Minnesota’s Native Fish Bill: A case study in shifting the “rough fish paradigm”

Tyler Winter

Co-Founder/Director, Native Fish for Tomorrow

Abstract

Fisheries science has historically - and understandably - focused on the practical questions of managing fish populations. However, there is a need to consider management actions within a broad socio-ecological system including explicit normative frameworks such as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAMWC) and the implicit rough fish paradigm. The “rough fish paradigm,” is a normative framework which has negatively impacted both the science and management of native fishes. Recent research on historically de-valued native fishes has inspired a movement for native fish conservation, although concern for native rough fish can be traced back further.

Bag limits are the primary tool used by managers to control harvest, and their application to native fishes has been considered. Governance systems are a first-tier variable that are rarely, if ever, addressed directly. State statutes, administrative rules, and regulations often combine native and invasive species in a single legal category, severely limiting options for managers and contradicting conservation efforts in conflict with the NAMWC. Conflict between recreational fishing and conservation goals poses a threat to both.

The Minnesota legislature has passed a bill that amends 41 statutes and triggers the adoption of administrative rules to accommodate and regulate the new legal category, “native rough fish.” This presents an opportunity to align recreational fishing regulations with conservation objectives. Presented here is a case study on this first in the nation conservation bill intended to benefit native rough fish. We will review the origins of the paradigm, interdisciplinary collaboration to shift a paradigm, and the implications for management.