NR 19.057(3)(a)(a) Each permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall maintain a clear, legible daily record in the English language on department forms of all minnow harvest activities conducted under the permit which the department requires to be reported, which may include setting, tending, moving, or removing minnow harvest gear, or the removal of minnows from harvest gear, from any inland or outlying water. The record shall include the water body of origin, the latitude and longitude or nearest road crossing where harvested, the species harvested, the date of harvest, the gear type and amount used, the weight or volume of each species harvested by waterbody for all gear lifts conducted during that day’s trip to the waterbody, the disposition of the minnows, except that retail sales to consumers need not be recorded, the signature of the permit holder, and any other information required on the record form.

NR 19.057(3)(b)(b) The permit holder shall ensure that all information required under par. (a), except for the disposition of the minnows, is accurately recorded at the time that the permit holder or the permit holder’s employee sets, tends, lifts, moves, or removes the gear in the waterbody and empties the gear of fish and before the permit holder or permit holder’s employee leaves the site where the minnows were loaded for transport. The permit holder or employee shall record the final disposition of the minnows to sources other than retail sales to final consumers at the time of disposition.

NR 19.057(3)(c)(c) The permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall submit a report of all daily records recorded under pars. (a) and (b) no later than the 10th day of the month following the month of harvest in the form specified by the department. After December 31, 2027, the permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall submit the report forms electronically to an electronic reporting system designated by the department by 11:59 p.m. the day the minnows are removed from the harvest gear.

NR 19.057(3)(d)(d) The permit holder shall maintain all records required under this subsection for no less than 2 years after the expiration of the permit and shall make the records available to a department representative for inspection upon request at all reasonable hours.

NR 19.057 NoteNote: Minnow harvest record forms may be obtained at no charge from the Bureau of Fisheries Management, Department of Natural Resources, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921 or on the Internet at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/vhs/vhs_wbhpermit.html.

NR 19.057(4)(4) No bait dealer may possess farm-raised fish while engaged in the harvest of wild bait, or while transporting wild harvested bait from the water where it was harvested to the bait dealer’s business location or from the water where it was harvested to the point of sale.

NR 19.057(5)(5) The department may issue a wild harvest permit that is valid for the dates specified on the permit if the permit is for the harvest of minnows from a water of the state stocked with minnows by the applicant pursuant to a stocking permit under s. 29.736, Stats., or for the harvest of minnows from a lake stocked with minnows by the applicant pursuant to a permit for private management under s. 29.737, Stats. The department may issue a wild harvest permit under this section in conjunction with a stocking permit or a permit for private management.

NR 19.057 HistoryHistory: Emerg. cr. eff. 11-1-07; CR 07-074: cr. Register May 2008 No. 629, eff. 6-1-08; CR 23-053: am. (1), cr. (1m), am. (2) (intro.), cr. (2m), renum. (3) to (3) (a) and am., cr. (3) (b) to (d), am. (5) Register April 2024 No. 820, eff. 5-1-24.

NR 19.0575(1)(1) No bait dealer may take the eggs or milt from white suckers caught from any inland or outlying water for the purpose of rearing the offspring as bait unless the bait dealer is 18 years of age or older and possesses a white sucker spawning permit from the department. The permit holder shall comply with all terms and conditions of the permit. Permits shall expire on December 31 each year. The bait dealer shall include all of the following information on the permit application:

NR 19.0575(1)(a)(a) The name and street address of the bait dealer.

NR 19.0575(1)(b)(b) The bait dealer’s license number or department customer identification number.

NR 19.0575(1)(c)(c) The types and quantities of harvest gear to be used in each waterbody to collect white suckers for egg or milt harvest.

NR 19.0575(1)(d)(d) The volume in quarts of white sucker eggs, milt, or both that the bait dealer is requesting to harvest from each waterbody.

NR 19.0575(1)(e)(e) The waters where the bait dealer will harvest the white sucker eggs or milt.

NR 19.0575 NoteNote: See s. NR 20.14 for general minnow collection restrictions, s. NR 20.20 for county and statewide restrictions on waters, authorized methods, open season, size limits, bag limits and other restrictions, and s. 29.401, Stats., for gear use restrictions.

NR 19.0575(2)(2) The department may issue a white sucker spawning permit under this section if it determines that all of the following criteria are met, and may set specific conditions in the permit or deny applications when necessary to ensure compliance with this section, prevent or control the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or invasive species, and maintain a supply of suckers that is sufficiently adequate to replenish the population and sustain ecosystem function in the water of harvest:

NR 19.0575(2)(a)(a) The applicant is a bait dealer who holds a bait dealer’s license or is exempt under s. 29.509 (3), Stats., from the requirement to hold a bait dealer’s license.

NR 19.0575(2)(b)(b) The eggs or milt will not be collected from white suckers in Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Superior, the Mississippi River, Lake Winnebago, the Fox River from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, or any bay, slough or backwater of these waters, or any water connected to these waters upstream to the first dam or other obstruction impassable to fish, or from any other water where the department has reason to believe that viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus may be present or where other invasive species may be present.

NR 19.0575(3)(3) The permit holder shall notify the department, in the manner specified by the department, at least 12 hours in advance of white sucker collection for the purpose of egg or milt harvest and shall provide all of the following information: