Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 1-99 - Fish, Game and Enforcement, Forestry and Recreation › Chapter NR 21 - Wisconsin-Minnesota Boundary Waters › Subchapter III - Commercial Fishing › Section NR 21.11 - Commercial fishing restrictions

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) GENERAL
				  RESTRICTIONS. No person may conduct commercial fishing operations unless he or
				  she has first obtained the appropriate license or licenses required under ss.
				  29.523
				  and
				  29.533,
				  Stats. A commercial fisher shall carry each license with him or her at all
				  times while engaged in any part of commercial fishing and shall exhibit the
				  license to the department or its wardens on demand. Each commercial fishing
				  licensee must be a resident of the Wisconsin. Commercial fish helpers and crew
				  members are not required to hold a license but a commercial fisher using
				  helpers or crew members who do not hold a Wisconsin commercial fishing license
				  shall submit to the department a list of all unlicensed helpers' or crew
				  members' names and addresses along with the fisher's application for a license
				  or before the helper or crew member begins to assist the licensee. Commercial
				  fishers whose commercial fishing approvals or privileges have been suspended or
				  revoked may not act as a helper or crew member for another licensee during the
				  period of suspension or revocation.
Note:
Names and addresses of fish helpers and
					 crew members may be submitted with the fisher's application for a license to
					 the Department of Natural Resources, Mississippi River License application -
					 CS/1, P.O. Box 7924, Madison, WI 53707-7924 or may be submitted along with a
					 licensee's monthly catch report.
(a)
				  All game fish that are not commercial fish and all fish that are listed in ch.
				  NR 27 as endangered or threatened species that are taken with any net or
				  setline shall be immediately returned to the water with as little injury as
				  possible as soon as they appear in the operation. Seines may not be bagged in a
				  manner that causes either game fish that are not commercial fish or fish that
				  are listed in ch. NR 27 as endangered or threatened species to die while bagged
				  in the net. The presence of dead game fish that are not commercial fish or dead
				  fish that are listed in ch. NR 27 as endangered or threatened species in a
				  seine bag shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this
				  paragraph.
(b) Each person required
				  to hold a commercial fishing license shall be present at all times when any of
				  his or her nets or setlines are set, placed, tended or operated. The licensee
				  does not need to be present when fish are removed from a bagged seine or crib
				  while the licensee transports commercial fish on the water or ice or is tending
				  to the loading of commercial fish at a boat landing.
(c) Measurement of mesh size is by stretch
				  measure. Such measurements apply to net meshes when in use and no allowance
				  will be made for the shrinkage due to any cause. (29.041, 29.516, 29.522)
(cf) No person may mark or tag a
				  net or setline with his or her license number or metal tag if the net or
				  setline is already marked or tagged by another licensed commercial fisher,
				  except that up to two commercial fishers may each place one of their net tags
				  on the same net and may lift or operate this net when it is agreed to by both
				  commercial fishers. Only one net flag with one number may be displayed on a net
				  at any time and only the commercial fisher whose flag is attached to the net
				  may set, place, tend, operate or lift the net.
(cm) No person may set, place, tend or
				  operate any net or setline that is marked or tagged with the license number or
				  metal tag of another person, except for crew members acting under the direction
				  of the licensee while the licensee is present.
(d) There are no bag limits for any
				  commercial species other than are expressly provided in this chapter.
				  (29.041)
(e) Improperly placed or
				  tagged commercial fishing gear is a public nuisance and will be seized and held
				  by the department subject to order of the court.
(g) No licensed commercial fisher or any
				  member of his or her crew or any person with the commercial fisher or crew may
				  possess any game fish that are not commercial fish while operating commercial
				  gear on the ice or in the open waters of the state or when traveling to or from
				  the operation of the gear.
(h) No
				  person may possess or control commercial fishing gear not authorized for use in
				  the Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters by this chapter while on the ice or the
				  open waters of the state or while engaged in a fishing operation involving
				  those waters.
(i) All fishers
				  required to be licensed under the provisions of ss.
				  29.523
				  and
				  29.533,
				  Stats., shall complete and submit monthly reports on forms available from the
				  department. All reports shall be submitted to the department by the 10th of the
				  month following each month the commercial fisher is required to be licensed.
				  Each monthly report shall be signed by the commercial fisher. Each commercial
				  fisher shall report all fish sold or kept whether these fish were legally or
				  illegally taken or obtained, the buyers name, address and phone number, and all
				  other information requested on the report form.
(k) Commercial fish taken by commercial gear
				  pursuant to this chapter may be sold only by the licensed commercial fisher
				  whose gear was used to take the fish. A commercial fisher may not sell fish
				  taken under the authority of another fisher's license, unless he or she sells
				  the other fisher's fish under the authority of a wholesale fish dealers
				  license.
(l) No person may remove
				  roe from a commercial fish while on the water, ice, bank or shore. Commercial
				  fish shall remain intact until the fish reaches the final processing facility
				  or place of business of the commercial fisher.
(p) The department or its agents may require
				  any operator of any commercial fishing gear to cease the fishing operations
				  when the department finds these operations are destructive to game fish or they
				  will endanger any other species of wild animal. (29.041)
(q) The department by its agents, employees
				  or wardens may in the absence of the licensee, at any time, raise any
				  commercial fishing gear with as little damage as may be for inspection. (23.11,
				  29.516)
(r) The use or operation of
				  all commercial gear except those authorized in this chapter is prohibited in
				  the Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters with the exception of such nets as may
				  be authorized by the department. The specifications for the nets operated under
				  contract with the department must be agreed upon between the states of
				  Wisconsin and Minnesota.