MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Game and Fish

By: Representative Manning

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 49-7-3, 49-7-5, 49-7-8 AND 49-7-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THAT HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES EXPIRE ONE YEAR AFTER THE DATE THE LICENSE IS ISSUED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 49-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-3. (1) Any resident of the State of Mississippi shall be entitled to receive a resident fishing license.

(2) Any person domiciled within the State of Mississippi shall be entitled to receive a resident hunting license provided in Section 49-7-5. The domicile of a person is that person's principal or primary home or place of abode. A "principal or primary home or place of abode" is that home or place in which a person's habitation is fixed and to which he, whenever absent, has the present intention of returning after a departure of absence therefrom, regardless of the duration of the absence. The burden of proving domicile shall be on the person claiming such status. A person holding a current driver's license shall be deemed to be domiciled within the state issuing the license. If a person does not hold a current driver's license, the following evidence or other reliable evidence may be considered in establishing, but is not necessarily determinative of, domicile: residence for income or other tax purposes, homestead exemption receipt, or any other means prescribed by the department. In the case of minors, domicile of the parents shall be used as evidence of the minor's domicile.

(3) A nondomiciliary of the state may be issued a resident hunting or fishing license or combination resident hunting/fishing license upon providing the following:

(a) A current identification card from a Mississippi college or university; or

(b) A current military identification card showing that the person is an active member of the Armed Forces (excluding Reserves and the National Guard) and proof that the person is stationed on a military base in Mississippi.

(4) A holder of a resident or nonresident license is required to carry the license on his person while engaged in hunting, trapping or fishing. Any penalty for not carrying a license while engaged in hunting, trapping or fishing shall be waived if the person can verify purchase of a license prior to the date of the violation.

(5) Each application or filing made under this section shall include the Social Security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 2. Section 49-7-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-5. (1) (a) Any resident, as defined in Section 49-7-3, upon application, shall receive a combination resident hunting and fishing license for the sum of Seventeen Dollars ($17.00). Such license shall qualify the licensee to hunt under this chapter all game and fowl, including deer and turkey, and to fish in any county of the state.

(b) Any resident, as defined in Section 49-7-3, upon application, shall receive a resident combination small game hunting and fishing license for the sum of Thirteen Dollars ($13.00) together with the fee provided in Section 49-7-17 to the office or agent issuing such license. Such hunting license shall qualify the licensee to hunt and fish under this chapter all game and fowl, except deer and turkey, in any county in the state.

(c) Any resident of the State of Mississippi, as defined in Section 49-7-3, upon application, shall receive a resident small game license, and for it shall pay the issuing officer or agent the sum of Thirteen Dollars ($13.00), together with the fee provided in Section 49-7-17 to the officer or agent issuing such license. Such hunting license shall qualify the person holding the same to hunt under the provisions of this chapter, and in season, all game and fowl, except deer and turkey, in any county in the state.

(d) Any resident, as defined in Section 49-7-3, upon application, shall receive a sportsman's license for the sum of Thirty-two Dollars ($32.00). Such license shall qualify the licensee to hunt under this chapter all game and fowl, including deer and turkey, and to fish as provided by law, in any county in the state, and to hunt using primitive weapons and bow and arrow in the manner provided by law. The commission may notify the licensee of the expiration of his license, and the licensee may renew the license by mailing the sum of Thirty-two Dollars ($32.00) to the commission. A licensee who has not renewed the license within thirty (30) days after the expiration date shall be removed from the commission's records, and the licensee must apply to be placed on the renewal list.

(2) (a) Any resident citizen of the State of Mississippi who has not reached the age of sixteen (16) years or who has reached the age of sixty-five (65) years, or any resident citizen who is blind, paraplegic, or a multiple amputee, or who has been adjudged by the Veterans Administration as having a total service-connected disability, or has been adjudged to be totally disabled by the Social Security Administration shall not be required to purchase or have in his possession, a hunting or fishing license while engaged in such activities. A person exempt by reason of total service-connected disability, as adjudged by the Veterans Administration or who has been adjudged to be totally disabled by the Social Security Administration or who is blind, paraplegic or a multiple amputee, shall have in their possession and on their person proof of their age, residency, disability status or other respective physical impairment while engaged in the activities of hunting or fishing.

(b) All exempt hunting and fishing licenses previously issued for disabilities shall be null and void effective July 1, 1993.

(3) No license shall be required of residents to hunt, fish or trap on lands in which the record title is vested in such person.

(4) Any person or persons exempt under this section from procuring a license shall be subject to and must comply with all other terms and provisions of this chapter.

(5) Any person authorized to issue any license under this section may collect and retain for the issuance of each license the additional fee authorized under Section 49-7-17.

(6) All licenses provided in this section shall expire one (1) year from the date the license is issued.

SECTION 3. Section 49-7-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-8. (1) No nonresident sixteen (16) years of age or older may hunt, fish, kill, take or trap any game animal, bird or fish without having acquired and having in his immediate possession a valid license issued by the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

(2) The commission shall have the following duties and powers:

(a) To prescribe the forms and types of nonresident licenses that a nonresident must obtain;

(b) To determine the total number of each type of nonresident license to be issued annually;

(c) To establish fees for nonresident licenses and the collection fees for the agent issuing such licenses; provided, however, that the fee for a nonresident all game hunting license shall not be less than Sixty Dollars ($60.00);

(d) To exercise all incidental powers necessary to develop a nonresident licensing program.

(3) A nonresident who violates this section or any licensing regulation of the commission is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in Section 49-7-21(3).

(4) Any license purchased by a nonresident under this section shall expire one (1) year from the date the license is issued.

SECTION 4. Section 49-7-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-9. (1) (a) Each resident of the State of Mississippi, as defined in Section 49-7-3, fishing in the public fresh waters of the state, including lakes and reservoirs, but not including privately owned ponds and streams, shall pay an annual license fee of Eight Dollars ($8.00). Any resident purchasing a public freshwater fishing license as prescribed in this subsection shall be entitled to fish, in accordance with the regulations and ordinances of the commission, in all public fresh waters within the territory of the State of Mississippi. This license shall expire one (1) year from the date the license is issued.

(b) A resident may purchase a resident fishing license valid for a period of three (3) days for the sum of Three Dollars ($3.00). This license shall expire one (1) year from the date the license is issued.

(c) No license shall be required of any resident citizen of the State of Mississippi who has not reached the age of sixteen (16) years or who has reached the age of sixty-five (65) years or who is blind, paraplegic, a multiple amputee or has been adjudged by the Veterans Administration as having a total service-connected disability, or has been adjudged totally disabled by the Social Security Administration. Such person shall not be required to purchase or have in his possession a hunting or fishing license while engaged in such activities.

(d) A person exempt by reason of age, total service-connected disability as adjudged by the Veterans Administration or total disability as adjudged by the Social Security Administration or who is blind, paraplegic or a multiple amputee, shall have in their possession and on their person proof of their age, residency, disability status or other respective physical impairment while engaged in the activities of hunting or fishing.

(2) Any person engaged in fishing for commercial purposes and selling or peddling fish at retail or selling or shipping same at wholesale, as to markets, dealers or canning plants within the State of Mississippi, shall pay Thirty Dollars ($30.00) for a commercial fishing license. Each piece of commercial fishing equipment must have a commercial fishing equipment tag (at a cost of Three Dollars ($3.00) each) attached. A piece of commercial fishing equipment is defined as: One (1) each hoop or barrel net; one thousand (1,000) feet of trotline; one thousand (1,000) feet of snagline; three thousand (3,000) feet or less of gill netting; or three thousand (3,000) feet or less of trammel netting. Netting of over three thousand (3,000) feet is prohibited.

Upon payment of the Thirty Dollars ($30.00) license and tags for use of hoop or barrel nets, the purchaser of the license is hereby permitted to use lead nets thirty-five (35) yards in length for each two (2) barrel nets used, but not to exceed seven (7) lead nets.

(3) Each person taking commercial freshwater fish of any kind from the fresh waters of the state shall be considered a producer and shall be entitled to sell his own catch to anyone or at any point within or without the State of Mississippi.

(4) Each person buying or handling fish secured from commercial fishermen or others for the purpose of resale to others than consumers, whether handled on a commission basis or otherwise, and each resident person shipping fish not his own catch out of the State of Mississippi shall be considered a wholesale dealer and shall pay a commercial fishing license in the sum of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per annum. Nonresident wholesale dealers who buy fish from fishermen or resident wholesale dealers for the purpose of resale shall obtain a nonresident commercial fishing license. Resident wholesale dealers licenses shall be issued only to persons who have been bona fide residents of the State of Mississippi for at least six (6) months. Any nonresident who brings fish into the state from without the state for the purpose of resale to a wholesale or retail dealer or to the consumer shall obtain a nonresident commercial fishing license.

(5) Each resident buying fish from a licensed wholesale dealer or licensed commercial fisherman for retail sale to the consumer only on rural or urban routes shall pay the sum of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per annum for a commercial fishing license to do so.

(6) Each person engaged in the buying and selling of fish as a wholesale dealer's agent, whether on a commission or salary basis, or otherwise, and not selling in the open market, or any vessel buying fish to make up a cargo, shall pay a commercial fishing license in the sum of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per annum and shall be responsible for any illegal transaction ensuing between the time he purchases from the fisherman and the time the fish are accepted by the wholesaler by whom he is employed.

(7) Any person using a wooden or plastic slat basket shall pay a license of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per basket per annum. Slat baskets are defined as commercial fishing devices used solely for the capture of catfish and made entirely of wood and/or plastic slats in a boxlike or cylindrical shape. Slat baskets shall not exceed six (6) feet in length nor exceed fifteen (15) inches in width and height or diameter, may have no more than two (2) throats, and must have at least four (4) slot openings of a minimum one and one-half (1-1/2) by twenty-four (24) inches evenly spaced around the sides of the catch area. The one and one-half (1-1/2) inch wide slots must begin at the rear of the basket and run twenty-four (24) inches toward the throat end of the basket. Slat baskets may only be fished in public waters of the State of Mississippi that are opened to commercial fishing. Slat baskets shall be placed at least one hundred (100) yards apart and may not be used with any form of leads, netting or guiding devices. Each slat basket shall have a metal tag attached to it with the tag number of the owner imprinted on it. Such tags shall be purchased from the department at a fee of Three Dollars ($3.00) per tag. Any other identification of the owner of the basket shall meet such specifications as set by the department. The department shall designate as a slat basket zone:

(a) Only those portions of rivers, streams or oxbow lakes which serve as the borderline between Mississippi and any other state;

(b) Those portions of rivers, streams or oxbow lakes which flow from or into a contiguous state and are within five (5) miles of the state line except that any portion east of the center line of the Mississippi River levee shall not be designated as a slat basket zone; and

(c) Those portions of rivers, streams and oxbow lakes which are south of Highway 26 and east of Interstate 59.

Any violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be a Class I violation as prescribed in Section 49-7-141.

(8) It is unlawful for any person coming under the terms of this section to offer for sale undersized nongame fish, as set out and classified herein.

(9) All persons fishing in privately owned lakes or ponds shall have specific permission to do so from the owner of such lake or pond.

(10) The commission is authorized to issue nonresident freshwater commercial fishing licenses to be sold by the department and not by licensing agents. The commission shall determine the fee and shall promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems appropriate for issuance of nonresident freshwater commercial fishing licenses.

(11) July 4 of each year is designated as "Free Fishing Day." Any person may sport fish without a license on "Free Fishing Day."

(12) Any person authorized to issue any license under this section may collect and retain for issuing each license the additional fee authorized under Section 49-7-17.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.