Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
150.010,
150.025,
150.120,
150.170,
150.175,
150.445,
150.450,
150.990
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
150.025(1) authorizes the
department to promulgate administrative regulations to establish seasons for
the taking of fish and wildlife, to regulate bag limits, creel limits, and
methods of take, and to make those requirements apply to a limited area. This
administrative regulation establishes the legal methods that may be used by
commercial fishermen to harvest rough fish.
Section
1. Definitions.
(1) "Bar mesh
size" means the distance between two (2) knots on a line of a net.
(2) "Commercial gear tag" means a metal tag
provided by the department that is attached to legal commercial fishing gear as
established in this administrative regulation.
(3) "Flag net" means a gill or trammel net
that is anchored on one (1) end, with the other end of the net unanchored,
allowing this end of the gill or trammel net to float freely.
Section 2. Gear Requirements.
(1) The gear listed in subsections (2)
through (16) of this section shall be the only legal commercial fishing gear
allowed in commercial fishing waters established in
301 KAR
1:150 and under the conditions established in
301 KAR
1:155 by a licensed commercial fisherman.
(2) A hoop net, wing net, straight net, or
heart lead net shall have a minimum bar mesh size of three (3) inches, except
that the minimum mesh size shall be one (1) inch in the following waters:
(a) The Ohio River;
(b) The Mississippi River; and
(c) Those portions of the following waters
open to commercial fishing pursuant to
301 KAR
1:150:
1. The
Cumberland River below Barkley Dam; and
2. The Tennessee River below Kentucky
Dam.
(3) A
hoop may be made of any:
(a) Size;
(b) Shape; or
(c) Material.
(4) Wings and leads shall be constructed of
the following material:
(a) Natural
multifilament; or
(b)
Synthetic.
(5) Netting
used for wings and leads shall:
(a) Be
constructed of twine no smaller than number six (6) nylon or the
equivalent;
(b) Have a breaking
strength of fifty-five (55) pounds or greater; and
(c) Have a bar mesh size no larger than one
(1) inch.
(6) Wings and
leads may consist of either:
(a) Knotted
construction; or
(b) Knotless
construction.
(7) The
maximum length of each hoop net wing or lead shall be sixty (60)
feet.
(8) The following nets shall
be fished as individual nets:
(a) Hoop
nets;
(b) Wing nets;
(c) Straight lead nets; or
(d) Heart lead nets.
(9) Wings or leads shall:
(a) Not be tied together to become a
continuous multiple net unit; and
(b) Be used only to lead fish into a hoop
net.
(10) One (1)
commercial gear tag shall be attached to the first hoop of each net.
(11) A gill or trammel net:
(a) May be fished:
1. Weighted; or
2. As a flag net; and
(b) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag
attached to each 100 feet or part thereof.
(12) A gill or trammel net shall only be used
in:
(a) The Ohio River;
(b) The Mississippi River; or
(c) An overflow lake adjacent to the Ohio or
Mississippi River if the lake can be accessed from the river by a boat during
high flow conditions, except as prohibited:
1.
On department Wildlife Management Areas pursuant to
301 KAR
4:020 and
301
KAR 4:050; or
2. Pursuant to the requirements of
301
KAR 1:140.
(13) The bar mesh size on gill or trammel
nets shall be:
(a) At least three (3) inches
in:
1. The Mississippi River; and
2. Overflow lakes adjacent to the Mississippi
River;
(b) At least four
(4) inches from November 1 through April 30 in:
1. The Ohio River; and
2. Overflow lakes adjacent to the Ohio River;
and
(c) Between four (4)
and four and one-half (4 1/2) inches from May 1 through October 31 in:
1. The Ohio River; and
2. Overflow lakes adjacent to the Ohio
River.
(14) A
commercial trotline shall:
(a) Have more than
fifty (50) hooks placed no closer than eighteen (18) inches apart;
(b) Have one (1) commercial gear tag
attached; and
(c) Not be longer
than 6,000 feet.
(15) A
seine:
(a) Shall have a maximum bar mesh size
of one (1) inch;
(b) May have
knotted netting if constructed of twine that is:
1. No smaller than number six (6) nylon;
or
2. An equivalent having a
breaking strength of at least fifty-five (55) pounds;
(c) May have knotless netting if constructed
of twine that is:
1. No smaller than number
147 nylon; or
2. An equivalent
having a breaking strength of fifty (50) pounds or greater;
(d) Shall be constructed of:
1. Natural multifilament; or
2. Synthetic material;
(e) Shall have both float and lead
lines;
(f) Shall have the following
attached at each end:
1. Wood poles;
2. Fiberglass poles; or
3. Brailes;
(g) Shall be attended by a person who pulls
the seine by hand through the water to entrap fish; and
(h) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag
attached to each 100 feet or part thereof.
(16) A slat trap basket shall:
(a) Not have wire or other mesh added to any
part of the trap;
(b) Have at least
two (2) openings left between slats:
1. No
smaller than one and one-fourth (1 1/4) inches wide in the catch portion of the
trap; and
2. That shall not be
restricted by cross-bracings to a length shorter than eight (8)
inches;
(c) Not be
larger than two (2) feet in diameter or square-end measure; and
(d) Have one (1) commercial gear tag attached
to the opening ring or square.