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(123rd General Assembly)(Substitute Senate Bill Number 241)
AN ACT
To amend sections 1531.10, 1533.41, 1533.55, and 1533.63 of the Revised Code
to authorize the Chief of the Division of Wildlife in the Department of
Natural Resources to adopt commercial fishing rules that are effective for a
period longer than five years, to establish fishing season dates and
length limits for certain commercial fish, to continue in effect
commercial fishing rules until amended or rescinded, and to declare an
emergency.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1 . That sections 1531.10, 1533.41, 1533.55, and 1533.63 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1531.10. In accordance with Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code, the chief of the division of wildlife shall adopt,
and may amend and rescind, rules that are necessary for the
administration and enforcement of this chapter and Chapter 1533.
of the Revised Code. Each such rule shall be filed with the
clerk of the court of common pleas of each county where the rule
is effective and shall be given such additional publicity by
advertising or otherwise as the chief considers necessary or
expedient. As long as a rule of the division of wildlife remains
in effect, a copy of it shall be included and printed in any
authorized compilation of the division lawbook. All such rules
shall be under the seal of the division and shall bear the
signature, or a facsimile thereof, of the chief. Any rule adopted by the chief under this section for the
purpose of regulating the taking of commercial fish shall remain
in effect for not more than five years after the date of adoption
regardless of whether the rule subsequently is amended under this
section.
Sec. 1533.41. For the Lake Erie fishing district, and in
such other waters wherein fishing with nets is licensed by law,
there shall be not more than two fishing seasons for residents
and nonresidents. Except as otherwise provided by division
rule, those seasons are the spring fishing season, beginning on
the first day of March May and including and closing on
the
thirty-first day of August, and the fall fishing season,
beginning on the first day of September and including and closing
on the thirty-first day of December. No person shall draw, set, place, locate, or maintain any
fish net whatever except a minnow net in the Lake Erie fishing
district, or in any other waters of this state wherein fishing
with nets is licensed by law, between the first day of January
and the first day of March May next following, both
dates inclusive,
except as otherwise provided by division rule. No person shall draw, set, place, locate, use, maintain, or
possess a gill net in this state except as provided in section
1533.61 of the Revised Code. In addition to any other penalty provided in the Revised
Code, the license or permit of any person who is convicted of a
violation relating to drawing, setting, placing, using,
maintaining, or possessing a gill net is revoked by operation of
law, and the person is permanently barred from obtaining another
license or permit of the type revoked. Sec. 1533.55. Except as otherwise provided by division
rule, no person shall draw, set, place, locate, or maintain any
net, except a seine, within one-fourth of a mile of any reef in
Lake Erie between the first day of March May and the
tenth day of
May, both dates inclusive, and within one-fourth mile of any
island or the mainland bordering Lake Erie between the fifteenth
day of June and the fifteenth day of September, both dates
inclusive. No seine or net of any kind except a minnow net shall
be placed, located, pulled, or maintained in Sandusky bay from
one hour after sunset on Saturday until one hour before sunrise
on the following Monday, or from one hour before sunset on the
day before Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day until
one hour before sunrise on the day following Memorial Day,
Independence Day, and Labor Day. No seine shall be set, placed,
located, or maintained in Sandusky bay and the inland fishing
district during the nighttime from one hour after sunset until
one hour before sunrise. No person shall place, set, locate,
pull, or maintain a seine, except a minnow seine, in the Lake
Erie fishing district during the time from one-half hour after
sunset until one-half hour before sunrise, except that a licensee
may place, set, locate, pull, or maintain a seine other than a
minnow seine in any waters of the Lake Erie fishing
district other than Sandusky bay at those times, upon prior
notification to the chief of the division of wildlife, or his the
chief's designated agent, during not more than one week per notification.
The
notification shall be in writing and shall state the
licensee's name and address, date and time of fishing, and
location of fishing grounds. No trap net, crib net, fyke net, or other fishing devices,
except a seine which has been authorized to be hauled during the
nighttime, shall be lifted, pulled, hauled, or set, nor shall fish be removed
therefrom, except during the time from one-half hour before
sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Each net or other device
set, maintained, placed, pulled, lifted, or hauled in violation
of this section constitutes a separate offense. All fish taken from a net or other fishing device, except a
seine that has been authorized to be hauled during the
nighttime, shall be brought ashore during the time from one-half
hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. The chief may adopt rules under section 1531.10 of the Revised Code providing
that no person shall lay out, pull, lift, draw, set, place,
locate, or maintain any net or seine at any other place or places
in the Lake Erie fishing district and in other waters wherein
fishing with nets or seines is licensed by law wherein such a
prohibition is needed for the protection, preservation, or
propagation of fish. No person shall leave a commercial fishing device in a
slack manner, or torn parts thereof, in the waters of the Lake
Erie fishing district for more than five consecutive days. For the
purposes of this section, a fishing device is slack when the
anchors to various parts of the device are not holding it in the
normal extended manner. No person shall set or use a net, trotline, or other
fishing device, except a trap net or fyke net, in the Lake Erie
fishing district without removing all of the fish therefrom at
least once during a period of five consecutive days. A trap or
fyke net shall have all of the fish removed from the crib or car
at least once during such time. Any net, gill net, or other fishing device set, lifted,
pulled, hauled, or used in violation of this chapter or Chapter 1531. of
the Revised Code or division rule is a public nuisance and each wildlife
officer, or other officer with like authority, may seize
and safely keep such a fishing device or part thereof, and the
illegal results therefrom, for evidence or forfeiture proceedings
unless otherwise ordered by the chief. No person shall fail to comply with any provision of this
section or division rule adopted pursuant to it. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license of any person who is convicted of two
violations of this section that occurred within a
twelve-month period is suspended upon the second such conviction by
operation of law for a period of five fishing season days
immediately following that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license of any person who is convicted of three or more
violations of this section that occurred within a
twelve-month period is suspended upon the third or subsequent such conviction
by
operation of law for a period of twenty fishing season days
immediately following that conviction. During any period of suspension, no person shall use or
engage in fishing within commercial gear owned, used, or
controlled at the time of conviction by the licensee whose license has been
suspended. Sec. 1533.63. Except as otherwise provided by division
rule, no person shall take, catch, buy, sell,
transport, or possess a whitefish less than seventeen inches in
length, a sturgeon less than forty-eight inches in length, a
catfish less than fifteen fourteen and one-half inches in
length, a yellow
perch less than eight and one-half inches in length, a yellow perch
fillet or
part fillet of not less than five and three-eighths five-eighths
inches in
length, a headless yellow perch less than six and seven-eighths inches in
length, a white bass or
white bass hybrid less than eleven inches in length, a headless white bass
or white bass hybrid less than eight and three-fourths inches in length, a
white bass or white bass hybrid fillet or part thereof less than six and
one-half inches in length, a
bullhead less than nine inches in length,
a cisco less than eleven inches in length, a buffalo fish less
than fifteen inches in length, a sucker less than ten inches in
length, or a coho less than twenty-five inches in round length or
twenty-one and one-half inches when headless. All such fish
caught or taken of a weight or length less than that prescribed
in this section or as may be provided by the chief of the
division of wildlife immediately shall be released with as little
injury as possible while the net, seine, trotline, dip net, or
other fishing device is being lifted, pulled, or hauled. No person shall release such undersized fish or species
protected by this chapter and Chapter 1531. of the Revised Code or
division rule into a privately owned pond, lake, live car, or
other enclosure. No person shall bring ashore, or possess aboard a
boat used in commercial fishing when going to or returning from
nets or other fishing devices, a fish with its head or tail
removed or in such condition that its length, weight, or species
cannot be determined. This section does not prohibit the catching, taking, or
possession of such undersized fish when caught or taken with hook
and line, other than a commercially licensed trotline, but when
such fish are so taken, they cannot be bought or sold. No licensed commercial fishermen fishers, or person required to
have a commercial fishing license under section 1533.34 of the
Revised Code, shall take walleye, sauger, whitefish, mooneye,
cisco, burbot, sturgeon, and blue pike; brook, brown, rainbow, and
lake trout; coho, chinook, and kokanne salmon; or other species
protected by this chapter and Chapter 1531. of the Revised Code or
division rule, from Lake Erie or its tributaries or
possess such fish aboard a boat used in commercial fishing when
going to or returning from nets or other fishing devices. All
such fish caught or taken from a commercial fishing device
immediately shall be released with as little injury as possible while
the fishing device is being lifted, pulled, or hauled. No person shall take, buy, sell, barter, give away,
deliver, ship, transport, or possess any package, container, or
quantity with more than ten per cent by weight of undersized fish
or any other species either round or filleted mentioned in this
section or division order rule. The entire quantity of fish
containing more than ten per cent by weight of undersized fish
shall be confiscated along with its containers. No person shall
buy, sell, offer for sale, transport, give away, barter, or
possess a fish caught or taken out of season or in any manner
prohibited or a fish caught or taken unlawfully from waters in or
outside the state. All fish brought into the state from another
state or country shall be subject to the laws of this state. All fish taken or caught from Ohio waters shall be brought
into an Ohio port for inspection. No person shall ship, carry,
transport, or cause to be transported any fish taken or caught
from Ohio waters directly to a point outside the state. Walleye or sauger originating from outside of this state
may be possessed for sale, bought, or sold subject to
division rule. No person shall trade, buy, sell, possess, or transport for
sale walleye or sauger taken from waters in this state. Each person who holds a permit under section 1533.301 or
1533.631 of the Revised Code shall keep accurate written records
in the English language of all sales and purchases of freshwater
fish. The records shall include the name and address of the buyer
and seller, the name of fish, the amount of fish in pounds, and the
date of sale or purchase. Records for trout, bullhead, herring,
whitefish, sauger, walleye, yellow perch, white bass, sturgeon,
and channel catfish shall be kept on forms provided by the
chief. In lieu of keeping the written records concerning sales
of freshwater fish as required under this section, a
permit holder, upon applying to and receiving the approval of the chief,
may keep the sales information required under this section
on normal business records, including, but not limited to,
receipts and invoices. All records shall be maintained for at
least one year and shall be open to inspection to all division of
wildlife officers at all reasonable hours. A buyer who purchases
fish for his the buyer's own consumption shall not be required
to keep records, and persons selling fish for personal consumption shall
not be required to record the names and addresses of persons
purchasing the fish. No person shall fail to comply with any provision of this
section or division rule adopted pursuant thereto. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license of any person who is convicted of two
violations of this section, other than those relating to ten per
cent by weight of undersized fish, that occurred
within a twelve-month period, is suspended upon the second such conviction
by operation of law for a period of sixty fishing season days
immediately following that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license of any person who is convicted of three or more
violations of this section, other than those relating to ten per
cent by weight of undersized fish, that occurred
within a twelve-month period is suspended upon the third or subsequent
such conviction
by operation of law for a period of eighteen fishing season
months immediately following
that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license or permit of any person who is convicted of two
violations of this section relating to walleye or sauger is
suspended upon the second such conviction by operation of law for a period
of twenty days immediately following that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license or permit of any person who is convicted of
three violations of this section relating to walleye or sauger is
suspended upon the third such conviction by operation of law for a period
of sixty days immediately following that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, any person who is convicted of four violations of this
section relating to walleye or sauger imported from without the
state that occurred within a period of thirty-six
months is prohibited upon the fourth such conviction by operation of law
from transporting, buying, selling, or dealing in walleye and
sauger for a period of sixty months immediately following
that conviction. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license or permit of any person who is convicted of
four violations of this section relating to walleye or sauger,
other than walleye or sauger imported from without the state, is
revoked upon the fourth such conviction by operation of law, and the
person is permanently barred from obtaining another license or
permit of the type revoked. In addition to other penalties provided in the Revised
Code, the license of any person who is convicted of three or more
violations of this section relating to ten per cent by weight of
undersized fish that occurred within a twelve-month
period is suspended upon the third or subsequent such conviction by operation
of law for
a period of twenty fishing season days immediately following that
conviction. During any period of suspension or revocation, no person
shall use or engage in fishing with commercial gear owned, used,
or controlled at the time of conviction by the licensee whose
license or permit has been suspended or revoked. As used in this section, "sale of fish" includes, but is
not limited to, fish sold in the round or part thereof and
fish sold as part of a meal or service, but does not
include canned fish. For purposes of determining any license or permit
suspension or revocation required by this section, multiple
convictions resulting from violations of this section
that occurred at the same time, on the same day, and at the
same location, are deemed to be a single conviction of one
violation. SECTION 2 . That existing sections 1531.10, 1533.41, 1533.55, and 1533.63 of
the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3 . The following rules of the Administrative Code, as adopted
by the Division of Wildlife in the Department of Natural Resources, are
ratified and continue in effect until amended or rescinded by the Division:
1501:31-3-01, 1501:31-3-02, 1501:31-3-03, 1501:31-3-04, 1501:31-3-05,
1501:31-3-06, 1501:31-3-07, 1501:31-3-08, 1501:31-3-09, 1501:31-3-10,
1501:31-3-11, 1501:31-3-12, 1501:31-3-13, and 1501:31-3-14.
An expiration date stated in any of the aforementioned rules is void. SECTION 4 . This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The
reason for such necessity is to ensure that fishing rules are in effect in
time for the 2000 fishing season because the rules are necessary for the
proper management of Ohio's fisheries. Therefore, this act shall go into
immediate effect.
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