Illinois Administrative Code
Title 17 - CONSERVATION
Part 830 - COMMERCIAL FISHING AND MUSSELING IN CERTAIN WATERS OF THE STATE
Section 830.5 - Definitions

a) A relic (dead) mussel shell is defined as one which apparently died of natural causes within the water and contains no meat or soft parts; it readily exhibits noticeable sediment, vegetation, algal or mineral stains, discolorations, soiling, weathering or other visual evidence on its interior surface which clearly and unambiguously shows the mussel shell has not been cooked-out or freshly cleaned.

b) A legal size mussel for a particular species is defined as a mussel size as set out in Section 830.70 which will not pass through a minimum harvest size circle cutout in a metal plate.

c) Basket dredge - mussel harvesting device consisting of a heavy metal box or square which collects the shells in a net or wire cage, weighs over 70 pounds, and is not operated by hand as described in subsection (e).

d) Hand dredge (hand rake, hand powered rake) - mussel harvesting device weighing less than 70 pounds consisting of a metal frame having coarse teeth on the bottom to which a bag constructed of wire mesh or netting material is attached and fastened by a line to a boom attached to the bow of the boat and held on the bottom by means of a long handle.

e) Hand fork - mussel harvesting device similar in appearance to a common cornfork and utilized while wading.

f) Mechanical devices - refers to dredges and suction devices operated by motorized (internal combustion or electrical) power used in the actual harvest of mussels and does not refer to the manner in which the mussel harvest device is raised into the boat or the device used in propelling the boat.

g) Commercial fishing - includes the commercial harvest of both legal fish and legal crayfish.

h) Bar mesh measure - all net mesh measurements shall be determined by bar measure from the outside of one knot to the inside of the adjoining knot on the same thread or strand.

i) Blue Book - Suggested Procedures for the Detection and Identification of Certain Finfish and Shellfish Pathogens, American Fisheries Society, Fish Health Section, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 (2010 Edition), with no later amendments or editions included.

j) Daily fee fishing area - any privately owned water area that is controlled, operated or managed for fishing and utilized by persons who pay a daily fee, either directly or indirectly; water bodies that are controlled, operated or managed as private club lakes, organizational lakes or lake developments are not eligible to receive a daily fee fishing area license.

k) Commercial fishermen - any individual who uses any of the commercial fishing devices, as defined by Section 15-15 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code (Code) [515 ILCS 5 15-15], for the taking of any aquatic life, except mussels, protected by the terms of the Code.

l) Fish Health Inspection Report or FHIR - official document reporting health status of inspected fish issued by a trained, qualified fish health professional in accordance with Blue Book or OIE standards (see 17 Ill. Adm. Code 875.40 ).

m) OIE - the World Organization for Animal Health, 12, rue de Prony 75017 Paris, France or at http://www.oie.int.

n) Lot - a population of fish as defined in the Blue Book.

o) Live fish - fish will be considered live if one of the following is met:

p) Dead fish - fish will be considered dead if one of the following is met:

q) Roe-bearing species - roe-bearing species means sturgeon, paddlefish, bowfin, and any other fish listed as such by the Department in this Part.