Public has until Oct. 7 to comment on rule changes and management plan
Photo courtesy of the IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME Anglers can take part in developing the state’s fishery management plan, as well as provide comment on next year’s fishing rule proposals. An online survey is available on the Idaho Department of Fish and Game website.
Allowing anglers to keep as many mackinaw in Upper Priest Lake as they want, setting a border between the Clark Fork River and Lake Pend Oreille, and increasing burbot harvest in the Kootenai River and Bonner Lake, are among next year’s proposed fishing rules.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game wants anglers to comment on the proposals to provide the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which sets hunting and fishing rules, an idea of what anglers want before the commission’s November meeting cycle.
Anglers can provide their opinions about the proposed changes by completing online surveys available on the Idaho Fish and Game website.
The input will also become part of a new draft for Fish and Game’s six-year, statewide Fisheries Management Plan. All public comments must be received by Oct. 7.
The Fisheries Management Plan will last from 2019 to 2024 and guides statewide fisheries management priorities, as well as sport fishing and conservation goals, according to Fish and Game.
In addition to the website survey, anglers may provide their comments by email to idfginfo@idfg.idaho.gov; or by mail to 2016-2018 Fish Season and Rule Comments, c/o Idaho Fish and Game, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707.
The department will also host a Sept. 19 open public meeting between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Panhandle Regional Fish and Game Office, 2885 W. Kathleen Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815.