What is your take on this? IL Fish & Aquatic Life Code

One also needs to take this law in context with the regulations of a public fishing license. If the state does not require a fishing license for private ponds then the law is not as strict and provides some variance about who owns the aquatic life in a private pond. Ponds that have public streams going through them are often examined on a case by case basis. If you start selling fish or aquatic life raised in your pond then you will need to get the proper aquaculture permits.

Brettski should send the bill for stocking his pond to the state of Illinois, since they think they'll own all the fish.

So you may as well go top dollar and stock big sizes for a turn-key trophy lake, Brettski.

Ranger don't worry about this statute. Most states have the same regulatory scheme. If the state did not have such statutes it could not enforce hunting and fishing laws as all game would be the private property of the person in possession of the game. Then the state could not prohibit harvest or the sale for commercial purposes of game fish or wild animals nor prosecute the outlaw harvesters. Most states have exemptions for owners of private lands and they don't go around harassing private land owners on their own place. If however you try to sell game fish as a commercial operation (like to a restaurant) that is a big no-no.

Historically this is the common law as it came from England to the US in the 1600-1700's. The Crown (King/State) owned all game and decided who could harvest it. If he ceded land to a Duke/Lord etc then they had the right to do so on that land as granted them by the Crown. This is the genesis of private ownership and the right to take game. Same today as you own the land and have the right from the state to harvest animals and fish from it.

I think that depends on the state doesn't it? In my state you CAN sell gamefish for food consumption as long as they don't come from public waters. Largemouth bass are being grown for the asian market in many places now.

Oh wait I think I misunderstood. You meant a private pond owner trying to sell fish as a commerical operation? As in without the proper permits or license?

-
Once again, Theo takes a couple of steps beyond the box. While we're out here, is it unreasonable to consider stocking the same product that Sunil was working with this last Spring?

I still have time to adjust the structure to stuff like hoops, big red rubber balls, and paddle boards. Where do I find a feeder that will distribute chum?

"Historically this is the common law as it came from England to the US in the 1600-1700's. The Crown (King/State) owned all game and decided who could harvest it. If he ceded land to a Duke/Lord etc then they had the right to do so on that land as granted them by the Crown. This is the genesis of private ownership and the right to take game. Same today as you own the land and have the right from the state to harvest animals and fish from it."

Nice job, as always, Ewest. Public Trust Doctrine.

CB1 you are correct on both counts. It does differ some from state to state. If you are a licensed fish producer you can do things under state regulations that others can't. In some cases Fed. regulations come into play such as saltwater fish, US owned waters or trans-state waters or sales. Some states allow no one to sell game fish for food to commercial business (restaurants) some allow it under permit. Those that don't then leave out food fish like catfish , farm raised trout or tilapia, etc from the definition of game fish so they can be sold. Most public waters are managed under separate regulations or plans. Sales to other countries by commercial operations are subject to separate plans usually under treaty/international governing standards etc.

One of the things most states are trying to stop is the impact on public and private waters that occurs when some people try to harvest game fish (LMB ,BG , Crappie) and sell them for public consumption. They do this by harvest regulations , sales prohibition and licensing of sellers and restaurants.

It is now public... Copied from website based upon article by reporter. The text of the letter is identical to one on my desk (the letter was not directed to me).

Attorney General intercedes in ___ Lake Crisis

Signs of even more controversy at ___ Lake are brewing, now at a level high up in the State Government. The Illinois Attorney General's Office has now interceded in the affairs of the residents living around, and the owner of, ___ Lake.

Apparently learning about the ___ Lake conflict from ___ 's website, ___, Chief of the Environmental Bureau of the Attorney General's Office drafted a cease-and-desist letter to stop ___ 's draining of ___ Lake.

According to ___, the letter which was written earlier in the week, states:

"Dear Sir
I have been informed that you own a private lake in ___, and that you are draining this lake, thereby directly causing the deaths of hundreds of fish. According to published information, there may be some kind of property or personality dispute between you and nearby residents. Please be assured that while I have no interest whatsoever in your apparent motivation, I am very concerned about your actions. This is why I am contacting you, to direct you to cease and desist. If you have any attorney, please have he or she contact me as soon as possible.
You may be interested to know that the ownership of the fish you are destroying resides with the state of Illinois. Simply put, the fact that you may own the lake does not entitle you to waste natural resources, such as aquatic life. The Illinois Fish and Aquatic Life Code, 515 ILCS 5/1 et seq., protects the natural inhabitants of your lake. Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter."

My mortgage company owns my fish!!!

The government owns my fish, but I own the government.

God owns the fish in my pond and he will decide weather they live or die when he decides if he is going to give them rain or not. At the moment he appears to be angry with them. I'm thinking of stocking the walking catfish instead of channels this next time around. They are more draught tolerant.

Rangersedge,
I am an Illinois resident but owned a "private lake" in Wisconsin. In my experience very few people can explain the different rights to ownership of fish and of course the water they swim in. In my case I stocked my lake, paid taxes on the ground underneath the lake and maintained the water quality with aeration. it was a 40 acre "pond" and it was teeming with fish. The neighbors were frequently on the lake and fished it heavily.
After consulting with 3 attorneys on trying to somehow enforce no fishing I got nowhere.
Perhaps the crux of the Illinois situation is within the words:
"there may be some kind of property or personality dispute between you and nearby residents."

Maybe the property boundaries and or public right of ways are not clearly established...maybe there is a navigable stream running to the "private lake" and any stream like that would provide access.

I was told once that theoretically anyone can sort of parachute onto any body of water and legally fish it regardless as to the ownership of the land surrounding the water as the water is indeed not owned by the property owner. The fish might be sort of difficult for as we know some are in their from our stocking but others seem to come in from all over the place

i think in CA if pond is on your property, you own the fish. there are strict laws as to what kinds of fish you can plant and or transport depending on the watershed connectivity w/ major streams or rivers. i made sure i had the water and mineral rights on both parcels i own, and as far as i know, i own the fish. but i dont know alot. i believe the water rights include surface and groundwater, but again, this is way outside my sphere of stuff.

maybe J.I.E.D. (jeffhasapond) learned about this (WRT CA) when he recently bought his property?

anybody parachutes on to my prop. is gonna have a parchute full of holes, and be lucky to make safe landfall.

D.I.E.D. Ca: When I read your post, I laughed. For some reason, I got a visual image of some guy huffing and puffing trying to fill his chute and guide it away. I probably watched too many roadrunner / wiley coyote cartoons as a kid. I have skydived a few times. You can guide the rectangular chutes pretty well, but you can't make them rise back up worth a darn (well... maybe in a canyon with a strong updraft, but then walls get in the way).

All: It isn't my lake. There is a dispute going on around this 50+ acre private lake involving an old covenant and new owner. The moral of this story is not to let anyone own any land near your lake if you can avoid it and think twice before buying one if they already do. The situation is really nasty and is going to court.

I became involved in an official capacity, but it has been interesting from perspective of learning more about fish kills, lake management, politics, and everything else.

edited to fix a typo

DIED CA: word on the street is the helicopter picked the parachuting poacher up. It was disguised as a fire fighting unit. Best keep a better watch out on your pond.

Ranger .....roadrunner....one of my heros. I would like to make trespassers feel like Wile E., but considering I usu. feel like more like Elmer Fudd, well......

no CA fishing lic. is required on priv. prop. ponds out here, which as BC suggested near top of this thread would (surprisingly) make CA one of the more lenient states WRT who owns fish (on priv. prop.).

Rocky....God is smiling on my Gams, but still punishing my water levels....

Ranger's "thread topic" summary:
(I mentioned this in another PB thread some time ago....) As we looked for the right, pond-able property, we spent alot of time in central Illinois. I happened on a 50 Ac pc with multiple draws converging into one that ran off to begin a creek. When I saw the topo, my heart began to race! There was one huge issue. One of the draws ran up onto a neighboring parcel. If we backed up a pond, the water would back into this narrow draw, over the property line. Our ag. broker, very savvy, warned us that there has already been litigation (presumably in Illinois?) for the exact same scenario. Ultimately, any water over the property line allows access to the entire body of water. We passed on the parcel.

Brettski:

A good move to pass. Different states have different laws wrt multi-owners on a private lake. That is not the same thing as the state claiming they own your fish or trying to tell you what to do on private property. FWIW don't assume Atty. Generals know or care about the law or private property rights as they are political animals that count votes after all.

Make sure to keep all of your receipts for the fish you purchase, they could come in handy in any legal dispute with your state over the ownership of the fish in your pond.

Shorty, that's great. I think I would send the AG a feed bill for his fish. Make him understand the child support laws.

I would call her if in the situation noted above and tell her (ILL has a she) to come here now and get your *&%$# fish out of my lake or I will be happy to deliver them to your front yard. Just to see what reaction I got.

Good advice, Eric.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that read somewhere that the state of Texas owns the fish also.

Check: Parks and Wild. Code Sec. 1.011.

Here's a good one for you. In my state I can raise pheasants or other birds, I can release them, and I can shoot them without a license and with no limits. All I need to prove that they are my birds is a form to prove I bought the birds. Now when it comes to fish, I need a permit or form to stock them in my private pond but I can't catch anything out of season or without a license and I must abide by state limits and all other fishing regulations. So they seem to recognize that if I raise birds they belong to me and I can do with them as I please but when it comes to fish they are at least controlled by the state but probably not owned by the state. We do have definitions of public and private waters in Minnesota but I'm not sure if private waters are recognized as containing privately owned fish. Wonder why the difference?