|
|
|
|
Mr. Payer, I have received responses to the following questions but no answers. There is a big difference between a response and an answer. My valuable time would not be wasted if I didn't have to ask questions over and over. Thank you for your suggestion to meet with Mr. Goeman but I have no interest in meeting with Mr. Goeman or anyone from Fisheries. Unlike Fisheries staff I don't get paid for meetings or the time I miss at work. My unanswered questions are as follows. 1. Does the presence of fathead minnows and bluegills on the list of species approved for my non-indigenous ponds mean they are non-indigenous as you implied of longear sunfish in your September 12 2003 email? 2. Do you support Mr. Goemans statement that I need his office's permission to sell any of my fish produced in non-indigenous ponds anywhere in Minnesota? I filed a second legislative claim against Fisheries today so you should see it soon. I will also be filing a third if Mr. Goeman continues to refuse to issue a correct longear sunfish import/stock permit. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, John Reynolds Midwest Fish and Crayfish 26385 County Road 3 Merrifield MN 56465 www.mndnrdocuments.org Subject: Re: questions Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 09:18:22 –0500 From: Ron Payer ron.payer@dnr.state.mn.us To: <fishes@brainerd.net>CC: <tjgoeman@brainerd.net> Mr. Reynolds-I had thought each of your questions had been answered. I would suggest you set up a meeting with Mr. Goeman to clarify your questions and to try to resolve any outstanding issues. Ronald D. Payer, Director Division of Fisheries MN DNR 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4012 Phone: (651) 297-4098 Fax: (651) 297-4916 John <fishes@brainerd.net> 9/27/2003 9:24:28 PM >>> September 28 2003 Mr. Payer, I am still waiting for a reply to my September 12 2003 email question of whether the presence of fathead minnows and bluegill sunfish on the non-indigenous license means that they are non-indigenous ( http://www.mndnrdocuments.org/Payer91203.html ). I am also waiting for your explanation of why Mr. Goeman would deny the importation/stocking of orangespotted sunfish for my entire facility solely because they were non-indigenous ( http://www.mndnrdocuments.org/6101Goeman.html ) yet would allow the importation/stocking of longear sunfish and then later claim they were also non-indigenous. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, John Reynolds Midwest Fish and Crayfish 26385 County Road 3 Merrifield MN 56465 www.mndnrdocuments.org September 12, 2003 Mr. Payer, Thank you for the response. Longear sunfish. You are correct that longears are listed on the pond approved for non-indigenous species. Fathead minnows and bluegill sunfish are also listed on that license along with every other species of fish found in Minnesota. Are you suggesting that all of those species are non-indigneous because they are listed on the non-indigenous license? If you look on the May 30 2001 document from Mr. Goeman you will see that he denied the importation/stocking of orangespotted sunfish solely because they were non-indigenous yet he approved the longears. If what you say is true then why did he deny orangespotted sunfish to my entire facility when my facility had non-indigenous licensed ponds available? Koi. I have a DNR document that states the koi were approved for ponds on the west side of the road. That strongly suggests an attempt to cover-up of Mr. Goemans arbitrary and capricious decision to cancel my non-indigenous license. It was not specified on the import/stocking permit as you say. Goemans statement. On the issue of Mr. Goeman's arbitrary declaration that I needed his approval to sell any of my fish anywhere in Minnesota. I asked Mr. Johannes on 8 separate occasions if the statement was correct or incorrect. The closest Mr. Johannes could come to contradicting Mr. Goemans incorrect statement was to say that the all-inclusive statement was general correct. This is false because the statement says EVERY FISH. I contacted the MN AG office and received assurance that the statement was incorrect. The person doing the transportation/stocking is the person needing the permit. It is also incorrect to imply that fish raised in ponds licensed for non-indigenous species are somehow treated differently than those raised in ponds licensed for indigenous only. The destination of those fish raised in non-indigenous ponds may be into watersheds where they are considered indigenous therefore Mr. Goemans declaration is false on both counts. Sincerely, John Reynolds Midwest Fish and Crayfish 26385 County Road 3 Merrifield MN 56465 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Payer" <ron.payer@dnr.state.mn.us> To: <fishes@brainerd.net> Cc: "Gene Merriam" <gene.merriam@dnr.state.mn.us>; "Linda Erickson-Eastwood" <linda.erickson-eastwood@dnr.state.mn.us>; "Mark Holsten" <mark.holsten@dnr.state.mn.us>; "Roy Johannes" <roy.johannes@dnr.state.mn.us>; "Steve Hirsch" <steve.hirsch@dnr.state.mn.us>; "Tim Goeman" <tim.goeman@dnr.state.mn.us>; <rep.dale.walz@house.mn>; <sen.paul.koering@senate.mn>; <johnrey@uslink.net> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 10:33 AM Subject: Re: Mr. Goeman Mr. Reynolds-In response to your first August 30, 2003 Email, the
documentation that approval for longear sunfish was intended to be only
for ponds licensed for non-indigenous species can be found in your 2001
aquaculture license sent to you on March 26, 2001. Longear sunfish are
listed as one of the approved species for ponds licensed for
non-indigenous species. If you need another copy of this license,
please let me know and I will mail it to you.
Tim Goeman has acknowledged that he erred in approving your importation
permit for longear sunfish in May 2001 without specifying that the
approval was limited to waters licensed for non-indigenous species.
However, your permit application had incomplete information and there
was some confusion at the time over which waters you had listed on your
license. As stated in previous correspondence, we attempted to clarify
these licensing issues with you at the December 2001 meeting and in
follow- up correspondence on January 8, 2002.
In response to your request for documentation that the koi importation
permit in 2001 was for ponds on the west side of Rebel Road, koi are
considered an ornamental fish and are exempt from
transportation/importation permit requirements as provided by Minn.
Stat., sec. 17.4985, subd. 3, paragraph 2. They are essentially
unregulated by the DNR; therefore, we do not typically list them on
aquaculture licenses nor would we specify on importation permits which
licensed ponds they could be stocked in.
In response to your second August 30, 2003 Email, I assume you are
referring to the statement in the January 8, 2002 letter from Tim Goeman
that "You should be aware that a "Live Fish Transportation and
Importation Permit from this office is required for any intrastate
transfers or sales of live fish from ponds licensed for non-indigenous
species." If so, we have addressed this question already in an August
5, 2002 Email from Roy Johannes, an August 11, 2002 Email from Roy
Johannes, an August 16, 2002 Email from Roy Johannes, and a September
23, 2002 letter from Roy Johannes.
Ronald D. Payer, Director
Division of Fisheries
MN DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4012
Phone: (651) 297-4098
Fax: (651) 297-4916
John <fishes@brainerd.net> 8/30/2003 11:04:42 PM >>> August 30 2003
Mr. Payer,
Please provide me with the documentation supporting your claim that
"that approval [for longear sunfish] was intended to be only for ponds
licensed for non-indigenous species"
Also, please provide me with documentation that the koi importation
permit in 2001 was for ponds on the west side of Rebel Road only as the
documentation I recovered during the Data Practices Act request. There
was never any discussion of the ponds that koi were to be stocked into
nor do I see any indication of restrictions on the documents I
received.
I believe you will see that Minnesota statute treats species that are
naturalized similarly to indigenous species. We'll just let the court
make the ruling on that one this winter.
FYI, I intend on filing another ethics complaint against you for
allowing your staff to behave in such an unprofessional manner. I also
intend on filing an ethics complaint against Mr. Goeman for his
continued unprofessional behavior.
It's no wonder that the public has such low regard for the MN DNR
Fisheries considering how unethical behavior is protected and
encouraged.
Sincerely,
John Reynolds
Midwest Fish and Crayfish
26385 County Road 3
Merrifield MN 56465 |