B. Other matters of interest to the scallop fishery.

4.__Compensation.__Members are entitled to expenses according to Title 5, chapter 379.

5.__Chair and officers.__The council shall choose annually one of its members to serve as chair for a one-year term.__The council may select other officers and designate their duties.

6.__Meetings.__The council shall meet at least once a year.__ It may also meet at other times at the call of the chair or the chair's designee or at the call of the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.

SUMMARY

This bill changes the licensing for scallop dragging by licensing individuals rather than licensing the activities of a boat. The bill also adds an owner-operator provision to the scallop license, requiring that the owner of the vessel or a family member of the owner must be on board when that vessel is being used to harvest scallops. The bill makes exemptions for temporary illness or disability on the part of the owner or temporary changes due to a boat accident or mechanical failure. A grandfathering exemption is added to allow for a person who currently holds more than one scallop dragging license to continue to do so, and allow other individuals to use the vessel for scallop harvesting without the owner on board.

The bill creates the Scallop Research Fund, which may be used for research and development of the scallop resource and is funded by a surcharge to the scallop draggers license, the hand fishing scallop license and the scallop diving tender license. The bill creates the Scallop Advisory Council to make recommendations to the Commissioner of Marine Resources on expenditures from the fund and other matters of interest to the scallop fishery.