CSV.2.9.080 Gillnets Regulated

(a) No member shall use or possess any gillnet on any body of water unless the member possesses a valid permit authorizing the use of a gillnet on that body of water.

(b) The tribal conservation department may issue a gillnetting permit for any lake open to gillnetting, except for the southern basin of Trout Lake (Vilas County) so long as the lake trout harvest by state anglers is prohibited on that water body, provided:

(1) An open season exists for the species to be fished;

(2) The permit shall be valid for no more than 1 day for any species;

(3) The permit establishes the respective daily bag limits for walleye and muskellunge which may be less than but shall not exceed the respective tribal quota for walleye and muskellunge remaining in that lake;

(4) Except as provided in Section CSV.2.9.080(n), any number of permits may be issued at any one time for any lake but the total length in feet of all gillnets authorized for all permits on any one lake shall not exceed the number of walleye remaining available for harvest in that lake multiplied by 10;

(5) Gillnetting for all species is limited to one body of water for the duration of the permit;

(6) No gillnetting permit issued pursuant to this section, no spearing permit issued pursuant to Section CSV.2.9.060 or netting permit issued pursuant to Section CSV.2.9.070 shall be simultaneously valid for any body of water;

(7) The permit requires the member's signature;

(8) Except as provided in Section CSV.2.9.080(n), the permit establishes the maximum length in feet and the mesh size of the gillnet which is authorized as determined from the spring walleye population average length and the following chart:

Spring Length Maximum Allowable

(Stretched) Mesh Size

13.5" 2.5"

(9) - 16.49" 3.0"

No Length Data (NR Model) 3.0"

No Length Data (ST and NR2/ REM Model) 3.5"

(10) - 18.49" 3.5"

(11) - 20.49" 4.0"

20.5" and under 4.5"

(12)(A) For lakes with no current length data (which otherwise would not be open to gillnetting), the allowable gillnet mesh size will be 3.0 inch for lakes with walleye recruitment codes used in the NR model, and 3.5 inch for lakes with recruitment codes used in the ST and NR2/REM models.

(B) For all lakes with an allowable gillnet mesh size of 3.0 inches, 4.0 inches, and 4.5 inches (including lakes with no current data as described in Section CSV.2.9.080(b)(1) above), 3.5 inch mesh nets may also be used. However, for lakes with an allowable mesh size of 3.0 inches the following will apply whenever 3.5 inch mesh nets are used:

(i) If an adult population estimate is conducted during spring of the year that gillnetting takes place, no reduction to the remaining walleye quota will occur. The Inland Fisheries Technical Working Group (TWG) will continue to evaluate the effects of using 3.5 inch mesh on the number of walleye 20 inches and larger in these lakes.

(ii) If an adult walleye population estimate is not conducted during spring of the year that gillnetting takes place, the remaining walleye quota will be reduced by twenty four percent (24%). This reduction would on average, keep harvest the harvest of walleye 20 inches and larger the same as what it would have been using 3.0 inch mesh gillnets

(D) In determining the spring average length of walleye, data gathered by the use of any appropriate gear, such as fyke nets, electro-shocking or spearing, may be utilized provided that an accurate assessment of walleye size can be accomplished.

(13) The tribal conservation department or the Commission may impose such other terms and conditions as it deems appropriate or necessary, including such biological monitoring requirements appropriate to the level of harvest activity on any body of water.

(c) No member shall fish by the use of a gillnet contrary to the terms and conditions of any gillnetting permit which has been issued to him or her.

(d) No member shall fish with the use of a gillnet which does not meet the requirements of Section CSV.2.9.010(c) [Gillnet Defined].

(e) No member shall possess any fish harvesting device other than a gillnet while engaged in gillnetting under this section.

(f) No member shall share gillnetting equipment authorized under this section with any person who is not a member of a signatory tribe, except as provided in Section CSV.2.3.300 [Permissible Conduct/Assistance by Non-Member].

(g) Where the annual tribal quota for any fish species as established pursuant to Section CSV.2.9.030 has been taken on a body of water by any method or combination of methods:

(1) No gillnetting under this section may take place on that body of water until the following fishing year; and

(2) The tribal conservation department shall not issue permits for gillnetting on that particular body of water for the remainder of the fishing year.

(h) In imposing appropriate mesh size restrictions on a gillnet permit, the tribal conservation department shall consult with the Commission's Biological Services Division and any size restriction shall take into account the length distribution of the adult fish population in the lake to be fished.

(i) No member shall fish with any gillnet unless the gillnet is marked in compliance with the following provisions:

(1) Each gillnet shall be marked with two flags on the inside of the net and one flag on the outside;

(2) Each flag pole shall be three feet or more above the water and have a diameter of two-and-one-half inches or less;

(3) Each flag shall be white and ten inches square or larger; and

(4) Each pole shall have attached securely to it an identification tag issued by the tribal conservation department showing the member's tribal affiliation and tribal identification number.

(j) No member shall set a gillnet in open water with a topline within 3 feet of the water's surface unless the gillnet is buoyed at 500 foot intervals.

(k) No member shall set any gillnet in a manner in which any part of the net is in less than ten feet of water, or in an unsafe manner which shall unreasonably expose boaters and other users of the lake to a foreseeable risk of imminent bodily harm or property damage, or contrary to such other restrictions as the tribal conservation department may require.

(l) No member shall remove a gillnet from a lake without first removing from the gillnet and returning all crayfish to the water or killing all crayfish entangled in the gillnet.

(m) No member shall fail to lift any gillnet at least two times in each continuous 24 hour period during which the net is set, or more frequently as water temperatures may require so as to avoid the spoilage of any fish taken by the net.

(n) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section CSV.2.9.080(b)(4) and (2)(h), the tribal conservation department may issue a permit for gillnetting ciscos (tulibees) on such terms and conditions as it deems necessary or appropriate, provided that at a minimum all other provisions of this section shall otherwise apply to cisco gillnetting permits.