301 KAR 1:146. Commercial fishing gear.

301 KAR 1:146. Commercial fishing gear.

RELATES TO: KRS 150.010, 150.025, 150.120, 150.170, 150.175, 150.445, 150.450, 150.990, EO 2008-516

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 150.025(1)

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 150.025(1) authorizes the department to regulate, by administrative regulations, the size or type of devices and methods used to take wildlife, including rough fish and the places where they may be taken. EO 2008-516, effective June 16, 2008, reorganizes and renames the Commerce Cabinet as the new Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. This administrative regulation is necessary to specify the legal methods that may be used by commercial fishermen to harvest rough fish.

Section 1. Definitions. (1) "Bar mesh size" is defined by 301 KAR 1:140, Section 1(1).

(2) "Commercial gear tag" means a metal tag, provided by the department, that shall be attached to legal commercial fishing gear as established in this administrative regulation.

(3) "Flag net" means a gill or trammel net that is anchored on one (1) end, while the other end of the net is unanchored, allowing this end of the gill or trammel net to float freely.

Section 2. The following gear is the only commercial gear that shall be used in commercial waters designated in 301 KAR 1:150 and under conditions described in 301 KAR 1:155 by appropriately licensed commercial fishermen:

(1) Hoop nets, wing nets, straight lead nets, or heart lead nets.

(a) A hoop net, wing net, straight net, or heart lead net shall have a minimum bar mesh size of three (3) inches, except in the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and those portions of the Cumberland River below Barkley Dam and the Tennessee River below Kentucky Dam that are open to commercial fishing where the minimum bar mesh size shall be one (1) inch.

(b) Hoops may be any size, shape, or material.

(d) Wings and leads shall be constructed of multifilament natural or synthetic material only.

(e) Netting used for wings and leads shall be constructed of twine not smaller than number six (#6) nylon or equivalent, having a breaking strength of fifty-five (55) pounds or greater.

(f) Wings and leads may be of knotted or knotless construction and shall have a bar mesh size not larger than one (1) inch.

(g) Hoop nets, wing nets, straight lead nets, or heart lead nets shall be fished as individual nets.

(h) Wings or leads shall not be tied together so as to become continuous multiple net units.

(i) Wings and leads shall be used only to lead fish into the hoop net.

(j) One (1) commercial gear tag shall be attached to the first hoop of each net;

(2) Gill nets or trammel nets. A gill net or trammel net:

(a) May be used only in the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and permanent overflow lakes adjacent to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers that may be accessed from either river by a boat during high flow conditions, except as prohibited on department Wildlife Management Areas in 301 KAR 4:050 and 301 KAR 4:020 or as specified in 301 KAR 1:140.

1. The minimum bar mesh size to be used in the Mississippi River and its adjacent permanent overflow lakes shall be three (3) inches.

2. The minimum bar mesh size to be used in the Ohio River and its adjacent permanent overflow lakes shall be four (4) inches, except that from May 1 through October 31, a commercial fisherman shall only use gill or trammel nets with a bar mesh size ranging from four (4) to four and five-tenths (4.5) inches;

(b) May be fished weighted or as a flag net; and

(3) Commercial trotlines. A commercial trotline:

(a) Shall have more than fifty (50) hooks placed not closer than eighteen (18) inches apart;

(b) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag attached; and

(c) Shall not be longer than 3,000 feet, including staging, and shall be fished separately, not tied together in a continuous line;

(4) Seines. A seine:

(a) Shall have:

1. A maximum bar mesh size of one (1) inch and may be of knotted or knotless construction; and

2. Knotted netting shall be constructed of twine not smaller than number 6 (#6) nylon or equivalent having a breaking strength of fifty-five (55) pounds or greater, and knotless netting shall be constructed of twine not smaller than #147 nylon or equivalent having a breaking strength of fifty (50) pounds or greater;

(b) Shall be constructed of multifilament natural or synthetic material only;

(d) Shall have wood, fiberglass, or metal poles or brailes attached at each end;

(e) Shall be attended by persons pulling the seine by hand through the water for the entrapment of fish; and

(f) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag attached to each 100 feet or part thereof; and

(5) Slat trap baskets. A slat trap basket:.

(a) Shall not have wire or other mesh added to any part of trap;

(b) Shall have at least two (2) openings left between slats not smaller than one and one-fourth (1 1/4) inches wide in the catch portion of the trap. These openings shall not be restricted by cross-bracings to a length shorter than eight (8) inches;

(d) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag attached to opening ring or square. (15 Ky.R. 1184; eff. 11-23-88; Am. 16 Ky.R. 1401; 2654; eff. 5-8-90; 34 Ky.R. 2215; 35 Ky. R. 549; eff. 9-12-08.)