The commissioner may, after notice and public hearing, issue regulations governing fishing for all species of fish and the taking of all bait species in the inland district, which regulations may: (1) Establish the open and closed seasons, which may be modified by decreasing or increasing the number of days on any specific species, (2) establish hours, days or periods during the open season when fishing shall not be permitted in designated waters for all or limited species, (3) prescribe the legal methods of taking, (4) establish the legal length, (5) establish the daily creel limit, the season creel limit and the possession limit, (6) restrict or prohibit wading in streams or portions thereof, fishing from boats, canoes, rafts and other floating devices and fishing from designated land areas, (7) establish the maximum number of persons, boats, canoes and other floating devices that may use any area of water for fishing, (8) require that a permit be obtained from the landowner or his agent, or from the commissioner or an agent of the department, to enter upon designated premises or areas for the purpose of fishing, and further require that such permit be returned within a specified time to the issuing authority with an accurate report of all fish taken under such permit, time spent on the area and any other data required by the commissioner for management purposes, (9) restrict or prohibit the use of any craft other than manually propelled, (10) designate areas of land and water that shall be restricted for the exclusive use of children or persons with physical disabilities. For the purpose of protecting public and private interests and preventing unreasonable conduct and abuses by fishermen, and to provide reasonable control of the actions and behavior of such persons, said commissioner may issue regulations and orders to (11) provide that entrance to and exit from streams, lakes and ponds shall be restricted to rights-of-way designated by posters or that consent shall be obtained from the landowner or his agent, (12) establish reasonable distances from the banks of streams, lakes and ponds beyond which fishermen shall not trespass, (13) prohibit crossing over lawns and lands under cultivation, (14) prohibit damage to property, livestock and agricultural crops, (15) prohibit swimming and picnicking in designated areas, (16) prohibit the operation or parking of vehicles on designated portions of public and private roads, parking areas, lanes, passageways, rights-of-way, fields and lots, (17) prohibit the discarding of bottles, glass, cans, paper, junk, litter and trash, (18) control the launching, anchoring, mooring, storage and abandonment of boats, trailers and related equipment on properties under the control of the commissioner.

(1955, S. 2518d; 1957, P.A. 323, S. 1; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 297; P.A. 74-135, S. 2; P.A. 17-202, S. 80.)

History: 1971 act replaced references to board of fisheries and game and its agents with references to environmental protection commissioner and agents of the environmental protection department; P.A. 74-135 deleted reference to areas exclusively for use of women in Subdiv. (10); P.A. 17-202 amended Subdiv. (10) by replacing “the physically handicapped” with “persons with physical disabilities”.