HF 523

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to game and fish; removing restrictions on 
  1.3             the importation of fish from Ontario; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 97A.531, subdivision 
  1.5             6. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 97A.531, 
  1.8   subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 6.  [BORDER WATER ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS.] (a) The 
  1.10  commissioner of natural resources in consultation with the 
  1.11  commissioner of trade and economic development, in coordination 
  1.12  with the federal government, may negotiate and, with the 
  1.13  approval of the legislature, enter into agreements with 
  1.14  authorized representatives of the province of Ontario and the 
  1.15  "first nation" governments in Canada to provide for joint 
  1.16  resource management, promotion of tourism, or economic 
  1.17  development with respect to lakes through which the 
  1.18  Ontario-Minnesota border runs.  When negotiating with Ontario 
  1.19  officials on game fish limits in Minnesota-Ontario border 
  1.20  waters, the commissioner may not agree to more restrictive 
  1.21  limits than are allowed in Ontario, unless the commissioner 
  1.22  determines that more restrictive limits are necessary to protect 
  1.23  Minnesota's fishery resource. 
  1.24     (b) Possession of fish taken by angling and imported into 
  1.25  the state from Ontario by a Minnesota resident angler may not 
  2.1   number more than the amount of the most restrictive Ontario 
  2.2   possession limit by species placed on Minnesota-based anglers 
  2.3   fishing in Ontario border waters unless Ontario is equally 
  2.4   restrictive on Ontario-based anglers on the same border waters.  
  2.5   This paragraph does not apply to fish taken from Ontario border 
  2.6   waters on which limits on the number of fish that may be taken 
  2.7   are the same for Minnesota-based anglers and Ontario-based 
  2.8   anglers. 
  2.9      (c) Nothing in this section precludes the possession, 
  2.10  importation into, or transportation in the state of one trophy 
  2.11  fish of each species for the purpose of having the fish 
  2.12  preserved by taxidermy, if the fish is transported whole. 
  2.13     (d) Paragraph (b) does not apply if the governor issues a 
  2.14  waiver as provided in this paragraph.  The governor may issue a 
  2.15  waiver of the requirements of paragraph (b) and subdivisions 2, 
  2.16  3, and 4 if after negotiations with authorized representatives 
  2.17  of Ontario, the governor determines that the waiver is in the 
  2.18  best interest of the citizens of the state.  
  2.19     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.20     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.