The video of dead fishes in the Mississippi near Red Wing has surfaced on Youtube which sent a wave of anger among the anglers. According to the Department of Natural Resources commercial fisherman responsible for the fish kill did nothing wrong and another commercial fisherman blamed a new Minnesota law.
Just after the video made public fishing blogs erupted with comments like “what a waste” and “that’s a shame.” DNR said that the fisherman responsible legally netted 150,000 pounds of buffalo fish from the river. Minnesota DNR Fisheries Consultant Neil Vanderbosh said with a take that large, experts expect a 1 to 5 percent fish kill. He told that the fisherman also released game fish that ended up trapped in his net.
Commercial fisherman Jeff Riedemann informed that a 2009 Minnesota law makes it more difficult to keep game fish alive when they end up in commercial nets. He added that the law states a person may not release carp or buffalo taken by netting back into the water. Riedemann said with the law that is on the books right now, he wasn’t able to do anything else. And, he did a good job of sorting out the game fish. He believes that the law should change.
