Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024
Subpart 1.
Possession limits.
Possession limits for contest waters apply to all contest
participants at all times except that the total number of fish killed by a
contest participant may not exceed one possession limit per event.
Subp. 2. [Repealed, 28 SR
629]
Subp. 3.
Authority to
hold and release fish.
In contests where fish may be returned to the contest waters,
the permittee may be authorized to hold healthy fish and release them
immediately following weigh-in. Suitable release sites may be specified in the
permit for the purposes provided in Minnesota Statutes, section
97C.081,
subdivision 4. The commissioner shall consider the following criteria to
determine when a specific release location should be included in the
permit:
A. whether water or habitat
quality at or near release sites would result in undue mortality of released
fish;
B. whether barriers such as
dams or channels exist that would limit natural fish movement or
redistribution;
C. whether genetics
of the contest fish are consistent with the genetics of the fish population
where the contest fish are being released;
D. whether a particular release location is
necessary in light of the preferred habitat and home range of the contest
fish;
E. whether release of the
contest fish at another location would lead to localized depletion of fish
stocks from contest waters where the contest fish were caught and removed;
or
F. whether release of contest
fish may result in the spread of diseases or invasive species.
Subp. 4.
Gifting and
donating fish.
A. To prevent the waste
of fish, a contest organizer may be permitted to accept from contest
participants fish lawfully taken and possessed during a contest for gifting to
a charitable or nonprofit organization as defined by the Internal Revenue
Service or a charity that is registered with the Attorney General's Office,
Charities Division, and listed on the attorney general's Web site. Contest
organizers who want to apply for a permit to gift or donate fish must fill out
the appropriate sections of the contest application.
B. A permitted contest organizer and
representatives from the charitable or nonprofit organization must distribute
the gifted fish at no cost or consideration.
C. The contest organizer must keep records
regarding the fish donated by contestants for two years. The records must
include:
(1) the names and addresses of
contest participants donating the fish;
(2) the contest participant's license number
or possession permit number under which the fish were lawfully taken or
possessed;
(3) the number and
species of fish donated;
(4) the
date, location, and contest permit number associated with the donation;
and
(5) the name of the designated
representative for the charitable or nonprofit organization to which the fish
are being donated and the date of the transfer to that person.
D. The following information must
accompany the donated fish as the fish are transferred. Each representative of
a charitable or nonprofit organization in possession of the fish must keep a
copy of the documentation until the fish are consumed or otherwise destroyed:
(1) the contest organizer's name and
address;
(2) the date, location,
and contest permit number associated with the donation;
(3) the total number of each fish species
that was donated;
(4) the date of
transfer; and
(5) the charitable or
nonprofit organization's name, designated representative, and
address.
