An Act To Provide an Exemption for Incidentally Caught Lobsters

Emergency preamble. Whereas,  acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and

Whereas,  under current law a lobster caught as by-catch by a commercial fisherman must be released immediately; and

Whereas,  allowing those incidentally caught lobsters to be sold outside of Maine can help sustain the commercial fishing industry; and

Whereas,  it is important to provide financial assistance to Maine's commercial fishing industry as soon as possible; and

Whereas,  in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Sec. 1. 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. 2. 12 MRSA §6952-A, sub-§3,  as amended by PL 2011, c. 266, Pt. A, §22, is further amended to read:

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill allows the holder of a commercial fishing license while on a boat participating in the federal northeast multispecies fishery fishing exclusively in specific lobster management areas delineated under federal regulation to take, possess or sell lobsters but prohibits the first sale of those lobsters in Maine.