Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 1-99 - Fish, Game and Enforcement, Forestry and Recreation
Chapter NR 21 - Wisconsin-Minnesota Boundary Waters
Section NR 21.02 - Definitions

(1) "Bait net" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(1).

(2) "Buffalo net" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(2).

(3) "Closed season" means that period of the year not included in the open season for each species of fish as provided in this chapter.

(4) "Commercial fish" means rough and detrimental fish as defined by this chapter, shovelnose (hackleback) sturgeon 25 inches long or longer only when taken on setlines, catfish 15 inches long or longer or dressed catfish at least 12 inches long and bullheads of any length when taken with commercial fishing gear and all taken while fishing under a commercial fishing license on the Mississippi River.

(5) "Commercial fishing gear" or "commercial gear" is that equipment specifically authorized for use in commercial fishing by this chapter.

(6) "Commercial fishing licenses" means those licenses issued pursuant to ss. 29.523 and 29.533, Stats.

(7) "Constant net attendance" means the continuous presence of a commercial fisher who remains on the water or ice within sight of his or her nets at all times without the aid of vision magnifying devices such as binoculars or spotting telescopes, except that after a net has been drawn, a licensed commercial fisher may temporarily leave the net to transport fish taken from the net to a landing.

(8) "Daily bag limit" has the meaning given in s. NR 20.03(8) for fish and for turtles means the maximum number specified by rule of a turtle species which may be reduced to a person's possession in a single day.

(9) "Dead set gill net" means a gill net that is set and allowed to catch fish without being moved and without constant net attendance by the operator.

(10) "Detrimental fish" means all species of Asian carp, including bighead, silver, grass and black carp.

(11) "Dressed fish" means a fish with the head and viscera removed but the tail on.

(12) "Drift net" means a net of any type that is not staked or anchored at one or both ends and is free to drift or move under the influence of wind or water current, whether or not the net has constant net attendance.

(13) "Drive netting" means a method of operating a net so that the operator is in constant net attendance and uses boats, motors, oars, plungers or other devices to create sound or vibrations in the water so as to chase, move or drive fish in the direction of the net.

(14) "Drive set gill net" means a gill net that is operated without being moved and has constant net attendance.

(15) "Fisher" means any person engaged in fishing.

(16) "Frame net" or "fyke net" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(15).

(17) "Gill net" has the meaning found in s. 29.522(2) (b), Stats.

(18) "Hooking" means, as used in s. NR 21.13, any activity which utilizes a dull-pointed, metal, barbless hook attached to a staff to remove a turtle from a body of water.

(19) "Hoop net" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(18).

(20) "Lead" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(19).

(21) "Length" for the purposes of measuring a fish, unless otherwise specified, means the distance measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the outermost end of the tail with the tail or caudal fin fully extended.

(22) "Lower pool 7" means that part of the Mississippi River bounded on the north by an imaginary line at a compass bearing of 65 1/2 degrees from river mile marker 709.5 to the north end of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad track bridge that crosses the Black River; on the east by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad tracks; on the south by the U.S. army corps of engineers lock and dam 7 dike; and on the west by the state line boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

(23) "Lower pool 8" means that part of the Mississippi River bounded on the north by state highway 16; on the east by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad tracks; on the south by the U.S. army corps of engineers lock and dam 8 dike; and on the west by the state line boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

(24) "Minnows" means all species defined as such in s. 29.001, Stats., and bullheads not exceeding four inches in length.

(25) "Mississippi River" means all waters lying between the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad tracks on the Minnesota side of the river, and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad tracks lying on the Wisconsin side of the river. Mississippi River includes Lake Onalaska and Lake Pepin.

(26) "Possession limit" has the meaning given in s. NR 20.03(31) for fish, except in s. NR 21.13 where "possession limit" means the maximum number of a turtle species or group of turtle species set in s. NR 21.13 which may be possessed by a person at any time.

(27) "Rough fish" means all species defined as such in s. 29.001, Stats., and detrimental fish including amur carp which is also known as grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).

(28) "Seine" has the meaning found in s. 29.522(3), Stats.

(29) "Seine haul" means a single setting, retrieval and emptying of a seine, including placement of the net, driving fish in the direction of the net, drawing or lifting the net, or both, to entrap fish by retrieving one or both ends of the net, bagging the fish in the net, sorting and removal of the game fish in the net and removal of all fish from the net.

Note: A single seine haul may take more than one day to complete from the time the net is set until all fish have been removed from the net.

(30) "Setline" has the meaning given in s. NR 20.03(36) and is also commonly known as a trotline.

(31) "Slat net" or "basket trap" has the meaning given in s. NR 22.02(28).

(32) "Sport fishing" or "angling" means any fishing, including the methods commonly known as hook and line fishing or angling, which is conducted without a commercial fishing license and with other than commercial fishing gear, but does not include the taking of turtles.

(33) "Stretch measure" means the extension measure of net mesh size whenever the size of mesh of a net is specified and is the distance between the extreme angles of any single mesh with the mesh fully stretched.

(34) "Supervisor" means any department employee assigned or designated to oversee fishing activities conducted under this chapter.

(35) "Trammel net" has the meaning found in s. 29.522(2) (a), Stats.

(36) "Turtle" means a reptile having horny, toothless jaws and a body enclosed in a bony or leathery shell into which the head, limbs and tail may be partially or fully withdrawn, and includes parts of turtles and turtle eggs.

(37) "Upper pool 7" means that part of the Mississippi River bounded on the north by the U.S. army corps of engineers lock and dam 6 dike; on the east by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad tracks; on the south by an imaginary line at a compass bearing of 651/2 degrees from river mile marker 709.5 to the north end of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad track bridge that crosses the Black River; and on the west by the state line boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

(38) "Upper pool 8" means that part of the Mississippi River bounded on the north by the U.S. army corps of engineers lock and dam 7 dike, on the east by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe main railroad tracks, on the south by state highway 16, and on the west by the state line boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

(39) "Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters" for sport fishing purposes, means all waters of the Mississippi River, Lake St. Croix, the St. Croix River from the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad bridge at Prescott, as far in a northerly direction as the St. Croix River forms and acts as boundary waters between the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the St. Louis River from the north-south Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary line downstream to the Lake Superior beach line in the Superior entry including St. Louis Bay, Superior Bay, Little Pokegama Bay, Pokegama Bay upstream to highway 105, Kimballs Bay, Howard Bay, Allouez Bay and all other Bays connected to the St. Louis River. For the purpose of taking turtles and commercial fishing, "Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters" means all waters from the Burlington Northern and Sante Fe railroad tracks on the east side of the Mississippi River and from the east bank of the St. Croix River in Wisconsin, extending west to the state line between Wisconsin and Minnesota.