29.509 Bait dealer license.
(1) In this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) “Bait" means any species of frog, crayfish or minnow used for fishing purposes.
(b) “Bait dealer, Class A" means any person who buys for resale, barters, gives or sells bait to the amount of $2,000 or more each year.
(c) “Bait dealer, Class B" means any person who buys or gives for resale, barters, or sells bait to the amount of less than $2,000 each year.
(2) A bait dealer license may be issued by the department to any resident.
(3) No person may engage in the business of bait dealer unless the person is issued a bait dealer license by the department, except that a child under 16 years of age who is a resident may barter or sell bait to consumers without a license or permit and shall be allowed to have a possession limit of 5,000 of each species of bait, but the child may not make bait sales totaling more than $500 annually.
(4) Each licensee shall keep records as required by the department of all transactions in the production, buying and selling of bait carried on by the licensee, except that retail sales to consumers need not be recorded. This record shall show the name and address of the person from whom bait was purchased and to whom it was sold, together with the date of each transaction and the value of the bait. This record shall be open to the inspection of the department at all reasonable hours. The record shall be kept intact for a period of 2 years after the expiration of any license issued under this section, as to all transactions carried on while the license was effective.
(5) The department may issue permits for the taking of bait from specified waters and restrict the number of permits that may be issued for any designated body of water. The permits shall be issued in the order of application up to the limit established by the department.
(6) This section does not apply to bait produced in a state or municipal fish hatchery or to bait that is farm-raised fish.
(7) Any person who molests, damages, destroys or takes the bait traps of another, regardless of intent, shall forfeit not more than $100.
History: 1975 c. 365; 1981 c. 226; 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 332 s. 251 (3); 1989 a. 359; 1991 a. 316; 1997 a. 27; 1997 a. 248 ss. 301 to 307; Stats. 1997 s. 29.509.