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Email conservation director: mgoetting@mnbfn.org
Find Your MN Representatives & Senators
Donate $5 to B.A.S.S. Conservation fund
| The following bills have been introduced in the current session. Click on the bill number to view bill status and text. | ||
| Description | House | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Game and fish habitat dedicated sales tax funding provided, game and fish preservation fund established, walk-in public access program created, and constitutional amendment proposed. | HF0027 | SF0290 |
| Anglers allowed to use two lines and two hooks while fishing. | HF0191 | SF0972 |
| Conservation angling license provided. | HF2871 | SF2565 |
| Fishing club contest alternative annual fee established. | HF2952 | SF2577 |
| Lead sinkers, jigs and lures use in fishing prohibition phase in | n / a | SF1293 |
| Lead sinkers, jigs and lures use in fishing warning label requirements | n / a | SF2889 |
Final Language - in progress
SONAR - January 2008
Briefing with Commissioner - February/March 2008
Approval from Governor - March 2008
Publish Notice of Intent to Adopt - April 2008
Comments Taken 33 days after publication date
If no hearing is requested:
Submit rule package to Office of Administration
Hearing - May 2008
Publish in State Register - June 2008
Rules adopted and implement 5 days after publication
Or if hearing is requested:
Hearing - July/August 2008
Comments/Response - 25 days after hearing date
Issuance of Administrative Law Judge - October 2008
Make any needed changes - November 2008
If approved, adopt rules and implement January 2009 or start of upcoming
fishing season in 2009
DNR
statement of need
About 6 years ago our Minnesota Department of Natural Resoures (DNR) instituted
a fishing contest (tournament) permit process to address complaints regarding
busy lakes and accesses. Within this process the DNR limits tournaments based
on the size of the body of water and a tournament organizer must request
a tournament permit that is free of charge.
Today, due to this process, previously reported complaints are virtually
non-existent. However, our DNR has changed this process by amending the statute
which stated "Permits shall be issued without a fee" to "The commissioner
shall charge a fee for the permit that recovers the costs of issuing the
permit and monitoring the activities allowed by the permit.". The language
change was based on the recommendation of the Budget Oversight Committee
to recover the (FY 2006) $108,000 permit administrative costs.
Permit Overview
The permit process is manual and consists of several steps. First, a tournament
organizer downloads the application and mails the completed application to
a DNR regional office. If no scheduling conflict occurs, the permit is granted
and a copy of the application is mailed back to the tournament organizer.
If a conflict occurs, the DNR provides each tournament organizer with the
conflicting tournament organizer's contact information and asks them to resolve
the scheduling conflict. If no resoluation can be made, the DNR will conduct
a drawing to award the permit. Finally at the conclusion of the tournament,
the tournament organizer mails his tournament creel statistics (how many
were caught, how many were released, and the big fish) which is entered in
a database by a DNR employee.
2008 Fees
The DNR is moving forward with the following fee schedule:
Fee for open-water contests:
. Small contests (31-100 participants, 50 or fewer boats): $120
. Large contests (more than 100 participants or more than 50 boats): $400
Fee for contests with off-site weigh-ins:
. Small contests: $500
. Large contests: $1,000
Fee for ice contests (more than 150 participants) is $120.
Fee must be submitted with the application.
See http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/tournaments/regulations.html
Ron Payer, MN DNR Fisheries Chief, stated that these fees will be tracked
and go into the Game & Fish fund to support projects.
Uncommon Fees
Many states do not require tournament permits and even fewer charge a fee.
Other natural resource state agencies fund administrative costs through fishing/boat
licenses and sportfishing equipment (that is subject to a 10% Federal Excise
Tax that is funneled back to states).
| State | Permit? | Permit Fee? | Notes |
| Alabama | Varies | No | Corps of Engineers require
a permit; State parks with launch and weigh-in facilities require a permit |
| Connecticut | Yes | No | |
| Iowa | Yes | No | Permit required for tournaments over 6 boats |
| Louisiana | No | No | |
| Maine | Varies | Varies | catch,
measure and release (CMR) permit for $15--used during the spawn club weigh-in tourney permit for $25, allowing no more than 15 boats to be involved open tourney permit for $55, up to 100 boats and cash prizes up to $10,000 Multi-day permit $150 (allowing up to three consecutive days on one body of water) Maine limits the number of permits of any kind on any one body of water to four opens and three club weigh-in tourneys, CMR’s do not count. |
| Mississippi | No | Varies | Ross Barnett Reservoir
$5 fee per boat for tournaments over 50 boats Pat Harrison Waterway district (8 or 9 lakes) charges a $25 tournament fee |
| Montana | Yes | No | |
| New Mexico | $15-25 | ||
| Oklahoma | No | Varies | Corps of Engineers: free
to $25 (based on size) Grand River Dam Authority: $25-$55 (based on size) Oklahoma State Parks facilities: free to $25 (non-profit vs. profit) National Park Service: $30 ramp fee |
| Ontario Canada | No | No | |
| Oregon | Yes | Varies | Marine
Board charges a $25 fee when over 24 boats Various county park and US Forest Service ramps charge $25 on average |
| Rhode Island | Yes | No | Permit required for tournaments with 6 boats or more |
| South Carolina | No | Varies | Typically around $25 |
| Texas | Varies | No | Some lakes require permits but the TPWD does not |
| Washington | Yes | $24 | Maximum of 7 tournaments per year per organization. |
| West Virginia | Yes | No | |
| Wisconsin | Yes | None at this time |
Moving Forward
We have stated the desire to receive more information and sooner from the
DNR so we could have been better informed about these fees and provide more
feedback in a timely manner back to the DNR as a valued stakeholder. In the
future there is opportunity to reduce permit administrative costs by automating
the current "paper" process to allow tournament organizers to go
online to 1) submit an application 2) check application status 3) and enter
tournament creel survey data. We would also like to investigate other fee
recovery approaches. The DNR should poll to estimate how many tournament
anglers exist in Minnesota. The Wisconsin DNR estimates they have 20,000
tournament anglers. The 2006 Brainerd ice fishing tournament had over 10,000
anglers in itself. If each angler is required to purchase a "tournament
stamp" for $10, the $108,000 dilemma would be fulfilled and it would
be less a burdensome fee than the current schedule (ranging from $125-$1000).
Mickey Goetting
Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation
Conservation Director & Webmaster
mgoetting@mnbfn.org
Volunteer with the ACT and help protect fishery resources in your area
Are your fisheries' resources worth protecting? Do you want to improve fishing in your area?
If your answers are yes, then you'll want to join the BASS Angler Conservation Team (ACT). The ACT is a network of leisure anglers like you who volunteer to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitats. ACT members are invited to help fellow anglers, communities and natural resource managers with grassroots projects such as building and placing fish habitats in lakes, planting native aquatic vegetation, ensuring angler access to waterways and more.
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The time and work is rewarding. Working hands-on with fisheries biologists and resource experts gives BASS Angler Conservation Team participants a unique look at how fish and wildlife are managed in the wild. In turn, you will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of our natural resources and our need to protect them. |
BASS invites you to get involved. To volunteer your time for grassroots
projects that protect and preserve the nation's waterways, sign up for ACT,
the Angler Conservation
How this will work, is that an organization can send BASS information about
projects. BASS will then generate an email to all ACT members within 100
miles of the project. By doing this, people can get tied into projects and
help others.
Interested parties can sign
up at ESPN/BASS
Online copies available at: B.A.S.S. |
B.A.S.S. Conservation Agenda |
| Taking a leadership role in aquatic resources issues Belonging to BASS, the "Worldwide Leader in Bass Fishing," means much more than membership in a global club of bass anglers. Since the early 1970s, BASS has taken a proactive response to addressing the nation's vital aquatic resource issues. In the early years, it meant taking legal action against industries making a toxic soup of the nation's waterways. Today, the agenda has grown more complex, and BASS follows a parallel path in dealing with the issues through its Conservation Program. View agenda |
Hooks In or Out? |
by Ralph Manns Those of us who try to share the findings of scientific study with non-scientists are often frustrated. It seems very difficult to get the word out. We write about some important discovery, but find anglers, particularly the influential professional and TV bass anglers, either don't read the new information or dismiss the new scientific insights because they conflict with beliefs the anglers already hold. Professional and TV anglers aren't the only ones to be slow in learning and applying the latest "word" from scientists. Biologists, particularly state fisheries workers are often too busy with their own assigned tasks to read all of the literature produced by other scientists. They continue to advise anglers to handle fish using outmoded procedures. Full Article |
Shoreline and Water Quality Impacts from Recreational Boating on the Mississippi RiverOctober 5, 2004by Vern Wagner  Greetings Federation
Members,As your Conservation Director I'd like to keep you all updated on important issues. Habitat needs to be our greatest concern and we are losing habitat at an alarming rate, from shoreline development, boat docks development (large floating) and its accompanying traffic on aquatic habitat areas and many forms of erosion. This week I'd like to share the Conclusions and Current needs section of a recent study done on the Mississippi River. This report can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/reports/impacts_mississippi.html. Here is a quote found in this report, which I'm sure has as much meaning to you as it does to me: "A river belongs to no one. And it belongs to everyone. And no one has the right to contribute to the desecration of a river by irresponsible and abusive acts, at the expense of his neighbors and fellow American citizens, near or far removed from the stream itself." - Richard J. Dorer 1968 Conclusions and Current Needs The Upper Mississippi River has formed and evolved within the fine alluvial soils deposited in the valley since the last period of glaciation. With a relatively narrow and sinuous channel, wind driven onshore waves have not been a significant part of the natural processes that created the present day river corridor. These factors have defined the streams geological and morphological characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation from watercraft-induced wave action. The results of river studies and task force findings make clear the need for additional water surface use management of the Upper Mississippi River. All state and federal agencies involved with management of this resource have a strong commitment to preserving the concept of a multiple-use river, which requires maintaining a careful balance of the important values and uses of this complex river environment. Among these are the values as a wildlife sanctuary and rich mosaic of ecological communities; an important fishery resource; a corridor for commercial navigation; and as a provider of an extensive variety of recreational opportunities. The important underlying principal for assuring the continued sustainability of the river is to ensure any single use does not impair other uses. Certain aspects of current water surface use practices are in direct conflict with this principal, and the resulting environmental degradation and user conflicts must be addressed through a collaborative and adaptive management process. Impairment of the condition and beneficial uses of the river environment, as a result of currently under-regulated recreational traffic, has significant consequences for all public user groups as well as public and private landowners. Lost or reduced opportunity for fishing, boating, sailing, canoeing, hunting, trapping, nature observation, and other esthetic pursuits represents important public costs. The $1.2B derived annually (USACE) from these uses of the Upper Mississippi River System is vital to the economy of the bordering states. Displacement of more passive river uses, as a result of habitat destruction and the user conflicts associated with the wakes from large, fast moving recreational craft, has become a distortion of the concept of a multiple-use river. A primary element for river management planning must be the control of wakes, for all motorized craft, during high flow/pool stage. Water levels approximating a 2-3 foot rise above normal operating pool should be considered as a point of initiation for protected high flow periods. At these times, waves strike the steeper and highly erodible portions of the banks, and the root zones for trees and other riparian vegetation. Additionally, excessive wakes from large craft damage shoreline structure and impair water quality and recreation values at all water stages. Excessive wakes are generated principally from large V-hulled craft operating at a high horsepower output that results in an exceedance of the design hull speed. Even when a semiplaning condition can be achieved, these craft produce wakes with high amplitude and velocity that cause high-energy waves to impact the shoreline. Because of multi-jurisdictional authorities along the considerable extent of the UMRS, and in many cases a lack of water surface use regulatory authority, a system-wide solution will likely not occur within a timeframe that will protect against further impairment of the values and uses of the Mississippi River. Resource values are being lost at an unsustainable rate and local units of government will have to partner with other management entities, by exercising their existing authorities, for the protection and enhancement of the river resources within their jurisdiction. A list of potential options to reduce recreational boating impacts is provided in Table 1. This list is not comprehensive, but does identify a range of alternatives for regulatory authorities, boat manufacturers, recreational users, and other interested parties to begin addressing this issue. Surface water use regulations are an especially important tool. Most would agree it is in the best interest of recreational boaters, regulatory authorities, and the boat industry to work cooperatively to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of the river and continued recreational opportunities for future generations. |
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and a Few Good Ways to Kill BassSeptember 3, 2004by Vern Wagner As a bass club member, and your Conservation Director, I seem to be spending, as much time working on bass conservation as I do fishing. And as a result I've had some opportunities to look at bass tournament mortality from a number of different perspectives. Research lab results, DNR and tournament study results, both with large and small tourneys. I'm working on tournament weigh-in guidelines for permitted events in Minnesota and to some degree B.A.S.S. tourneys such as the Classic. And with all the information out there, we are coming to believe that we need to move away from plastic bag weigh-ins or at least educate large and small tournament organizers of what not to do. The best system and one that we will likely see soon is a in-water weigh-in scale. This is a scale that can handle having a tub with 4-5 gallons of water and can be "zeroed" between each catch of fish. Fish can be then held in a oxygenated tank, in a perforated bag or basket until being weighed and transferred to the weigh-in tank, and then released. When using a plastic bag and placing a number of fish in it the water in that bag reaches a lethal oxygen level in less then two minutes. And while it will appear that most of these fish will swim away, the hypoxia effect usually results in death within a few days. So, while most of us think that the few seconds that we are bumping fish, wrapping them tight and weighing them, is with-in "safe levels", when this stress is added to an extended period in bag, hypoxia becomes fatal. It also follows that larger fish reach toxic levels quicker due to their needs for H²0. If clubs are to continue to use plastic bags, an improvement would be to instruct guys not to bag fish until instructed to do so, weigh by boat number and control the bags. Only having one bag (two if more then 5lbs of fish) so the second boat couldn't begin bagging until a bag was available. This will slow down the weigh-in, and make guys ready to roll even more impatient then normal, but it is a price and ethic that needs to be practiced by both large and small tournaments. Better for us as bass anglers to make changes, then letting government and the public impose sanctions that are illogical. One big tournament fish kill on a lake can galvanize the sentiment the entire area against tournaments. I figure it will take years to get the real hard-cores singing out of the new weigh-in song book. Please email me your snail mail address. I have a booklet titled "Keeping Bass Alive" that I'd like send you. |
Pool Five Drawdown MeetingsThe U-S Army Corps of Engineers will hold a pair of public meetings in late September to address the potential drawdown of Pool Five on the Mississippi River next summer to improve fish and wildlife habitat. Pool Five includes Lock and Dam Number Five at Minneiska to Lock and Dam Number Four at Alma.The first meeting will be Wednesday, September 22nd, at Wabasha-Kellogg High School, the second meeting will be September 23rd, at Cochrane-Fountain City High School. Both will run from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. The meetings are designed to provide the public with information about water level management options for Pool Five and to solicit public input. Current plans call for a drawdown between one and a-half and two and
a-half feet. in the summer of 2005, depending on funding availability.
The U-S Army Corps of Engineers recently completed two consecutive
years of summer drawdowns on Pool 8 near La Crosse. |
What disease is this? Find
out |
October 2002 Conservation Update |
August 2002 Conservation Update |
May 2002 Conservation Update |
April 2002 Conservation Update |
Largemouth Bass Virus |
