Section 830.30  Special Regulations

a)         Commercial fishing and musseling will not be permitted in any streams, ditches, or tributaries connected to the backwaters of the waters listed in Section 830.10, 830.15 or 830.20.

b)         Any person harvesting mussels for commercial use may possess during the open season only those mussels identified in Section 830.60 of legal size as established by Section 830.70.  Mussels smaller than the legal size and all mussels not identified in Section 830.60 must be immediately returned to the mussel bed or location from which they were taken.

c)         It shall be illegal to possess mussel shell more than 15 days after the close of the season without a mussel dealer license.

d)         Paddlefish may not be commercially harvested except in the Ohio River, the Illinois River below Route 89, and in the Mississippi River below Lock and Dam 19.

e)         Commercial fishing devices must be checked and emptied of catch at the following time intervals:

1)         Hoop nets and basket traps must be attended at least once every 72 hours during open water conditions.  During ice cover conditions, hoop nets and basket traps must be attended at least once every 20 days.

2)         Trammel and gill nets must be attended at least every 24 hours during open water conditions, except when operating under a Commercial Roe Harvester Permit.  When operating and taking or possessing roe-bearing species, nets must be attended from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.   During ice cover conditions, trammel and gill nets must be attended at least every 96 hours.

3)         Trotlines and other hook and line devices must be checked at least every 24 hours.

4)         Seines and trammel or gill nets fished by driving or drifting methods must be constantly attended.

5)         Commercial gear containing dead or moribund fish as a result of failure to check gear and empty catch shall be considered an illegal device.

f)         Washboard mussels may not be taken on the Mississippi River.

g)         Crayfish may be taken by licensed commercial fishermen with legal seine only on waters open to the commercial harvest of crayfish.  Nothing in this Part shall prohibit a licensed commercial fisherman from using as bait legal species of crayfish taken and used by a commercial fisherman on those bodies of water open to the commercial harvest of crayfish.

h)         In accordance with Section 830.60(b), crayfish may be possessed and used as bait by licensed commercial fishermen while operating commercial gear on other bodies.

(Source:  Amended at 34 Ill. Reg. 2938, effective February 19, 2010)