Minnesota Enacts First in the Nation Legislation for Native Rough Fish...
Minnesota recently enacted a first-in-the-nation law to protect native rough fish. For generations, so-called rough fish have been overlooked and ignored in favor of the more glamorous and socially and economically more important gamefish, treated as expendable resources, and provided with little if any protection.
Rough fish play an important role in our aquatic ecosystems. They provide forage for game species, and can help keep other species, including nonnatives, numbers in check.
Unfortunately, in most states rough fish are not subject to any bag limits, and are often omitted from wanton waste laws allowing for unrestricted harvest. NFC has worked in Oklahoma and Maine to get these fish protected under wanton waste laws as well as gaining some harvest restrictions for them.