(a) The commissioner may prohibit or restrict the taking of fish or the operation of motorboats by posting waters that:
(1) are designated as spawning beds or fish preserves;
(2) are being used by the commissioner for fisheries research or management activities; or
(3) are licensed by the commissioner as a private fish hatchery or aquatic farm under section 17.4984, subdivision 1, or 97C.211, subdivision 1.
An area may be posted under this paragraph if necessary to prevent excessive depletion of fish or interference with fisheries research or management activities or private fish hatchery or aquatic farm operations.
(b) The commissioner will consider the following criteria in determining if waters licensed under a private fish hatchery or aquatic farm should be posted under paragraph (a):
(1) the waters contain game fish brood stock that are vital to the private fish hatchery or aquatic farm operation;
(2) game fish are present in the licensed waters only as a result of aquaculture activities by the licensee; and
(3) no public access to the waters existed when the waters were first licensed.
(c) A private fish hatchery or aquatic farm licensee may not take fish or authorize others to take fish in licensed waters that are posted under paragraph (a), except as provided in section 17.4983, subdivision 3, and except that if waters are posted to allow the taking of fish under special restrictions, licensees and others who can legally access the waters may take fish under those special restrictions.
(d) Before March 1, 2003, riparian landowners adjacent to licensed waters on April 30, 2002, and riparian landowners who own land adjacent to waters licensed after April 30, 2002, on the date the waters become licensed waters, plus their children and grandchildren, may take two daily limits of fish per month under an angling license subject to the other limits and conditions in the game and fish laws.
(e) Except as provided in paragraphs (c), (d), and (f), a person may not take fish or operate a motorboat if prohibited by posting under paragraph (a).
(f) An owner of riparian land adjacent to an area posted under paragraph (a) may operate a motorboat through the area by the shortest direct route at a speed of not more than five miles per hour.
(g) Postings for water bodies designated under paragraph (a), clause (1), or being used for fisheries research or management under paragraph (a), clause (2), are not subject to the rulemaking provisions of chapter 14, and section 14.386 does not apply.
1986 c 386 art 3 s 6; 1993 c 231 s 47; 1Sp1995 c 1 s 32; 2002 c 351 s 21; 2006 c 281 art 2 s 42
Structure Minnesota Statutes
Chapters 97 - 102 — Game And Fish
Section 97C.001 — Experimental Waters.
Section 97C.005 — Special Management Waters.
Section 97C.007 — Northern Pike Experimental And Special Management Waters.
Section 97C.02 — Acquiring Critical Aquatic Habitat.
Section 97C.021 — Angling Restricted In Trout Streams.
Section 97C.025 — Fishing And Motorboats Restricted In Certain Areas.
Section 97C.035 — Endangered Fish Populations.
Section 97C.041 — Commissioner May Remove Rough Fish And Catfish.
Section 97C.045 — Removing Rough Fish From Boundary Waters.
Section 97C.051 — Special Permits To Use Piscicides.
Section 97C.055 — Removing Dead Fish.
Section 97C.061 — Dragging Weight Or Anchor Through Vegetation.
Section 97C.065 — Pollutants In Waters.
Section 97C.071 — Structures In Public Waters.
Section 97C.075 — Fish Screens In Flowing Waters.
Section 97C.077 — Fish Screens In Lakes.
Section 97C.081 — Fishing Contests.
Section 97C.085 — Permit Required For Tagging Fish.
Section 97C.087 — Special Fish Management Tags.
Section 97C.201 — State Fish Stocking Prohibited Without Public Access.
Section 97C.203 — Exchanging Fish Or Wildlife Resources; Disposal Of State Hatchery Products.
Section 97C.205 — Transporting And Stocking Fish.
Section 97C.211 — Private Fish Hatcheries.
Section 97C.215 — Special Permits For United States Agents.
Section 97C.301 — License Required To Take Fish.
Section 97C.303 — Conservation Angling License.
Section 97C.305 — Trout-and-salmon Stamp Validation.
Section 97C.311 — Lake Superior Fishing-guide License.
Section 97C.315 — Angling Lines And Hooks.
Section 97C.317 — Fishing By Party.
Section 97C.321 — Restrictions On Unattended Lines.
Section 97C.325 — Restrictions On Taking Fish.
Section 97C.327 — Measuring Fish Length.
Section 97C.331 — Snagging Fish Prohibited.
Section 97C.335 — Use Of Artificial Lights To Take Fish Prohibited.
Section 97C.341 — Certain Aquatic Life Prohibited For Bait.
Section 97C.342 — Disease-free Certification; Frozen Or Dead Fish Bait.
Section 97C.345 — Restrictions On Using And Possessing Nets And Spears.
Section 97C.351 — Fish Nets; Tags.
Section 97C.355 — Shelters On Ice; Dark Houses And Fish Houses.
Section 97C.361 — Restrictions On Fish Houses And Dark Houses In Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
Section 97C.371 — Spearing Fish.
Section 97C.375 — Taking Rough Fish By Spearing.
Section 97C.376 — Bow Fishing.
Section 97C.381 — Harpooning Rough Fish.
Section 97C.385 — Commissioner's Authority To Regulate Winter Fishing.
Section 97C.391 — Buying And Selling Fish.
Section 97C.395 — Open Seasons For Angling.
Section 97C.411 — Sturgeon And Paddlefish.
Section 97C.415 — Trout And Salmon.
Section 97C.417 — Reporting Invasive Carp.
Section 97C.501 — Minnow Licenses Required.
Section 97C.502 — Minnows And Leeches; Invasive Species Training Required.
Section 97C.511 — Minnow Seines.
Section 97C.515 — Imported Minnows.
Section 97C.521 — Transporting Carp Fingerlings Prohibited.
Section 97C.525 — Restrictions On Transporting Minnows.
Section 97C.611 — Turtle Species; Limits.
Section 97C.621 — Areas May Be Closed To Taking Turtles.
Section 97C.701 — Taking Mussels.
Section 97C.801 — Taking Rough Fish On Mississippi River.
Section 97C.805 — Netting Lake Whitefish And Ciscoes.
Section 97C.811 — Commercial Fishing In Inland Waters.
Section 97C.815 — Commercial Fishing Areas.
Section 97C.821 — Possessing, Selling, And Transporting Commercial Fish.
Section 97C.825 — Lake Of The Woods And Rainy Lake Fishing.
Section 97C.831 — Namakan And Sand Point Lakes; Commercial Fishing.
Section 97C.835 — Lake Superior Commercial Fishing.
Section 97C.836 — Lake Superior Lake Trout; Expanded Assessment Harvest.
Section 97C.841 — Apprentice License.
Section 97C.843 — Possession For Commercial Netting.
Section 97C.845 — Interference With Commercial Fishing.
Section 97C.851 — Commercial Fishing In International Waters; Resort Owners.
Section 97C.855 — Upper And Lower Red Lake And Nett Lake; Transportation, Sale, And Disposal.
Section 97C.861 — Fish Vendors; Requirements.