ST. PAUL -- It's not a big fish in a small pond that bothers Rep. Jean Wagenius. It's the abundance of fish in western Minnesota wetlands.
Wagenius is urging the state Department of Natural Resources to more strictly enforce its policies regarding fish farms. A duck enthusiast who owns property near Alexandria, Minn., she believes so-called aquaculture practices have contributed to a decline in the duck population in central and western areas of the state.
The Minneapolis DFLer told the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday that duck hunting conditions have deteriorated in recent years and that 2004 was the worst hunting season in four decades.
"When you put fish in a wetland, it has significant detrimental impact" on the duck habitat, Wagenius said.
Fish raised in natural waters - including minnows later sold to bait shops and wholesalers - eat the same invertebrates that ducks feed on. As a result of an inadequate diet, ducks don't breed as well or as often, Wagenius said.
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Pointing to federal Fish and Wildlife Service data, Wagenius said the breeding population of scaups, a kind of duck, was at its lowest number in 50 years. She also referred lawmakers to a study showing that more than 78 percent of state wetlands contain fish. Historically, she said, only 10 to 20 percent of wetlands had fish.
Currently, licenses to operate fish farms can be obtained if the applicant has legal access to the body of water - often the permission of one landowner. Wagenius believes the Department of Natural Resources should require that applicants seek approval from all shoreland owners.
The burden should be on fish license applicants to prove that adding fish to a wetland won't affect duck populations, she said.
"It is so overused that it totally changes the character of the wetland," Wagenius said of raising fish in wetlands.
Opponents argue that less than 1 percent of Minnesota waters are used to grow fish.
"To blame us for the depletion of the duck population seems very unfair," added Rob Jost of Alexandria, co-president of Minnesota Fish and Bait Farmers.
Steve Puchtel of the Minnesota Aquaculture Association, who's raised fish for 36 years, said requiring the approval of shoreland owners for a license would make business difficult.
"We'd never get them all," Puchtel said of landowners.
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Rep. Aaron Peterson, who represents far western Minnesota, said a decline in the duck population is a problem in his part of the state. Peterson, DFL-Madison, said aquaculture could be one of the factors.
"It's worth investigating," he said, noting that aquaculture and duck population issues haven't yielded any constituent calls.
The House committee is considering a provision in a game and fish bill that would place a moratorium on the issuance of fish farm licenses through 2007.
Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, who is sponsoring the game and fish bill, said there are problems with duck populations but that aquaculture is an important industry in Minnesota. No major changes should be made until more information is known, he said.
Ed Boggess of the state Department of Natural Resources' Division of Fish and Wildlife said a panel of experts studying aquaculture will release a final report prior to the 2007 Legislature. That will be used to guide the department's policy on fish farm licensing, he said.
