Tougher aquaculture restrictions

A bill sponsored by Rep. Bev Scalze (DFL-Little Canada) would help put a stop to a system that Scalze said uses public resources to subsidize an environmentally destructive aquaculture industry.

HF1188 would tighten restrictions on licenses for raising minnows and other aquatic farming activities in public waters. The House Game, Fish and Forestry Division took testimony on the bill Feb. 25 and laid it over for possible inclusion in an omnibus policy bill.

The bill contains several provisions designed to protect the state’s water bodies, including:

• requiring anybody applying to the Department of Natural Resources for a new or renewal of a current aquatic farming license to submit a plan to restore the water body to its pre-farming ecological condition;

• prohibiting the DNR from issuing or renewing a license to raise minnows in waters subject to protective easements funded by federal waterfowl stamp proceeds;

• requiring fish farmers to obtain permission from all shoreline property owners before using the water body for aquaculture;

• requiring the department to encourage fish farming in man-made ponds; and

• requiring the department to make its aquaculture program self-sustaining by proposing a more equitable fee system.

Scalze said that enforcing ecologically sound aquaculture practices only makes sense as the state has begun investing millions of new dollars to clean up surface waters via the Clean Water Legacy Act and other initiatives.

“We’re spending a lot of money,” Scalze said. “We want to eventually have clean wetlands and water bodies in the state.”

Steve Puchtel, manager of McKenzie Fish Co. in Stacy, said that the bill’s supporters are underestimating the value of minnow farming to the state. He noted that other users of public waters, like jet-skiers and hunters, don’t need to get the level of permission required of aquatic farmers.

“I see this as singling out just one business and saying that we have to get permission to use the water,” he said.

A companion bill, SF1517, sponsored by Sen. Satveer Chaudhary (DFL-Fridley), awaits action by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.