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Title: Private Fish Hatchery License / Private Fish Hatchery License (Sales less than 200 Dollars)
Alternate Title:
Description:

A private fish hatchery is a licensed facility for hatching, raising, rearing, and culturing private aquatic life for sale. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)


Subject: Aquaculture
Water
Creation Date: 10/6/2021 2:10:54 PM
Modification Date: 8/28/2024 9:17:41 PM
Agency Name: Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota Department of
Agency URL: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us
Agency Description: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages the state's natural resources, hunting, fishing, state forests, state parks, lakes, rivers, streams, boating and water safety, trails, snowmobiling, skiing, education, enforcement, wildlife management, lands and minerals.
Agency Phone: 651-296-6157
888-646-6367
Agency Fax: Agency URL: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us
Agency Address: Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota Dept. of
500 Lafayette Rd.

St. Paul
MN 55155

Unit Name:
Unit URL:
Unit Description:
Unit Phone: Unit Fax: Contact person(s): sean.sisler@state.mn.us
Unit URL:
Audience: Application URL:
Renewal URL:
Versa URL:
Requirements:
Review:

A private fish hatchery is a licensed facility for hatching, raising, rearing, and culturing private aquatic life for sale. A private fish hatchery license can include ponds, vats, tanks, raceways, and other indoor or outdoor facilities that an aquatic farmer owns or has the right to use. This license is only for small operations with sales less than $200/license year. If sales exceed $200, you must upgrade the license. A five-year license is available. You pay for the entire five-year fee in the first year of the five-year term (you will receive an updated license each year during your five-year term). Six endorsements are available for holders of A private fish hatchery license:

  1. License to Take Sucker Egg from Public Waters
  2. Minnow Retailer License
  3. Minnow Dealer License
  4. Exporting Minnow Dealer License
  5. Minnow Dealer, Exporting Minnow Dealer, and Minnow Retailer Vehicle Licenses
  6. Fish Packer License

These endorsements allow the license holder to conduct the same activities as an individual license for that activity would allow. They are simply a way to consolidate all licenses into one for the convenience of the licensee.

Pond/Facility Licensing

All ponds and facilities that you want to use for culturing private aquatic life must be approved and listed on your private fish hatchery license. If a pond is dropped from a license and not transferred to another licensee within a year, a new inspection may be required to re-license that pond. To license a new pond, submit a Private Fish Hatchery and Aquatic Farm New Pond Application along with required inspection fees to your regional fisheries manager.

Adding a Species to Your Aquatic Farm License

You may request to add a species to your license at any time during the license year by simply drafting a short letter to your regional fisheries manager including: your name, hatchery license number, and the species of aquatic life that you are requesting for approval. Species of aquatic life must be approved and listed on your list of licensed waters, before they are brought into your licensed waters. It is a violation to bring a species of aquatic life into your licensed waters unless those waters are licensed for that species.

All species of aquatic life fall into one of the three following categories:

  • Indigenous Species/Strains
    Ponds or facilities approved for indigenous (native) species/strains may contain only fish that originated from Minnesota or a contiguous state, and may only contain fish species present in the surrounding watershed. Some exceptions to this are possible; however, these must be specifically noted on your license. For example, we would usually approve licensing for rainbow trout in ponds approved for indigenous species, because rainbow trout are considered a naturalized species and do not present a threat to most fish communities if they escape. Walleye must originate from Minnesota, north of Highway 210, if they are to be reared in ponds or facilities north of Minnesota Highway 210 that are listed and approved for indigenous species.

  • Nonindigenous Species/Strains
    Ponds must be outside of a 25-year floodplain to be approved for nonindigenous species or strains. Some exceptions to this are possible as noted previously under indigenous species/strains. Maps showing the 25-year flood plains may be available at the regional and area DNR offices from the Division of Ecological and Water Resources. If a nonindigenous species is considered high risk, a closed system may be required. Waters approved for nonindigenous fish species may contain fish species not present in the surrounding watershed or strains of fish originating from outside Minnesota and contiguous states. Waters north of Minnesota Highway 210 approved for nonindigenous species may be used for walleye from south of Highway 210 and non-Minnesota sources.

  • Exotic Species/Strains (Aquatic Life from Outside of the United States
    Generally, closed systems will be required for private aquatic life not indigenous to the continental United States The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources may not approve the licensing of certain private aquatic life not found in the continental United States.

Fish Health Inspection and Certification

Facilities licensed for salmonids or catfish require an annual fish health inspection if they discharge effluent to public waters. A lot means a group of fish of the same species and age that originated from the same discrete spawning population and that have always shared a common water supply; or various age groups of brood stock of the same species that have shared the same containers for one brood cycle. Even if your facility does not discharge to public waters, you need a fish health certification to transfer salmonids, catfish, or species on the official list of viral hemorrhagic septicemia susceptible species published by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services to another licensed facility, or to stock salmonids, catfish, or VHS susceptible species into waters of the state. There are two labs in the state of MN that can perform a fish health inspection:

  1. The MN DNR Pathology Laboratory
  2. The University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

You can also choose to use any accredited testing laboratory located out-of-state.

 


Rules:
Statutes:

Forms:

Live Fish Transportation

Importation,& Stocking Permit Application

Bait Preservation Permit

Click here (link sends email) to request a license application.


Fees:

$70/yr: Private Fish Hatchery license (sales less than $200)
 
$300: New pond inspection fee (when applicable)
 
$150: Water Appropriation Permit (when applicable)
 
Variable: Fish Health Inspections (when applicable)

Period of Issuance:

Five years.


Length of Determination: Up to four weeks.
Other Info:
Activity: Aquaculture
Aquatic Farms
Fish
License Detail URL:
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