Ohio Administrative Code › Title 1501:31 - Division of Wildlife › Chapter 1501:31-3 - Commercial Fishing › Section 1501:31-3-02 - Legal length and weight of certain fish

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
Under authority of section
				1533.63
				of the Revised Code and division (D) of section
				1531.08
				of the Revised Code, the chief of the division of wildlife hereby orders that
				throughout the state:
(A) It shall be
			 unlawful for any person to sell, buy, transport, take, catch, or possess
			 channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) less than fourteen and one-half inches in
			 length, a yellow perch (Perca flavescens and Perca fluviatilis) less than eight
			 and one-half inches in length, a yellow perch fillet or part fillet less than
			 five and five-eighths inches, a headless yellow perch less than six and
			 seven-eighths inches in length, a white bass (Morone chrysops) or white bass
			 x white perch
								
								hybrid (M.
			 chrysops x M. Americana) less than eleven inches in length, a
			 headless white bass or white bass x white perch
			 hybrid less than eight and three-fourths inches in length, a white bass or
			 white bass x white perch hybrid fillet or part
			 thereof less than six and one-half inches in length, a walleye (Sander vitreus) less than fifteen and one-half inches
			 in length, a walleye fillet or part fillet of a length less than nine and
			 one-half inches, a headless walleye less than twelve and one-fourth inches in
			 length, a bullhead (Ameiurus sp.) less than
			 nine inches in length, or a
			 whitefish (Coregonus sp.) less than seventeen inches
			 in length. Suckers and buffalo fish of any size may be bought and sold. Except
			 as provided in paragraph (E) of this rule, all such fish caught or taken of a
			 weight or length less than prescribed in this rule, and all fish that cannot be
			 taken in Ohio waters by commercial fishing devices, shall be released back to
			 the water immediately with as little injury as possible while the fishing
			 device is lifted, hauled or operated.
(B) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 release any species of protected or undersized fish prescribed in this rule
			 into a privately owned pond, lake, live car, or other enclosure.
(C) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 bring ashore, or possess aboard a boat used in commercial fishing, a fish
			 mentioned in this rule with its head or tail removed or in such condition that
			 its length, weight, or species cannot be determined.
(D) This rule does not prohibit the catching,
			 taking, or possession of undersized fish when caught or taken with hook and
			 line, other than a commercial trotline, but when such fish are taken they
			 cannot be bought or sold; provided that no person shall possess such undersized
			 fish, or a species not permitted to be taken commercially, aboard a boat going
			 to, while on, or when returning from commercial fishing devices.
(E) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 take, possess, sell, buy, transport, or cause to be transported, a quantity,
			 container, boat load, catch or haul of any species of fish referred to in this
			 rule containing more than ten percent by weight of undersized round, filleted
			 or headless fish.
(F) It shall be
			 unlawful for any person to take, by the aid of commercial fishing gear: blue
			 pike; sauger; sturgeon; brook, brown, rainbow, and lake trout; or coho,
			 chinook, and pink salmon; cisco; or mooneye from lake Erie or its tributaries
			 or to possess any of the aforementioned species on a boat going to or returning
			 from commercial fishing.
(G) Lake
			 trout; sauger; sturgeon, except lake sturgeon (Acipenser
			 fulvescens); coho, chinook, and pink salmon; cisco,
			 except lake herring (Coregonus artedi) legally acquired from out of the state may be
			 sold, bought, and possessed except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. It
			 shall be unlawful for any person to buy, sell, or possess a sauger less than
			 eleven inches in length, or sauger fillet of a weight less than three ounces,
			 or a part fillet of a weight less than one and one-half ounces; a sturgeon,
			 except lake sturgeon, less than forty-eight inches in length; a cisco, except
			 lake herring, less than eleven inches in length.
(H) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 take, possess, buy, sell, deliver, transport, ship, trade or give away, walleye
			 (Sander vitreus) or part thereof, including roe, taken
			 from Ohio waters of lake Erie and its tributaries when taken by the aid of
			 commercial fishing gear.
(I) It
			 shall be unlawful for any person to possess a walleye (Sander vitreus) or part thereof, including roe, upon
			 or in any boat, used in licensed commercial fisheries while such boat is going
			 to, when on, or when returning from commercial fishing devices.
(J) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 buy, sell, or trade walleye (Sander vitreus) taken from the
			 Ohio waters of lake Erie and its tributaries.
(K) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 possess or transport aboard a boat a quantity of walleye (Sander vitreus), in excess of the daily bag limit per
			 licensed angler as specified in paragraph (A) of rule
			 1501:31-13-08
			 of the Administrative Code, except a nonresident transportation permittee may
			 transport a quantity of walleyes when in conformity with sections
			 1533.301
			 and
			 1533.63
			 of the Revised Code.
(L) A
			 violation of the length, weight, and species of fish required of this rule is a
			 violation of section
			 1533.63
			 of the Revised Code.
(M) All
			 provisions in section
			 1533.63
			 of the Revised Code not mentioned in, or modified by this rule, shall remain in
			 effect.
(N) "Headless" for this
			 rule shall mean the length of a fish from the tip of the tail to the point
			 where the head was removed.
(O) It
			 shall be unlawful for any person to sell, buy, offer for sale, possess, or
			 transport for sale fish which have a length or weight limit, in any form other
			 than round, headless, or as fillets, except salmons  and 
								whitefish
			 (Coregonus sp.) may be sold in steak form or canned and channel
			 catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) may be sold in nugget and strip form.
(P) Persons processing fish in any county
			 adjacent to lake Erie and in accordance with section
			 1533.56
			 of the Revised Code, shall be required to keep accurate daily records for a
			 period of two years. Those records shall show the name and address of each
			 owner or other person from whom the processor receives the fish, the species,
			 weight of fish, and date.
(Q) All
			 definitions set forth in rule
			 1501:31-1-02
			 of the Administrative Code shall apply to this rule.