An Act To Allow the Sale of Incidentally Caught Lobsters
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 5, §1, is further amended to read:
This paragraph is repealed September 1, 2016.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6432, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 520, §4, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6501, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2001, c. 421, Pt. B, §25 and affected by Pt. C, §1, is further amended to read:
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §6952-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 266, Pt. A, §22, is further amended to read:
Sec. 5. Authority to regulate landings. The Commissioner of Marine Resources may adopt rules to regulate the landings of lobster under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 6421, subsection 4, paragraph C, including to set the maximum poundage of lobsters landed. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 6. Review. The Commissioner of Marine Resources shall monitor and review the effect of this Act on the State's licensees under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 6501 and, by January 1, 2016, report findings and any suggested legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over marine resources matters. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over marine resources matters may report out a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 127th Legislature based upon the subject matter of the report.
SUMMARY
This bill allows commercial fishing operators who take lobsters as bycatch from federal Lobster Management Area 3 to land the lobsters at a commercial exchange that auctions fish in the City of Portland with landing limits regulated by the Commissioner of Marine Resources based on the fishery's maintaining the lobster population at optimal levels. This bill directs the Commissioner of Marine Resources to monitor and review the effect of this regulation on the State's ground fishing fleet and report the findings of the review to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over marine resources matters, which may report out a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 127th Legislature based upon the subject matter of the report.