37-543 Offenses relating to fish; exceptions; rules and regulations; violation; penalty.
37-543. Offenses relating to fish; exceptions; rules and regulations; violation; penalty.(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to take any fish, except as provided in this section, by means other than fishing with hook and line.(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, while fishing in this state in any lake, pond, or reservoir or in their inlets, outlets, and canals within one-half mile of such lake, pond, or reservoir, more than two lines, and neither line shall have more than two hooks. This subsection shall not apply to ice fishing.(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to take any fish by snagging fish externally by hook and line, except in the Missouri River, as provided by rules and regulations of the commission.(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, while fishing in any waters in this state, a line having more than five hooks thereon or lines having more than fifteen hooks in the aggregate. One hook means a single, double, or treble pointed hook, and all hooks attached as a part of an artificial bait or lure shall be counted as one hook.(5) Nongame fish may be taken by spearing or by bow and arrow as provided by rules and regulations of the commission.(6) Sport fish may be taken by bow and arrow as provided by rules and regulations of the commission.(7) The commission may by rules and regulations allow, control, regulate, or prohibit the use of seines, nets, and other devices and methods in the taking of fish. The commission may adopt rules and regulations as to the method of taking, bag limits, size limits, possession, transporting, or selling of all species of fish.(8) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor and shall be fined at least fifty dollars. SourceLaws 1929, c. 112, V, § 2, p. 426; C.S.1929, § 37-502; Laws 1931, c. 72, § 1, p. 193; Laws 1939, c. 40, § 1, p. 197; Laws 1941, c. 72, § 7, p. 304; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 37-502; R.S.1943, § 37-502; Laws 1945, c. 80, § 1, p. 298; Laws 1955, c. 134, § 1, p. 384; Laws 1957, c. 147, § 1, p. 484; Laws 1959, c. 159, § 1, p. 590; Laws 1961, c. 169, § 6, p. 504; Laws 1963, c. 205, § 1, p. 658; Laws 1963, c. 206, § 1, p. 661; Laws 1965, c. 204, § 1, p. 608; Laws 1967, c. 216, § 9, p. 585; Laws 1975, LB 489, § 3; Laws 1981, LB 73, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 235, § 22; R.S.1943, (1993), § 37-502; Laws 1998, LB 922, § 263; Laws 1999, LB 176, § 75; Laws 2001, LB 130, § 3. AnnotationsNebraska, without consent of Iowa, could forbid use of nets, traps and seines west of the middle of the channel of the Missouri River. Miller v. McLaughlin, 118 Neb. 174, 224 N.W. 18 (1929).The section of the former statute which, as amended in 1927, prescribed the legal methods for catching fish in Nebraska, was constitutional as applied to the waters of the Missouri River between the middle of the main channel and the Nebraska bank. Miller v. McLaughlin, 281 U.S. 261 (1930), affirming 118 Neb. 174, 224 N.W. 18 (1929).