Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §§6431-F is enacted to read:

§6431-F. Trap tag freeze

1. Trap tag limits.__The commissioner may not issue a number of lobster trap tags each year to a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license holder that is greater than the number of trap tags the license holder had purchased as of November 20, 1998 for the 1998 license year.

2. Exception.__Subsection 1 does not apply to trap tags issued to a license holder who is issued a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license for the first time after meeting the requirements of the apprentice program under section 6422.

3. Trap tag appeals.__A lobster and crab fishing license holder who is denied trap tags under subsection 1 may appeal that denial.__The appeals process is as follows.

A. The Trap Tags Appeals Board is established to review appeals under this subsection. The board consists of 3 voting members appointed by the commissioner with the advice of the Lobster Advisory Council. The commissioner shall appoint the following members:

(1) Two standing members, one of whom holds a lobster and crab fishing license and one of whom is a member of the general public and does not hold a lobster and crab fishing license; and

(2) An ad hoc member appointed for each appeal, who holds a lobster and crab fishing license and who fishes in the same lobster management zone as the person who has appealed the trap tag denial.

The board shall make a recommendation to the commissioner for the approval or denial of an appeal.__The commissioner shall render the final decision on any appeal.

B. Trap tag purchases may only be approved on appeal if the following criteria are met:

(1) The person documents a medical reason for not purchasing trap tags in 1998 or the person documents service in the United States Armed Forces that precluded participation in the lobster fishery and the purchase of trap tags in 1998; and