When you cast an idea into unknown waters, such as the Minnesota Legislature, sometimes it succeeds, sometimes it sinks, and sometimes you wonder if lawmakers are listening or if they give a damn.
There’s a 125-year-old fish hatchery on Warner Road in St. Paul that’s being held together with duct tape. It’s the only fish hatchery in the metro region. It’s too discombobulated to allow tours for school kids. It’s an embarrassment for a state of Minnesota, where fishing is a lifestyle and a $6.6 billion-plus economic boost to the state’s economy.
Did the 2025 Legislature act to do anything about the most deplorable fish hatchery in the state? Nah.
Lawmakers did approve giving discounted fishing and hunting licenses to disabled veterans. It’s a nice gesture. It’s also going to mean the DNR’s Game and Fish Fund will lose $320,000 a year in license revenue. Will general tax revenue, collected from all taxpayers, reimburse the Game and Fish Fund? Oh, no.
Does that mean hunters and anglers are actually funding the discounted licenses? Oh, yah.
Does that mean the DNR has less money to manage fish and wildlife. Oh, yah.
Does that mean the DNR will ask for a fishing and hunting license fee increases next legislative session? Count on it.
While raiding the Game and Fish Fund wasn’t enough by our Legislature, if you own and fish with a boat, your boat registration fees took a big upward bounce to provide added revenue for aquatic invasive species-control programs.
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It seems lawmakers believe the DNR’s fish-management programs can operate with less money and state anglers will always pay more money.
Did state anglers get totally skunked by lawmakers? There’s some good news in the bonding bill that included more than $16 million to continue upgrading state fish hatcheries and more than $6 million to repair public water accesses.
Oh, lawmakers also passed a bill to establish a year-round bass-fishing season, a measure also supported by DNR fisheries. Truth is, few bass caught end up in frying pans anyway.
While we celebrate efforts to improve the state of fishing, sadly, the DNR’s St. Paul hatchery keeps getting older and the water pipes overhead may need new duct tape to hold ‘em up as more time goes by.
So, nothing changes at the 125-year-old hatchery.
There’s no reason to beat up on our legislators for ignoring the obvious. It’s too easy.