9. Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies Used and How Any Related Findings Support the Regulatory Approach Chosen:
Commercial bait harvesters licensed as bait dealers under s. 29.509, Stats., must currently apply for a wild bait harvest permit under s. NR 19.057, Wis. Admin. Code, to harvest bait minnows from waters of the state for sale, barter, or trade. Along with the requirement to hold a bait dealer license, bait dealers may not harvest minnows from waters affected by viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) and are required to disinfect minnow harvest and transport gear after use and fulfill fish health requirements promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Bait dealers with a wild bait harvest permit are required to maintain records of minnow harvest and disposition and make them available for inspection, but there is no requirement to submit these records to the department. Through enhanced reporting requirements, this rule will help provide valuable reporting data on wild bait harvest activities while simplifying certain wild bait harvest requirements for bait dealers.
Wild bait harvest permits are currently valid for 30 days in most cases. This permit duration was established to allow the department to more quickly respond to fish disease outbreaks by restricting harvest in waters of new disease outbreaks, and the 30-day duration was deemed to be appropriate when VHS was first confirmed in Wisconsin in 2006. However, VHS has not spread in Wisconsin as originally anticipated, so extending the wild bait harvest permit duration may better serve customers and the department by reducing the amount of paperwork and review needed for this permit.
Bait dealers are also required to obtain a non-standard gear permit to use gear other than standard minnow traps, minnow seines or minnow dip nets, to use gear in trout streams during the closed season, or to use more than 20 minnow traps during the open trout season. Current rules establish criteria for issuing the non-standard gear permit and permit conditions, and allow the department to require reporting of harvest activities conducted under the non-standard gear permit; however, bait dealers do not currently submit reports to the department.
This rule also permits the taking of white sucker eggs and milt for rearing to sell the offspring as bait. The department has previously utilized cooperative agreements to allow commercial bait dealers to take white sucker eggs from the wild to rear as bait in exchange for returning a subset of the eggs or reared suckers to state fish hatcheries for use in rearing muskies. However, the cooperative agreements are no longer practical due to the complexities involved with moving fish between private fish farms and state fish hatcheries, and thus the department no longer receives any eggs or suckers from this arrangement. A permitting approach would provide an alternative means to authorize bait dealers to take white sucker eggs and milt for use as wild bait.
If this rule is not pursued, existing bait harvest regulations will continue to provide protection to baitfish and associated fish populations, but these regulations would not allow the department to adapt to current baitfish management needs or improve the efficiency of permitting and data collection, and would not reflect stakeholder input and preferences.
10. Analysis and Supporting Documents Used to Determine the Effect on Small Business or in Preparation of an Economic Impact Report:
This rule is expected to have a minimal economic impact (less than $50,000). No new costs are expected as a result of revising the wild bait harvest permit duration and creating a white sucker harvest permit, nor for changes to the non-standard gear permit to allow flexibility in permit conditions. Commercial bait harvesters are already required to record information on their minnow harvests and disposition and maintain records for inspection upon the request of department staff. The main costs would stem from reporting minnow harvest activities electronically for bait dealers that do not currently own a smartphone; however, paper reporting will be allowed in the short-term after implementing this rule, so additional costs are not expected upon implementation. Additionally, according to the Pew Research Center1, an estimated 85 percent of American adults owns a smartphone. Based on this estimate, we assumed that about 8 of the 55 commercial bait harvesters do not own a phone with internet access. Assuming a basic smartphone and plan would cost about $230 a year, the total compliance cost for the group of bait harvesters without phones would be approximately $1,840 per year.
11. Effect on Small Business (final regulatory flexibility analysis):
This rule will primarily impact wild bait harvesters and their businesses. Based on the information presented in section 10 of the analysis section of this board order, the department anticipates that this rule will have a minimal economic impact on small business.
13. Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
A public comment period on the draft rule occurred from October 2, 2023, to November 2, 2023, with a public hearing held on November 2, 2023.
RULE TEXT
Section 1 NR 19.001 (5r) is created to read:
NR 19.001 (5r) “Disinfect” or “disinfected” means to decontaminate or be decontaminated with heat, drying, or a chemical solution approved by the department so as to neutralize infectious diseases and invasive species.
Section 2 NR 19.057 (1) is amended to read:
NR 19.057 (1) No bait dealer may take minnows for use as bait from any inland or outlying water unless the bait dealer possesses a wild harvest permit issued by the department under this section and the bait dealer complies with all terms and conditions of the wild harvest permit. A bait dealer shall apply for a permit on forms available from in the form specified by the department. Applications may be submitted no earlier later than 30 days prior to the proposed starting date of harvesting. The department shall act on a complete permit application within 10 business days after receipt, based on the criteria in sub. (2). Except as provided in sub. (5), permits shall be valid for the dates specified on the permit, not to exceed 30 days to December 31 of each year, and shall require compliance with all minnow collecting requirements. A complete application shall include the applicant's name, street address, bait dealer's license number if any, the specific water body where bait will be harvested, the town, range and section where bait will be harvested, the species of bait that will be harvested, the maximum quantity of bait expected to be harvested, and any other information required on the application form. Section 3 NR 19.057 (1m) is created to read:
NR 19.057 (1m) The permit holder may apply to the department, on the forms designated by the department, to request amendments to a wild harvest permit to modify the species targeted, waters fished, or harvest gear to be used. The permit holder shall submit the amendment request no later than 30 days prior to the desired effective date of the amendment. The permit holder may not submit more than 10 amendment requests each year.
Note: The amendment request form is available at https://dnr.wi.gov, search “bait harvest.” Section 4 NR 19.057 (2) (intro.) is amended to read:
NR 19.057 (2) The department shall grant an application for a wild harvest permit under this section if it determines that all of the following criteria are met, but the department may set specific conditions in permits or deny applications when necessary to ensure compliance with this section and prevent or control the spread of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus or other invasive species. By written notice mailed to the permittee's last known address, the department may revoke a permit to ensure compliance with this section or to prevent or control the spread of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus or other invasive species.:
Section 5 NR 19.057 (2m) is created to read:
NR 19.057 (2m) The department may, at any time, revoke or modify a permit issued under this section if it determines that the requirements, terms, or conditions of the permit are not being met, followed, or adhered to, or to ensure compliance with this section, or to prevent or control the spread of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus or other invasive species. A permit revocation or modification shall become effective upon department notification by email or 3 business days after the permit holder receives the notification by mail at the address shown on the permit, whichever occurs first.
Section 6 NR 19.057 (3) is renumbered NR 19.057 (3) (a) and is amended to read:
NR 19.057 (3) (a) Each permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall maintain a clear, legible daily record in the English language on department forms available from the department of all minnows harvested minnow harvest activities conducted under the permit which the department requires to be reported, which may include setting, tending, moving, or removing minnow harvest gear, or the removal of minnows from harvest gear, from any inland or outlying water. The record shall include the water body of origin, the town, range and section latitude and longitude or nearest road crossing where harvested, the species harvested, the date of harvest, the gear type and amount used, the quantity weight or volume of each species harvested by waterbody for all gear lifts conducted during that day’s trip to the waterbody, the disposition of the minnows, except that retail sales to consumers need not be recorded, the signature of the permit holder, and any other information required on the record form.
Section 7 NR 19.057 (3) (b), (c), and (d) are created to read:
NR 19.057 (3) (b) The permit holder shall ensure that all information required under par. (a), except for the disposition of the minnows, is accurately recorded at the time that the permit holder or the permit holder’s employee sets, tends, lifts, moves, or removes the gear in the waterbody and empties the gear of fish and before the permit holder or permit holder’s employee leaves the site where the minnows were loaded for transport. The permit holder or employee shall record the final disposition of the minnows to sources other than retail sales to final consumers at the time of disposition.
(c) The permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall submit a report of all daily records recorded under pars. (a) and (b) no later than the 10th day of the month following the month of harvest in the form specified by the department. After December 31, 2027, the permit holder or the permit holder’s employee shall submit the report forms electronically to an electronic reporting system designated by the department by 11:59 p.m. the day the minnows are removed from the harvest gear.
(d) The permit holder shall maintain all records required under this subsection for no less than 2 years after the expiration of the permit and shall make the records available to a department representative for inspection upon request at all reasonable hours.
Section 8 NR 19.057 (5) is amended to read:
NR 19.057 (5) Notwithstanding the 30-day limit in sub. (1), the The department may issue a wild harvest permit that is valid for the dates specified on the permit, which may exceed 30 days duration, if the permit is for the harvest of minnows from a water of the state stocked with minnows by the applicant pursuant to a stocking permit under s. 29.736, Stats., or for the harvest of minnows from a lake stocked with minnows by the applicant pursuant to a permit for private management under s. 29.737, Stats. The department may issue a wild harvest permit under this section in conjunction with a stocking permit or a permit for private management. Section 9 NR 19.0575 is created to read:
NR 19.0575 White sucker spawning permit required.
(1) No bait dealer may take the eggs or milt from white suckers caught from any inland or outlying water for the purpose of rearing the offspring as bait unless the bait dealer is 18 years of age or older and possesses a white sucker spawning permit from the department. The permit holder shall comply with all terms and conditions of the permit. Permits shall expire on December 31 each year. The bait dealer shall include all of the following information on the permit application:
(a) The name and street address of the bait dealer.
(b) The bait dealer’s license number or department customer identification number.
(c) The types and quantities of harvest gear to be used in each waterbody to collect white suckers for egg or milt harvest.
(d) The volume in quarts of white sucker eggs, milt, or both that the bait dealer is requesting to harvest from each waterbody.
(e) The waters where the bait dealer will harvest the white sucker eggs or milt.
Note: “White sucker” refers to the species Catostomus commersonii.
Note: See s. NR 20.14 for general minnow collection restrictions, s. NR 20.20 for county and statewide restrictions on waters, authorized methods, open season, size limits, bag limits and other restrictions, and s. 29.401, Stats., for gear use restrictions. (2) The department may issue a white sucker spawning permit under this section if it determines that all of the following criteria are met, and may set specific conditions in the permit or deny applications when necessary to ensure compliance with this section, prevent or control the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or invasive species, and maintain a supply of suckers that is sufficiently adequate to replenish the population and sustain ecosystem function in the water of harvest:
(a) The applicant is a bait dealer who holds a bait dealer’s license or is exempt under s. 29.509 (3), Stats., from the requirement to hold a bait dealer’s license. (b) The eggs or milt will not be collected from white suckers in Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Superior, the Mississippi River, Lake Winnebago, the Fox River from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, or any bay, slough or backwater of these waters, or any water connected to these waters upstream to the first dam or other obstruction impassable to fish, or from any other water where the department has reason to believe that viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus may be present or where other invasive species may be present.
(3) The permit holder shall notify the department, in the manner specified by the department, at least 12 hours in advance of white sucker collection for the purpose of egg or milt harvest and shall provide all of the following information:
(a) Permit holder name.
(b) Location where fish will be collected.
(c) Time of day when collection will occur.
(d) The names of any employees operating under the permit holder’s sucker harvest permit.
(e) The phone number of the permit holder.
