its effects on 
  2.35  the operations of the fisheries committee and any other 
  2.36  pertinent considerations. 
  3.1      Subd. 4.  [ANNUAL MORTALITIES LIMITATIONS.] (a) The 
  3.2   commissioner shall ensure, through preseason and, if necessary, 
  3.3   in-season management actions for the state fishery, that total 
  3.4   mortalities, including hooking mortalities in the state fishery 
  3.5   in any year, do not exceed the amounts specified in this 
  3.6   subdivision.  The best available data regarding the status of 
  3.7   the stock shall be used to classify the population condition at 
  3.8   the January fisheries committee meeting.  Unless the fisheries 
  3.9   committee agrees otherwise, the criteria derived from the 
  3.10  state's annual experimental gill net survey shall be used to 
  3.11  classify the population condition as follows: 
  3.12     (1) condition 1 is when the index of pounds of mature 
  3.13  female walleye per experimental gill net is at or above 7.9 
  3.14  pounds, the index of mature female walleye year-classes in the 
  3.15  fishery is at or above 8.0 pounds, and the index of walleye 
  3.16  population size is at or above 20.8 pounds per experimental gill 
  3.17  net.  Under condition 1, total mortalities from the state's 
  3.18  fishery in that year shall not exceed 130 percent for fishing 
  3.19  years 2003 to 2005 and 122 percent for fishing years 2006 to 
  3.20  2007 of the state's share of the harvestable surplus, as 
  3.21  adjusted according to subdivision 5; 
  3.22     (2) condition 2 is when: 
  3.23     (i) the index of pounds of mature female walleye per 
  3.24  experimental gill net is between 7.2 pounds and 7.9 pounds of 
  3.25  mature female walleye per experimental gill net, the index of 
  3.26  mature female walleye year-classes in the fishery is 7.0 pounds, 
  3.27  or the index of walleye population size is between 18.9 and 20.8 
  3.28  pounds per experimental gill net; and 
  3.29     (ii) condition 3 does not exist. 
  3.30     Under condition 2, total mortalities from the state's 
  3.31  fishery in that year shall not exceed 110 percent of the state's 
  3.32  share of the harvestable surplus, as adjusted according to 
  3.33  subdivision 5; and 
  3.34     (3) condition 3 is when the index of pounds of mature 
  3.35  female walleye per experimental gill net is less than 7.2 pounds 
  3.36  of mature female walleye per experimental gill net, the index of 
  4.1   mature female walleye year-classes in the fishery is less than 
  4.2   7.0 pounds, or the index of walleye population size is less than 
  4.3   18.9 pounds per experimental gill net.  Under condition 3, total 
  4.4   mortalities from the state's fishery in that year shall not 
  4.5   exceed the state's share of the harvestable surplus, as adjusted 
  4.6   according to subdivision 5. 
  4.7      (b) The gill net catch rates utilized in paragraph (a) are 
  4.8   derived from the state's original, standard 32 gill net sets 
  4.9   during the period 1983 to 2001. 
  4.10     (c) If the fisheries committee agrees on an improved 
  4.11  estimate of spawning stock biomass, the committee may substitute 
  4.12  the improved estimate for the index of spawning stock biomass 
  4.13  established in paragraph (a). 
  4.14     Subd. 5.  [MECHANISM FOR ADDRESSING OVERAGES.] (a) The 
  4.15  commissioner shall ensure, through preseason and, if necessary, 
  4.16  in-season management actions for the state fishery, that total 
  4.17  mortalities, including hooking mortalities in the state fishery 
  4.18  and total mortalities in the bands' fishery, not counting any 
  4.19  net overage in the bands' fishery, for the 2003 to 2007 fishing 
  4.20  years, together with the amount by which total mortalities in 
  4.21  state and band fisheries in fishing year 2002 exceeded the total 
  4.22  harvestable surplus as determined in January 2002, do not exceed 
  4.23  the sum of the total harvestable surplus for the period 2003 to 
  4.24  2007, and the allowable overage, if any, in state mortalities in 
  4.25  2007 as determined in subdivision 4. 
  4.26     (b) To help achieve the result required in paragraph (a), 
  4.27  the state's share of the harvestable surplus shall be adjusted 
  4.28  as follows: 
  4.29     (1) the state's share of the harvestable surplus in each of 
  4.30  the fishing years 2003 to 2007 shall be reduced by 20 percent of 
  4.31  the difference between total mortalities in state and band 
  4.32  fisheries in fishing year 2002 and the total harvestable surplus 
  4.33  for 2002; 
  4.34     (2) if total mortalities in state and band fisheries in any 
  4.35  fishing year during the 2003 to 2006 fishing years exceed the 
  4.36  total harvestable surplus for that year, less any adjustments in 
  5.1   the state's share under this subdivision, the excess shall be 
  5.2   divided by the number of fishing years remaining through 2007 
  5.3   and the state's share of the harvestable surplus in each of the 
  5.4   remaining fishing years shall be reduced by that amount; and 
  5.5      (3) if total mortalities in state and band fisheries in any 
  5.6   fishing year during the period 2003 to 2006 are less than the 
  5.7   total harvestable surplus for that year, less any adjustments in 
  5.8   the state's share under this subdivision, the underage shall be 
  5.9   divided by the number of fishing years remaining through 2007 
  5.10  and any reductions calculated under clauses (1) and (2) shall be 
  5.11  offset by that amount. 
  5.12     Subd. 6.  [EXPIRATION.] This section expires November 30, 
  5.13  2007. 
  5.14     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.15     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.