Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 185-S.F.No. 1208 
           An act relating to game and fish; allowing walleye and 
          northern pike to be possessed and transported in a 
          dressed or undressed condition; establishing an 
          experimental program for commercial fishing in 
          Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary waters; limiting number 
          of larger pike taken; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1992, sections 97A.551, by adding a subdivision; and 
          97C.401. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 97A.551, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [WALLEYE; NORTHERN PIKE.] Walleye and northern 
pike may be possessed, transported, or shipped in a dressed or 
undressed condition. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 97C.401, is 
amended to read: 
    97C.401 [COMMISSIONER AUTHORIZED TO PRESCRIBE LIMITS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [COMMISSIONER AUTHORIZED TO PRESCRIBE 
LIMITS.] Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, the 
commissioner shall, by rule, prescribe the limits on the number 
of each species of fish that may be taken in one day and the 
number that may be possessed.  
    Subd. 2.  [WALLEYE; NORTHERN PIKE.] (a) Except as provided 
in paragraphs (b) and (c), a person may take no more than one 
walleye larger than 20 inches and one northern pike larger than 
30 inches daily.  
    (b) The restrictions in paragraph (a) do not apply to 
boundary waters except Lake of the Woods. 
    (c) On Lake of the Woods, a person may take no more than 
one walleye larger than 19.5 inches and one northern pike larger 
than 30 inches daily. 
    Sec. 3.  [MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN BOUNDARY WATERS COMMERCIAL 
REGULATION; EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITION.] For the purposes of this 
section, "Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary waters" means those 
portions of the Mississippi river that form the boundary of the 
state of Minnesota and the state of Wisconsin, including all 
sloughs, backwaters, bays, and newly extended water areas in 
Minnesota lying east of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and 
Pacific railroad tracks.  
    Subd. 2.  [SET LINES.] During the 1993 and 1994 seasons, 
licensed commercial operators may use up to eight set lines 
containing no more than 50 hooks on each line in 
Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary waters.  The commissioner of 
natural resources shall study the impacts of this subdivision on 
both the resource and the industry and shall report to the 
legislature by January 15, 1995. 
    Subd. 3.  [HOOP NETS; BAIT NETS.] (a) The commissioner of 
natural resources shall conduct a five-year study of the effect 
of the use of hoop nets and bait nets by licensed commercial 
operators in the Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary waters.  As a part 
of the study the commissioner may issue up to five permits to 
licensed commercial operators for the use of hoop nets and bait 
nets.  The permits must require that the net mesh have no 
smaller than a three-inch stretch measure and that the nets be 
lifted in compliance with the permit. 
    (b) Operators permitted under this subdivision must provide 
the commissioner of natural resources with all data requested by 
the commissioner, including data on: 
    (1) harvest temperature; 
    (2) season of harvest; 
    (3) species composition; 
    (4) period and frequency between lifting of nets; and 
    (5) population characteristics of the species taken. 
    (c) The commissioner of natural resources shall study the 
impacts of this subdivision on both the resource and the 
industry and shall report to the legislature by January 15, 1998.
    Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 2 is effective March 1, 1994.  Section 3 is 
effective the day following final enactment. 
    Presented to the governor May 12, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 14, 1993, 10:09 p.m.