Authority: IC 14-10-2-4; IC 14-22-2-6
Affected: IC 14-22
Sec. 18.2.
(a) An
individual may trap a river otter (Lutra canadensis) from November 15 through
March 15 of the following year. An individual who sets a trap for a river otter
must be at least ten (10) years old, unless the individual has passed a
state-certified trapper education course.
(b) In order to trap a river otter, an
individual must possess one (1) of the following valid Indiana trapping
licenses or be exempt from needing a license as authorized in IC 14-22-11-1:
(1) Resident yearly trapping license under IC
14-22-12-1(a)(4).
(2) Nonresident
yearly trapping license under IC 14-22-12-1(a)(7).
(3) Resident youth consolidated hunting,
trapping, and fishing license under IC 14-22-12-1(a)(24) or IC
14-22-11-10(b).
(4) Nonresident
youth yearly trapping license under IC 14-22-12-1(a)(26).
(5) Lifetime basic trapping license under IC
14-22-12-7(a)(6) before its repeal.
(c) An individual must not take more than two
(2) river otters per season. An individual that sets the trap that caught the
river otter must count the river otter toward his or her season
limit.
(d) An individual that kills
a river otter:
(1) during the season after the
individual's bag limit has been reached;
(2) after the statewide quota has been
reached;
(3) in a county where the
season is not open; or
(4) outside
the season;
must notify the department within forty-eight (48) hours of
killing the otter and make arrangements to give that river otter to the
department. An individual who traps a river otter alive and does not include it
in that individual's bag limit must release the river otter into the wild in
the location in which it was captured immediately upon discovery or
notification that a river otter has been caught in the trap.
(e) An individual must not trap
river otters except in a county the director designates on an annual basis by
temporary rule.
(f) Annually, the
director shall establish by temporary rule the statewide quota for river otters
that may be taken during a season. The director may close the season
established under subsection (a) by temporary rule upon a determination that
the allowable harvest of river otters for the year has been reached.
(g) An individual who takes a river otter
must report the take or cause the reporting of the take by providing the
information required on the department's electronic harvest reporting system
within twenty-four (24) hours of the taking of the river otter. The individual
who reports the take on the department's electronic harvest reporting system
must provide true and accurate information. The confirmation number provided by
the electronic harvest reporting system must be maintained with the river otter
until the river otter is checked in with a designated department employee or at
an official river otter checking station.
(h) An individual who takes a river otter
during the trapping season must retain possession of the river otter and cause
delivery of the skinned hide and carcass, including the head, of the river
otter to a designated department employee or official river otter checking
station within fifteen (15) days after the month of harvest. The department
employee must:
(1) issue a tag and attach it
to each hide in accordance with
50
CFR
23.69; and
(2) maintain possession of the skinned river
otter carcass (not the hide).
(i) A river otter, including the hide and any
other part or portion, taken during the trapping season must not be:
(1) sold;
(2) traded;
(3) bartered;
(4) gifted;
(5) transferred to a taxidermist or any other
person; or
(6) shipped;
until registered through the department's electronic
registration system and issued a tag by a department employee in accordance
with subsection (h).
(j) After registering the river otter and
obtaining the tag from the department in accordance with this section, an
individual who takes a river otter may:
(1)
sell;
(2) trade;
(3) barter;
(4) ship; or
(5) otherwise transfer;
the hide of a river otter in accordance with this section and
50
CFR 23.69.
(k) An individual may possess the untanned
hide of a river otter that was lawfully obtained at any time of year.
(l) An individual must not possess a live
river otter except as follows:
(4) By a registered or licensed educational
or scientific institution with the United States Department of Agriculture in
accordance with 9 CFR, Chapter 1, Subchapter
A,
Parts I through IV.
(5) By a breeder, dealer, or exhibitor
license issued by the United States Department of Agriculture under 9 CFR,
Chapter 1, Subchapter
A,
Parts I through IV.
(m) An individual must not sell a live river
otter unless that person has a breeder, dealer, or exhibitor license issued by
the United States Department of Agriculture under 9 CFR, Chapter 1, Subchapter
A,
Parts I through IV.