NR 25.10(4) (4) Restricted area permits. Permits allowing commercial fishing in restricted areas as described in subs. (1) and (2), or as required in s. NR 25.09 will be issued as follows:

NR 25.10(4)(a) (a) Application criteria and procedure.

NR 25.10(4)(a)1. 1. Applicants shall be licensed commercial fishers, or have contracts for the harvest of rough fish from outlying waters issued under s. 29.417 or 29.421, Stats.

NR 25.10(4)(a)2. 2. Applications shall be made on forms provided by the department and shall contain all information required by the department on the form, at least one week prior to commencing fishing operations, unless otherwise authorized.

NR 25.10(4)(a)3. 3. A permit shall be issued to an applicant meeting the criteria in this paragraph, unless the department denies the application under par. (b) in writing, within 6 business days of receipt of the application.

NR 25.10(4)(a)4. 4. Permits shall be reapplied for at least once each license year. The permit period may not extend beyond the end of the license year.

NR 25.10(4)(b) (b) Denial, revocation or temporary suspension of permits.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1. 1. The department may deny, revoke, or temporarily suspend a permit applied for or issued under this subsection in whole or in part, as resource management requires, if one or more of the following conditions exists or are likely to occur:

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.a. a. Damage to fish habitat.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.b. b. Excessive incidental catch of illegal fish, as defined in s. NR 25.09 (5).

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.c. c. Spawning concentrations of illegal fish.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.d. d. Concentrations of recently stocked fish.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.e. e. Concentrations of immature fish.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.f. f. Presence of protected or endangered plants or animals as listed in ch. NR 27.

NR 25.10(4)(b)1.g. g. Mortality of illegal fish resulting from capture in commercial fishing gear greater than or likely to be greater than 10% of the weight or number of the legal catch.

NR 25.10(4)(b)2. 2. The department shall give notice of a denial, suspension, or revocation pursuant to provisions of s. 227.51 (3), Stats. Any telephonic notice of suspension shall be promptly confirmed in writing.

NR 25.10(4)(b)3. 3. Any suspension exceeding 7 days shall be reviewed and approved by the department’s district director, or their designee, within the first 6 business days of the suspension period. Any revocation, or suspension in excess of 25 days, shall be reviewed by the office of the secretary, or its designee, with opportunity for the permittee to be heard. The revocation or suspension shall be reviewed within 10 business days of receipt of the permittee’s request for opportunity to be heard. A permittee is not required to request to be heard by the office of the secretary prior to seeking judicial review.

NR 25.10 Note Note: District directors are now known as regional directors.

NR 25.10(4)(b)4. 4. A denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit under this paragraph shall not bar an otherwise qualified applicant from applying for permits for other locations.

NR 25.10 History History: Cr. Register, September, 1976, No. 249, eff. 10-1-76; renum. from NR 25.12, Register, October, 1979, No. 286, eff. 11-1-79; r. and recr. Register, June, 1984, No. 342, eff. 7-1-84; renum. from NR 25.09 and am. (4) (intro.) and (5) (b) 1.b., Register, January, 1985, No. 349, eff. 2-1-85; emerg. am. (1) (b) 1. and 3., eff. 4-22-86; am. (1) (b) 1. and 3., Register, October, 1986, No. 370, eff. 11-1-86; am. (2) (a) 2. and (b), r. (2) (a) 3., renum. (2) (a) 4. to 10. to be 3. to 9., r. and recr. (2) (c), cr. (2) (d) to (h) and (4) (b) 1.g., Register, June, 1989, No. 402, eff. 7-1-89; am (1) (b) 4. and 6., r. (1) (b) 7., cr. (1) (b) 9. and (c), Register, June, 1997, No. 1997, No. 498, eff. 7-1-97; cr. (2) (i), Register, December, 1998, No. 516, eff. 4-1-99; CR 01-115: am. (2) (b), r. (2) (e), Register February 2002 No. 554, eff. 3-1-02; CR 05-115: am. (1) (b) 9. Register July 2006 No. 607, eff. 8-1-06; CR 08-060: am. (1) (b) 3., 8., (c), (2) (a) 6. to 8., (b), (c) and (f) Register June 2009 No. 642, eff. 7-1-09; CR 13-082: am. (1) (c) Register May 2014 No. 701, eff. 6-1-14; CR 15-023: am. (1) (b) 1., 3., 8., (3) Register December 2015 No. 720, eff. 1-1-16; EmR1804: emerg. r. (1) (b) 8., eff. 2-6-18; CR 17-071: r. (1) (b) 8., Register June 2018 No. 750 eff. 7-1-18; correction in (1) (b) 4., (c) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register March 2020 No. 771; EmR1923: am. (1) (b) 1., cr. (1) (b) 2. (title), am. (1) (b) 3., 4., cr. (1) (b) 5. (title), am. (1) (b) 6., 9., cr. (1) (b) 10., am. (1) (c), cr. (1) (d), eff. 12-30-19; CR 19-103: am. (1) (b) 1., cr. (1) (b) 2. (title), am. (1) (b) 3., 4., cr. (1) (b) 5. (title), am. (1) (b) 6., 9., cr. (1) (b) 10., am. (1) (c), cr. (1) (d) Register July 2020 No. 775, eff. 8-1-20; create (1) (a) (title), (b) (title), (d) (title) under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 2., Stats., and correction in (1) (d) 2. made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register July 2020 No. 775; CR 23-008: am. (1) (a) 1., (2) (a) 5., (f), (4) (a) 2. Register October 2023 No. 814, eff. 11-1-23.

NR 25.102 NR 25.102 Commercial fishing in southern Green Bay. For commercial fishers fishing for whitefish in that portion of southern Green Bay south of the line at 44o 50′ N latitude, commonly known as grids 901, 902 and 1001, all of the following requirements apply:

NR 25.102(1) (1) Each commercial fisher may set, use, or operate no more than one trap net per license at a time.

NR 25.102(2) (2) The commercial fisher shall notify the department through the phone number, email address or other method specified by the department no later than 4 p.m. the day prior to lifting a trap net. The notification shall include the license number and name of the licensee, name and location of net to be lifted, departure location, date of departure, and time of departure.

NR 25.102(3) (3) The commercial fisher or a member of the commercial fisher’s crew shall report the number of incidentally caught fish of each species through the electronic fish reporting system, in accordance with s. NR 25.13.

NR 25.102 History History: CR 21-099: cr. Register July 2022 No. 799, eff. 8-1-22.

NR 25.105 NR 25.105 Exemptions. Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter:

NR 25.105(1) (1) From June 1 through March 31, treaty fishers using boats less than 18 feet in length may harvest perch and walleye from the waters of Chequamegon Bay within one mile of the mainland shoreline in Ashland county between the easternmost boundary of the Bad River reservation on Chequamegon Point and a line extending due north from the westernmost boundary of the Bad River reservation as authorized by the department. Only one authorized boat may fish in this area at a time.

NR 25.105(2) (2) From ice out to the Friday before Memorial day, treaty fishers may fish for whitefish and harvest 1,462 incidentally-caught lake trout in those waters defined in s. NR 25.10 (1) (b) 1. The 1,462 lake trout harvested in this area shall be allocated as part of the quota defined in s. NR 25.06 (1) (a) Table. The department may require distinctive tags for this harvest.

NR 25.105(3) (3) Red Cliff treaty fishers may harvest 5,000 pounds (round weight) of walleye annually within the restricted areas west of Bark Point and east of a point one mile west of Port Wing.