Outdoors Weekly News Archive

February 8, 2008

Regulators approve new rules for fishing tournaments
Permits would cost $25 to $200 depending on a tournament’s size, format, location and prizes.

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DNR News
MADSION, Wis. (AP) – Fishing tournament organizers will have to buy permits beginning in 2009 under rules state wildlife officials approved last Wednesday.
Permits would cost $25 to $200 depending on a tournament’s size, format, location and prizes. The permits also limit the number of boats allowed in a tournament and require organizers to inform participants about the state’s aquatic invasive species regulations.
Participants would not directly pay for the permits from the state Department of Natural Resources, although some anglers fear tournaments will increase entry fees to offset the cost.
Tournament organizers right now get DNR permits for free with few conditions attached.
The new system is designed to combat crowding at landings and on water bodies, reduce overfishing and cut down on die-offs in catch-and-release tournaments, said Mike Staggs, director of the DNR’s fisheries bureau. The fees would go toward paying for the permit program’s administration, estimated at about $33,000 per year, Staggs said.
The Natural Resources Board, which sets policy for the DNR, adopted the regulations on an unanimous voice vote after a two-hour hearing.
Steve Hjort of Oregon, Wis., conservation director for the Wisconsin Bass Federation, told the board the fees will hurt local bass clubs. The federation also will have to pull money from its youth and conservation programs to cover its fees, Hjort said.
He suggested the board require tournament anglers to purchase a $10 stamp instead.
“We can do better than this,” Hjort said. “Our youth and conservation projects are going to be the first to go.”
Chris Jones of Neenah told the board he works as a director for the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail, a nonprofit, faith-based tournament series. The regulations would add $2,000 in expenses to the six tournaments he runs in Wisconsin, he said.
“Two thousand dollars for a nonprofit guy like me, that’s a lot of money,” Jones said, although he didn’t answer board members’ questions about how much money he gets from revenue sources such as entry fees.
The board responded by deleting a provision that called for bass tournament organizers to add $2 per angler to their permit costs. That money would have gone to pay for a $90,000 DNR bass tournament study, but board Chairwoman Christine Thomas said the study was done and the money didn’t have to be recouped.
Aaron David, an angler from Watertown, questioned a three-fish tournament daily bag limit for bass and walleye. A recreational fisherman can take five per day. Staggs said the limit would reduce fish die-offs that the DNR believes occur when anglers release fish in warm waters.
“A three-fish limit for the tournament angler who wants to conserve the resource for future generations to enjoy by releasing their catch,” David said. “Yet somebody who is recreational fishing can keep five fish, kill and eat them?”
The board amended the rules again to remove the three-fish limit, but added a provision that allows the DNR to impose such limits whenever conditions warrant. Board member Preston Cole said the move would give the agency more flexibility.
The board also changed the rules to allow one application per water body to be filed three years in advance. The original draft allowed organizers to begin applying on April 1 for tournaments held the following calendar year, but organizers said they needed more lead time between applications and the tournament dates.
“We came to the best resolution we could,” Thomas said.
The DNR estimates Wisconsin waters host about 400 tournaments annually. The contests can mean tens of thousands of dollars for local communities.
Minnesota’s DNR imposed fees ranging from $120 to $1,000 on tournament organizers in August.