New AIS law

[LMITOUT]

The actual cost of all these new rules may not actually be seen for a couple years, when fishermen stop fishing, and boating because of the hassle. Wait until they start handing out tickets to your 4 time a year fishermen. Then we will start seeing the loss of revenue from license sales, boat tabs, etc.. But thats ok, they can then just raise the cost up more so the remaining have to pay for it.

Ding, Ding, Ding!

That is the goal they have been working towards anyway...make it a rich man's sport and more room for the good ol' boy clubs.

[Bobby Bass]

If it makes it as far as "Class" I can't see it being anything more than an online thing that would last a few minutes. It is not going to be like someone will have to go to school.. DNR already has some short informational videos on their site.

[Scott M]

[James_R]

I wonder how many fewer fishing licenses, boat sales, and resort stays will occur due to these ridiculous laws.

[Wayne Ek]

I just sent an e-mail to both my rep's explaining why I oppose this bill and also suggesting that they log onto Hot Spots Outdoors, open water forum, New AIS Laws and see the opposition and concern about where the AIS laws seem to be going. I suggest that all of us do the same, enough noise will change some minds.

[reinhard1]

you are doing what all of us should be doing. like you said, it's all about numbers. i am sending my rep a letter because i know that will get read. i also will call. enough is enough. spend money on research from this point on. you cant leglislate more "awareness" than is already in place. good luck.

[DTro]

Here's where I'm torn. There is a blurb in this bill that a group of catfishermen (including myself) worked pretty hard on getting included. The reg would allow anglers to catch a number of species of roughfish in infested waters and use them live on the same body of water. This is very important to me.

So do I contact my reps and tell them to oppose this bill?

I don't know????

[mabr]

I’m not sure how many have read through the bills Limit put down in the outdoors forum. I know I didn’t until this all came up but it’s kind of eye opening some of the stuff in there.

One item I want some clarification on is in Omnibus G&F Bill: H.F. No. 2171, Conference Committee Report - 87th Legislative Session (2011-2012)

Posted 04/27/12 02:36 AM [ccrhf2171]

In this verbiage, does this mean that all species will be open at the same time, or is there more to it than I’m reading or already on the books? I’d admit I haven’t read the entire bill but from what I did read I see no mention of different parts of the state.

34.4 Sec. 75. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 97C.395, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

34.5 Subdivision 1. Dates for certain species. (a) The open seasons to take fish by

34.6angling are as follows:

34.7 (1) for walleye, sauger, northern pike, muskellunge, largemouth bass, and

34.8smallmouth bass, the Saturday two weeks prior to the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend

34.9to the last Sunday in February;

[reinhard1]

it sounds like this bill will be passed anyway. pretty late in the proccess. there are some bad parts of this bill and yours is not a part of that. there will be the next session were things can be modified, left as is, or eliminated. to me, your part of this bill makes sense to me so be glad it's on there. there will be more opposition to more regulations and that will take place in the next session. good luck.

[reinhard1]

as i read it in your post the only change i see from the normal opener is that musky and largemouth and smallmouth are added to the regular opener. that is an eye opener and i have not heard that, unless i'm reading it wrong. trout are not added in there but they open the same day as walley in the regular season anyway. good luck.

[LMITOUT]

as i read it in your post the only change i see from the normal opener is that musky and largemouth and smallmouth are added to the regular opener.

[LMITOUT]

Here's where I'm torn. There is a blurb in this bill that a group of catfishermen (including myself) worked pretty hard on getting included. The reg would allow anglers to catch a number of species of roughfish in infested waters and use them live on the same body of water. This is very important to me.

So do I contact my reps and tell them to oppose this bill?

I don't know????

DTro-

Your bait language is in the G&F bill. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=ccrhf2171.html&session=ls87

The Gestapo AIS language is in the Environment and Natural Resources bill. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=ccrhf2164.html&session=ls87

The latter is now being debated in the Senate on the TPT channel if anybody is interested. It may be too late to do anything on the legislative side, but you can still pound the Governor's email account.

edit - This is weird...the bait language is in BOTH bills! I guess you're covered either way!

[FM_Mike]

Does anyone know how this is going to effect out of state boaters and fisherman.

I was discussing the ongoing workings of the bill with my brothers who are out of state, and have yet to figure out if the "Test" is going to be given and how it will be given to the non residents.

If we think we are confused about what is in the works, try to explain what the new rules mean to those that have NO idea of what the state is doing. Even according to what I have been following here and the comments by many, it seems even residents have NO idea what is happening or about to happen.

I think someone pointed out that this may effect how non residents plan their vacations and if they really want to deal with the "Whats New" every year. My brothers have NO issue with the license increase but are concerned as I am as to what needs to happen and what sticker needs to go where and what test needs to be taken by when and where they need to take it.

Since tourism is a major part of the states economy and we are looking to control the spread of Zeebs and AIS what is the plan to educate non residents and how are they planning to achieve this when they are struggling so much just to educate the residents.

I think some non residents as well as residents may find themselves used as examples when the fines start coming.

Mike

[reinhard1]

Mike, i've called and talked to people in charge of this thing from the early planning of the program and now next week i want to know more. every state i think has some form of invasive they are dealing with. as far as this "test", i dont think this comes into effect this year. i was told just last week there is no test this year as far as they know.

reading the conference report it says that the commissioner shall establish a statewide course. so that tells me it's in the planning stage but not implemented. it also says that all of this that is talked about will not be effective until July of 2015. that's the way i read it, so not every stipulation stated in that area may start on that date or may start earlier. every session changes are made so you never know. hopefully this testing is zaped before it begins.

i would just tell your brother when he buy's a licence to get a sticker and follow the basic guidelines and enjoy his time here. if he has any questions call the DNR office at 651-296-6157 and ask to speak to someone on the AIS issue. this way they will be informed and have peace of mind when on their trip here. good luck.

[harvey lee]

i wish people who are complaining about stickers and other things like taking classes mentioned in some article would call the people in charge of this program. i called for the price of the sticker--16cents each. i called about some classes people are talking about--there are no such classes required i was told. Geeez--why dont people just buy your licence, get your stickers, follow the law, and go fishing. if you have a problem go round up all the "stickeranti's" head down to the capitol and demonstrate. for me nothing will change. i will go fishing and enjoy every minute of it. good luck.

Easier to complain and make stuff up and not deal with facts for most.

I will also go fishing and not worry about this. If I see something new and I do not care for it, I will then contact my reps as I always do as noone here can change any of this.

The sticker could be totally free and everything other item for this and some would still say, not me. I am not really for this course and I have notified all of my reps. That's all one can do and then hope others will also do the same and then a change could happen, otherwise not.

[reinhard1]

Harvey, i was fine with all this prior to this testing deal. anything other than research from this point i am not for. i think all has been done as far as making people aware of this issue. all the fines that are issued this year, hopefully goes for this program also. good luck.

[hugonian1]

So is the DNR's intent to have the sticker available at all ELS centers?

I was at Gander in Forest Lake last week and they said they don't have the sticker, never had the sticker, and did not know if they would have the sticker. It will be hard for the out of staters to comply with the law if they are not available at every dealer, bait shop, resort, etc.

[reinhard1]

the only thing i could say to that is to call ahead to places like Gander. seems that the local county licence centers have plenty. when i talked to a person last week she said they have printed almost 500,000 of them so far. i just picked up a couple more for my canoe and 12 footer at the local licence center. good luck.

[James_R]

If we really wanted to get serious about invasive weeds we could require all farmers to pressure wash their equipment every time they go from one field to the next under the threat of felony prosecution. The state could set up washing checkpoints that target construction equipment having soil contaminants on them. Hikers could have their shoes spot checked in our state parks for noxious weeds. We have over 5000 invasive plant species in the U.S. now. Many of these have been here for well over a hundred years. The USDA's Plant Protection Quarantine agency uses a variety of techniques that mitigate the damage these species inflict. They spray certain areas, inspect/regulate Ag imports and educate the public. They have had many successes but have never had to rely on unconstitutional searches or mandatory stickers and classes to do their job. I'm glad these new rules aren't such a big deal to many of you but I suspect that this is only the beginning. Many of you supporters will be on this site a year or two from now telling us about an over-zealous state worker who gave you a $1000 ticket for having a faded AIS sticker or some lawn clippings on your truck tire.

[reinhard1]

i think i'll stick to what we transport on boats and trailers for now. most of us are reasonable people. once government regulations get out of hand, that's another story. sticker time is over for me and so are classes. i will do my part to fight against further measures unless they are for study and enforcement. i still say doing nothing is not an answer i want to be a part of and we have done enough up to this point. good luck.

[James_R]

You're right, most of us here are reasonable people who want to do something to help unfortunately government is not reason it is force. We need to protect our outdoors in a way that's consistent with our values. If the DNR's current AIS program isn't working then why are we giving it more money and power? We should be hearing from them that their previous AIS efforts have been wildly successful and with just a few extra license dollars the issue will soon be solved and the program reduced or eliminated. I think if all of us on this site put our heads together we could probably solve this issue all on our own. Can you imagine how threatened the state would be if a few of us got together with a pressure washer, some AIS information brochures and volunteered our time at a busy public access offering to clean boats on our own?

[uffdapete]

I would like to see elected officials with the b---s to take on the Great lakes shipping industry to stop further introduction of AIS - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Beyond that, slap heavy penalties on parties who import exotics in any form.

Historically, various gov't agencies have ignorantly introduced exotics in an attempt to solve other issues and oftentimes it has backfired. Hopefully we've learned from our mistakes.

James R - keep in mind that AIS regs weren't created by the DNR but by politicians.

[James_R]

Uffdapete, I would bet if I inspected your car, trailers, ATVs etc after every use for a year I could find multiple county, state or federal noxious weed seeds in your tire treads, wheel wells or floor mats. That is how many of these invasives are ignorantly spread. A state inspector with a good eye could probably issue you tens of thousands of dollars in fines over the course of a year if your heavy penalty dream became a realty. The AIS introductions stemming from the Great Lakes shipping industry haven't been a topic in 20 years. They're already here. Too late. Do you really believe that the DNR has no say in the drafting of our states outdoor legislation? They're in the drivers' seat on most of these things looking to grow their budget and influence.

[reinhard1]

you are correct. while there is input from the DNR, the final product comes from stuffed shirts at the capital. i think in general the DNR is doing a good job. i want more trash containers at landings for example, but are there funds for that? would that even work? heck i see landings with trash containers with trash thrown around it. i want this program to work, but will it? we will see at the end of the year and check the non-compliance rate from last years which was not satisfactory. we cant leglislate ethics now can we. ethics are the silver bullet in all this, not some dumb arse class. good luck.

[LMITOUT]

James R - keep in mind that AIS regs weren't created by the DNR but by politicians.

Incorrect.