Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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515 ILCS 5/5-5

(515 ILCS 5/5-5) (from Ch. 56, par. 5-5)

Sec. 5-5. Ownership and title; violations; penalties.

The ownership of
and title to all aquatic life within the boundaries of the State, are
hereby declared to be in the State, and no aquatic life shall be taken or
killed, in any manner or at any time, unless the person or persons so
taking or killing the aquatic life shall consent that the title to the
aquatic life shall be and remain in the State for the purpose of regulating
the taking, killing, possession, use, sale, and transportation of aquatic
life after taking or killing, as set forth in this Code.

Aquatic products, including any aquatic plants and animals or their by-products that are produced, grown, managed, harvested and marketed on an annual, semi-annual, biennial or short-term basis, in permitted aquaculture facilities, bred,
hatched, propagated, or raised by the owner of a body of water, with the
consent of the Department of Natural Resources through the
issuance of an
aquaculture permit and consistent with this Section, in permitted
aquaculture facilities in or on that body of water are the property of the
person who bred, hatched, propagated, or raised them or that person's
successor in interest.  Ownership of aquatic products reverts to the State
upon revocation or expiration of an aquaculture permit as prescribed by
administrative rule.

If any person causes any waste, sewage, thermal effluent, or any other
pollutant to enter into, or causes or allows pollution of, any waters of
this State so as to kill aquatic life, the Department, through the Attorney
General, may bring an action against that person and recover the value of
and the related costs in determining the value of the aquatic life
destroyed by the waste, sewage, thermal effluent, or pollution. Any money
so recovered shall be placed into the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State
Treasury.

If any person shall abandon, deposit, or otherwise place any wire,
can, bottle, glass, paper, trash, rubbish, cardboard, wood cartons,
boxes, trees, parts of trees, brush, or other insoluble material,
including animal or vegetable material, into the waters or upon the ice
of any waters of this State, or in any place on the bank of waters of
this State where it shall be liable to be washed into the waters either
by storms, floods, or other causes, the person shall be in violation of the
offense of polluting.  Employees of the Department, however, may place or
direct the placement, in the waters of the State, of insoluble materials
deemed suitable for the purposes of enhancing aquatic habitat.  Any person
who shall be found guilty under this Section shall be guilty of a petty
offense, and the Court shall further order that the guilty person shall
employ every practical means of removing the debris within a time specified
by the Court.  Failure to comply with an order under this Section shall
constitute a Class B misdemeanor.

(Source: P.A. 102-555, eff. 1-1-22.)