Illinois Compiled Statutes
515 ILCS 5/ - Fish and Aquatic Life Code.
Article 5 - Fish Protection

(515 ILCS 5/Art. 5 heading)

(515 ILCS 5/5-5) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-5)
Sec. 5-5. Ownership and title; violations; penalties. The ownership of
and title to all aquatic life within the boundaries of the State, are
hereby declared to be in the State, and no aquatic life shall be taken or
killed, in any manner or at any time, unless the person or persons so
taking or killing the aquatic life shall consent that the title to the
aquatic life shall be and remain in the State for the purpose of regulating
the taking, killing, possession, use, sale, and transportation of aquatic
life after taking or killing, as set forth in this Code.
Aquatic products, including any aquatic plants and animals or their by-products that are produced, grown, managed, harvested and marketed on an annual, semi-annual, biennial or short-term basis, in permitted aquaculture facilities, bred,
hatched, propagated, or raised by the owner of a body of water, with the
consent of the Department of Natural Resources through the
issuance of an
aquaculture permit and consistent with this Section, in permitted
aquaculture facilities in or on that body of water are the property of the
person who bred, hatched, propagated, or raised them or that person's
successor in interest. Ownership of aquatic products reverts to the State
upon revocation or expiration of an aquaculture permit as prescribed by
administrative rule.
If any person causes any waste, sewage, thermal effluent, or any other
pollutant to enter into, or causes or allows pollution of, any waters of
this State so as to kill aquatic life, the Department, through the Attorney
General, may bring an action against that person and recover the value of
and the related costs in determining the value of the aquatic life
destroyed by the waste, sewage, thermal effluent, or pollution. Any money
so recovered shall be placed into the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State
Treasury.
If any person shall abandon, deposit, or otherwise place any wire,
can, bottle, glass, paper, trash, rubbish, cardboard, wood cartons,
boxes, trees, parts of trees, brush, or other insoluble material,
including animal or vegetable material, into the waters or upon the ice
of any waters of this State, or in any place on the bank of waters of
this State where it shall be liable to be washed into the waters either
by storms, floods, or other causes, the person shall be in violation of the
offense of polluting. Employees of the Department, however, may place or
direct the placement, in the waters of the State, of insoluble materials
deemed suitable for the purposes of enhancing aquatic habitat. Any person
who shall be found guilty under this Section shall be guilty of a petty
offense, and the Court shall further order that the guilty person shall
employ every practical means of removing the debris within a time specified
by the Court. Failure to comply with an order under this Section shall
constitute a Class B misdemeanor.

(Source: P.A. 102-555, eff. 1-1-22.)

(515 ILCS 5/5-10) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-10)
Sec. 5-10.
Application.
This Code shall apply to aquatic life or parts
of aquatic life (i) in or from any of the lakes, rivers, creeks, sloughs,
bayous, or other waters or watercourses or lands wholly within the
boundaries of the State of Illinois or over which the State of Illinois has
concurrent jurisdiction with any other State or (ii) which may be brought
into the State of Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 87-833.)

(515 ILCS 5/5-15) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-15)
Sec. 5-15.
Permissible devices.
Aquatic life or parts of aquatic life
shall be taken only with the devices and in the manner permitted by this
Code, and the terms of this Code shall apply with equal force to aquatic
life when smoked, frozen, or otherwise processed.

(Source: P.A. 87-833.)

(515 ILCS 5/5-20) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-20)
Sec. 5-20. Taking aquatic life on private property. Any person
taking or attempting to take aquatic life by means of any device within
waters other than public waters of the State shall first obtain the consent
of the owner, tenant, or designee of the owner or tenant of the premises where the taking is
done or attempted to be done. In addition, the persons taking or attempting
to take aquatic life on another's property shall do so in a manner that
does not cause wanton or careless injury to or destruction of any real or
personal property on the premises.
It shall be prima facie evidence that a person does not have the
consent of the owner or tenant if the person is unable to demonstrate to
the law enforcement officer in the field that consent had been
obtained. This provision may only be rebutted by testimony of the owner or
tenant that consent had been given. Before enforcing this Section, the law
enforcement officer must have received notice from the owner or tenant of a
violation of this Section. Statements made to the law enforcement officer
regarding this notice shall not be rendered inadmissible by the hearsay
rule when offered for the purpose of showing the required notice.

(Source: P.A. 102-837, eff. 5-13-22.)

(515 ILCS 5/5-25) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-25)
Sec. 5-25. Value of protected species; violations.
(a) Any person who, for profit or commercial purposes, knowingly
captures or kills, possesses, offers for sale, sells, offers to barter,
barters, offers to purchase, purchases, delivers for shipment, ships,
exports, imports, causes to be shipped, exported, or imported, delivers for
transportation, transports or causes to be transported, carries or causes
to be carried, or receives for shipment, transportation, carriage, or
export any aquatic life, or parts thereof, contrary to the provisions of the Code or administrative rule, and that
aquatic life, in whole or in part, is valued at or in excess of a total of $300,
as per species value specified in subsection (c) of this Section, commits a Class 3
felony.
A person is guilty of a Class 4 felony if convicted under this Section for more than one violation within a 90-day period if the aquatic life involved in each violation are not valued at or in excess of $300 but the total value of the aquatic life involved with the multiple violations is at or in excess of $300. The prosecution for a Class 4 felony for these multiple violations must be alleged in a single charge or indictment and brought in a single prosecution.
Any person who violates this subsection (a) when the total value of species is less than $300 commits a Class A misdemeanor except as otherwise provided.
(b) Possession of aquatic life, in whole or in part, captured or killed
in violation of this Code, valued at or in excess of $600, as per species value
specified in subsection (c) of this Section, shall be considered prima facie
evidence of possession for profit or commercial purposes.
(c) For purposes of this Section, the fair market value or replacement cost, whichever is greater, must be used to determine the value of the species, but in no case shall the minimum value of all aquatic life and their
hybrids, whether dressed or not dressed, be less than the following:

(515 ILCS 5/5-30)
Sec. 5-30. Shark fins.
(a) As used in this Section, "shark" means any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii.
(b) As used in this Section, "shark fin" means a raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin or a raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached tail of a shark.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this Section, a person may not possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin on or after January 1, 2013.
(d) Until July 1, 2013, any person may possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin possessed by that person on January 1, 2013.

(Source: P.A. 97-733, eff. 1-1-13.)