Alabama’s Tennessee River Gill Net Ban Stands

Readers may remember back in 2015 Southern Fishing News was in the thick of the fight to defeat Alabama’s Representative Lynn Greers’ proposed bill to allow the use of gill nets in the state’s confines of Tennessee River- namely Guntersville, Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick Lakes respectively.

The outcry of the public opposition to this gill netting proposed bill was loud enough to defeat the proposal.

However, during the discussions on the subject, one fact was evidently not brought to light. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officers were, in at least one case, had not been enforcing the law against using gill nets on the Tennessee River up to December 2012.

Jason Kellar is a licensed commercial fisherman and a resident of Madison County, Alabama which is located in northeast Alabama. Mr. Kellar filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in the Jackson Circuit Court on August 24, 2015.

The reason for the lawsuit was opposition to information Kellar received from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) in December 2012. That information notified Kellar the DCNR would begin enforcing a ban on gill and trammel net fishing pursuant to Alabama Code [§ 9-11-88(b)]. The basis for the lawsuit was, in Kellar’s opinion, was unconstitutional because the act proposing it was a local law that was not properly advertised as a local law.

According to court records, on February 18, 2016, the trial court entered a final order in which it concluded that § 9-11-88(b) was a “local law” and that, as such, it had not been properly advertised. The trial court accordingly concluded that § 9-11-88(b) was “unconstitutional, null, and void.” This judgment meant Kellar could continue his use of gill nets.

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources appealed a judgment declaring that section 9-11-88(b), Ala. Code 1975, was void because it is a local law and was not properly advertised as such. The appeal was considered in the Supreme Court’s October 2016-2017 session.

The Supreme Court found that the complaint against the DCNR was not properly before the trial court. The trial court thus lacked jurisdiction, so the judgment against the Department was void.

Simply put, The Alabama Supreme Court said, “A void judgment will not support an appeal, and, therefore, the appeal is dismissed.”

The impact of the court’s decision is that gill netting is still not legal in Alabama’s Tennessee River.

The complete Alabama Supreme Court ruling in this case is available here: 2017-1150654

For some background on gill netting see Frank Sargeant’s comments, The Fishing Wire, HERE.

(Ed. Note: Thanks to Kay Donaldson, Alabama Bass Trail, for bringing the case to our attention.)