Changes Proposed in Commercial Fishing Rules

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released proposals to change the state's commercial fishing rules. The proposed changes would allow the director to approve the use of gill nets by commercial fishermen for commercial nongame species, primarily common carp. The director would approve gill net use in specific waters on a case-by-case basis after determining that nongame fish are the primary species in the water and that the use of other methods are economically or physically impractical. All gill nets would have to be: - Clearly marked with buoys that are at least twelve inches in diameter. - Lifted and emptied of catch at least once every eighteen hours except during weather that poses a threat to human life, health or safety. And if gill net catches include excessive numbers of game fish species, as determined by the Director for the water, licenses can be revoked, or harvest limited or suspended. The proposed changes add a section on commercial fishing areas, allowing gill nets to be used only in waters as approved by the director and "where commercial nongame species are likely to exceed 80 percent of the fish biomass." Additional changes would update the list of commercially available species, primarily removing several uncommon minnow and sucker species from the list. The proposed changes would remove the following: - Bluehead sucker. - Lake chub. - Leatherside chub. - Leopard dace. Removing these species from the commercial rules would standardize the way the department manages these species in sport fishing rules and in the Idaho Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. The proposed changes can be found at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/fish/misc/commercial_rules.cfm. For more information or to comment on the changes contact Fred Partridge at Fish and Game at 208-334-3791, or at fpartridge@idfg.idaho.gov.