A. The person actively fished with the deceased or disabled license holder; and

B. The family of the deceased or disabled license holder will suffer undue financial hardship if the license and trap tags are not transferred to that person.

The new holder of the license has the same declared lobster zone as the deceased or disabled license holder and may not submerge a number of traps that is greater than the trap limit established by rule for a lobster management zone in which that person fishes.__For the purposes of this subsection, "member of the license holder's family" means a license holder's child by birth or adoption, stepchild, grandchild or spouse.

Issuance of a license on appeal is at the discretion of the commissioner, except that a license may not be issued unless the criteria in subsection 7 or 8 are met.__Decisions of the commissioner must be in writing.

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6421-B, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 330, §5, is repealed.

SUMMARY

This bill establishes an appeals process for a person denied a license in a limited-entry fishery, including a lobster and crab fishing license, an elver fishing license and a sea urchin harvesting license. The bill establishes the License Appeals Board to consider appeals on an individual basis and make recommendations to the Commissioner of Marine Resources regarding the issuance of the license on appeal. The commissioner makes the final decision to approve or deny the appeal. The bill specifies that the commissioner may issue a license on appeal only if the person appealing the license denial has historically participated in the fishery and there was either a medical condition, a period of military service or a license suspension that prevented that person from meeting the eligibility requirements for the license. The bill authorizes the commissioner to transfer the lobster and crab fishing license and trap tags of a deceased or disabled license holder upon recommendation by the License Appeals Board to a member of the license holder's family if the family member fished with the