Under existing rules, licensed guides in the Great Lakes are required to report fish harvests, but the exact data requested and form of submission are not clear, which creates challenges for effective enforcement. Section NR 20.65, Wis. Admin. Code, requires all guides operating in the outlying waters of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Green Bay to report the quantity and variety of fish taken and other information relating to fishing activities, as required by the department. The rule requiring Great Lakes licensed fishing guides to report as required by the department has been in place since 1974, but has never included specific details on the types of information that the department requires, timelines for reporting, or methods for reporting. Because the existing reporting requirements in s. NR 20.65, Wis. Admin. Code are very general, fishing guide reporting is not consistent and therefore does not provide useful data that can be used for fisheries modeling, management and law enforcement. Additionally, the existing rule does not provide a framework to encourage compliance, and therefore guide reporting compliance is very uncertain. Unreported trips may account for a substantial proportion of the total guided trips, resulting in underreporting of fish caught and thus limiting the data available for managing those species. This permanent rule would clarify requirements for fishing guide reporting on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Green Bay, and tributaries, including specific waters for which guide reporting may be required each year and methods and timelines for submitting reports to the department, such as electronic submission. This rule will also include the types of information to report (when and where reporting is required), including the name of the person completing the report, the date and location of the guided fishing trip, the number of hours per fishing trip, details on fish caught by the clients, number of people fishing during a trip, and other similar information. This rule will also establish a streamlined procedure for making the list of species, waterbodies, and time of year for which the department is requiring reporting easily available to fishing guides. The additional reporting data collected under this rule will be invaluable for managing populations of popular game fish, including lake whitefish, yellow perch, lake trout, muskellunge, smallmouth bass, walleye, and other species in the sport fishery.
SECTION 1 repeals and recreates the Great Lakes guide reporting rules, encapsulated in s. NR 20.65, Wis. Admin. Code, in order to restructure the entire section with the updated, more specific guide reporting requirements. Many of these requirements are already in place for licensed charter captains that guide anglers in sport trolling for trout and salmon under s. 29.514, Stats., and were described in general terms under the previous format of s. NR 20.65, Wis. Admin. Code. This section creates a definitions section that applies specifically to s. NR 20.65, Wis. Admin. Code, including definitions for guide, direct, assist, electronic guide reporting system, the Great Lakes, fishing guide, and fishing trip. The definitions of guide, direct and assist are derived from dictionary terms and applied to the relationship between fishing guides and clients. “Guide,” “direct,” and “assist” are terms used in s. 29.512 (1), Stats., so these definitions provide clarity regarding who must report. A definition of “fishing guide” is important for distinguishing fishing guides that provide guiding services for open water fishing or ice fishing from other guides licensed under ch. 29, Stats., and to clarify that people that provide certain services, such as renting out fishing gear or boats for an angler’s independent use without providing any additional guiding, assisting or directing, are not considered to be fishing guides. This definition will help reduce the ambiguity for when a license and reporting is required. This section also describes the types of information that must be reported, the frequency of reporting, and departmental procedures for notifying the public of the annual reporting requirements. After each guided fishing trip, fishing guides will be required to report their name and customer ID number and the names and customer ID numbers of any other fishing guides participating in the trip, the date of the guided trip, the location fished, the number of anglers guided during the trip, the total number of hours fished, information on fish caught as specified on the report form, such as the species, number kept, and how many were tagged fish, and other information required to soundly manage the species taken. In cases where multiple guides participate in a single fishing trip, this rule will allow just one of the guides to submit the full report, with the other guides submitting an abbreviated report, to ensure compliance and accuracy while avoiding duplicative reporting data. Furthermore, this rule will enable employers of fishing guides to fill out the reports on the guides’ behalf, as long as the employer obtains a guide license and the employer and employed guides apply for and receive authorization from the department for the employer to report.
The department will annually specify the waters of the Great Lakes and tributaries, species, and time frame for which reporting is required, to tailor guide reporting to the species and areas for which data are needed. As a result, some fishing guides may not be required to report during certain years or certain times of the year. The department will make this information available to licensed guides on December 1, prior to the start of the ice fishing season each year, and the reporting requirements will go into effect on January 1 of the upcoming year.
Finally, this rule establishes the methods required for fishing guide reporting. The intent is to require electronic reporting, which provides more accurate data more quickly and easily than paper reports. Most licensed fishing guides in the Great Lakes already have a cell phone or other electronic device with which to enter the trip reports. The department may utilize an existing electronic reporting system to collect the reports. This rule would require guides to enter their reports into the electronic reporting system within 24 hours of completion of the fishing trip. If the electronic system is down, or if the guide cannot access the system due to an electronic device malfunction, the guide would be required to report each trip on a paper form and complete an electronic submission when the system is again functional or the guide is within cell phone range. Fishing guides would be required to retain paper records and present them to a department representative upon request.
6. Summary of, and Comparison with, Existing or Proposed Federal Statutes and Regulations:
No federal regulations apply. States possess inherent authority to manage the fishery and wildlife resources within their boundaries, except insofar as preempted by federal treaties and laws, including regulations established in the Federal Register.
7. If Held, Summary of Comments Received During Preliminary Comment Period
and at Public Hearing on the Statement of Scope:
The department received no comments during the preliminary public hearing, nor during the accompanying comment period.
8. Comparison with Similar Rules in Adjacent States:
In Michigan, charter captains (both sport trolling charter captains and those using other fishing methods) in the Great Lakes are required to submit monthly reports to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources using an electronic system. The reports contain information on lake fished, date, specific location and hours fished, total number of anglers, total catch of major species, targeted species, and sea lamprey presence on certain salmonids. The Michigan DNR collects this data by sending a notification of reporting requirements to charter captains either by email or by hard-copy mailing, and then follows up with an additional postcard or mail notification and law enforcement contacts for those charter captains that have not yet submitted reports. This approach resulted in a 99 percent compliance rate in 2019-20201.
Illinois also considers charter boats to include those taking anglers on paid fishing trips for any kind of sportfish. The Illinois DNR requires charter sportfishing boat operators to complete daily catch reports, all of which are due by the 15th of the following month. Those who do not comply may be subject to penalties and may not be able to obtain a charter boat permit in future years2,3.
Minnesota requires licensed Lake Superior fishing guides (including charters) to submit monthly fishing reports by the 10th of the following month during the fishing season. Those that do not submit reports three times in a 2-year period may not be eligible for a guide license for up to three years.4
Iowa does not require guide licenses or guide reporting.
Sources:
9. Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies Used and How Any Related Findings Support the Regulatory Approach Chosen:
These rules are similar to the reporting requirements already in place for licensed charter captains, who guide anglers in sport trolling for trout and salmon in the Great Lakes. The reporting requirements for licensed charter captains are established in s. 29.514 (2), Stats., and s. NR 20.60, Wis. Admin. Code, and require the charter captain to record the licensee’s name and license number, locations fished, number of anglers, number of lines fished, hours fished, the number of each species of fish taken, and other information within ½ hour of completion of the fishing trip. The charter captain must submit all such reports to the department by the 10th day of the following month. Those rules have not imposed any significant inconveniences or costs to the charter captains, but provide important data used in monitoring trout and salmon harvest. Compliance rates for charter captain reporting are estimated to be around 95 percent, while fishing guide reporting compliance rates are highly uncertain. Lake trout and lake whitefish are significant fisheries for both anglers and commercial fishers, and yellow perch is a key fishery in Green Bay, popular among sport fishers and with a small commercial component. Lake trout and lake whitefish harvest from guided trips are currently estimated from the creel surveys conducted on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan and from limited guide reporting on Green Bay. These values are combined with harvest estimates from the general sport creel, charter reports and commercial harvest data (commercial harvest of lake trout is limited to Lake Superior only) to generate a total estimate of harvested lake trout and lake whitefish in Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Green Bay yellow perch harvest is estimated similarly, through creel surveys and information from the limited commercial fishery. These harvest estimates are an input parameter to the statistical catch-at-age models used to generate the total lake trout, yellow perch, and lake whitefish abundance estimates for Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Green Bay from which safe harvest levels are derived. Commercial harvest and charter harvest reporting compliance rates are estimated to be close to 100 percent, and improving accuracy of sport harvest by having guide harvest reporting will improve the statistical catch at age models as well as provide valuable population information for other species that do have significant commercial harvest or enough data to develop a statistical catch-at-age model.
Harvest for other key Great Lakes sport fisheries, such as the walleye, muskellunge, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and northern pike fisheries, is also of interest, and the department estimates it from creel surveys and limited guide reporting. However, additional guide reporting would help improve the accuracy of department data for these fisheries.
10. Analysis and Supporting Documents Used to Determine the Effect on Small Business or in Preparation of an Economic Impact Report:
The department does not anticipate any significant costs to licensed fishing guides as a result of this rule. The majority of Great Lakes fishing guides already possess a cell phone or other electronic device on which reports can be entered, and no reporting costs, fees, or fines will be included in this rule. However, this rule would create new mechanisms to increase reporting compliance among fishing guides, which would require fishing guides to learn the new requirements and take action to submit timely reports.
11. Effect on Small Business (initial regulatory flexibility analysis):
This rule will have a minimal economic impact, if any, on licensed guide businesses. The types of information required to be reported under the proposed rule would not generate any costs. The method for reporting may minimally impact some guides under mandatory electronic reporting if those guides do not already possess an electronic device such as a computer or cell phone to enter the reporting information. These guides would have to purchase an electronic device to enter their reports, which is expected to be a minimal cost to each guide.
This rule will not contain any design or operational standards, but will contain new reporting requirements that will apply to licensed guides, including those who guide in sport trolling for species other than trout and salmon.
13. Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
Written comments may be submitted at the public hearings, by regular mail, or email to:
Meredith Penthorn
Department of Natural Resources
101 S. Webster St.
Madison, WI 53703
RULE TEXT
Section 1 NR 20.65 is repealed and recreated to read:
NR 20.65 Report of licensed guides.
(1) Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Assist” or “assisting” means providing support or aid to a person with the activities associated with the act of fishing, including transporting anglers between the shore and an open water or on-ice fishing location.
(b) “Direct” or “directing” means to manage, supervise, or oversee an angler’s or anglers’ fishing activities and fishing trip conditions to aid the angler or anglers in attempting to catch fish.
(c) “Electronic guide reporting system” means a system established or authorized by the department for reporting guided fishing trips and other required information to the department by electronic means.
(d)
1. “Fishing guide” means any person required to be licensed under the provisions of s. 29.512 (1), Stats., that is actively engaged in guiding, directing, or assisting a person or persons for compensation or reward in fishing, as defined in s. NR 20.03 (12), in waters defined in pars. (f), (h), and (i). 2. “Fishing guide” does not include a person that rents boats, fishing shelters, fishing gear, or related equipment to an angler for the angler’s independent use, provided that the person does not offer any additional services to guide, direct or assist the angler in attempting to catch fish.
(e) “Fishing trip” means the time period during which an individual fishes or a group of anglers fishes together, commencing upon leaving the dock or shore and ending upon return to the dock or shore after the conclusion of fishing.
