Idaho Fish and Game will host a series of public meetings in April about administrative rule changes. These proposed changes are likely to have insignificant or no effects on the average angler, but in accordance with state law and for transparency, the department will provide several meetings for public comment from April 5 - May 5.
Topics of interest include:
- Combining administrative rule chapters 11 and 12
- Organizing definitions for clarity
- Clarifying what defines a float tube
- Deleting language already covered by Fish and Game Commission authority
- Simplifying commercial fishing rules
- Eliminating hook gap restrictions for anadromous salmon and steelhead fisheries.
For more information about these, go to the Rulemaking webpage.
Fish and Game’s fisheries management includes several public processes for regulating fishing, including updating Fisheries Management Plans, seasons and rules brochures, and administrative rules, which all affect how anglers participate in their favorite fishing activity or water body.
The statewide 2019-2024 state Fisheries Management Plan serves as Fish and Game’s guiding document that sets overall goals and objectives. This commission-approved plan is revised every 6 years, which will begin in about 8 months.
The 2022-2024 Seasons and Rules brochure informs anglers about current bag limits, length restrictions, and season dates. The document is updated every 3 years by the Fish and Game Commission, and that process will resume in about 10 months.
Administrative Rules are different because they are Commission and staff interpretations of, and regulation around, state statutes. After negotiated rulemaking and Commission adoption, pending rules are then considered by the state legislature for final approval.
Fish and Game staff is currently in the early phases of seeking public opinion and holding public meetings on three chapters of administrative rules on the following dates at Fish and Game Headquarters, Owyhee Room, 600 S. Walnut in Boise.
- April 17, Chapter 6 - Classification and Protection of Wildlife
- April 25, Chapter 11 - Rules Governing Fish
- April 26, Chapter 12 - Rules Governing Commercial Fishing
All meeting times are noon to 1 p.m. MT.
These administrative rules chapters serve several important functions including defining game and non-game species, defining legal and unlawful types of bait, gear, fishing methods, or watercraft. They also describe locations, or aspects of waterbodies, and setting restrictions and application protocols for special uses of fish, such as contests, transport, import, etc.).
The public comment period for these chapters is now open, and more information can be found here. Interested parties may comment by sending an email to rules@idfg.idaho.gov, by attending a meeting in-person at Fish and Game Headquarters, or virtually via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83077793532.
Considering Executive Order 2020-01, staff will clarify and simplify to the extent possible.