REPORT OF CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

S. B. No. 2525: Crabs; revise resident and nonresident commercial crabber licenses and fees.

SECTION 1. The following section shall be codified as Section 49-15-92, Mississippi Code of 1972:

49-15-92. (1) Any person who feloniously steals, takes and carries away crab traps or the property of another used to catch saltwater crabs from crab traps is guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for the first offense; Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for the second offense; and One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for the third and subsequent offenses or may be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both fine and imprisonment.

(2) This section shall not apply to any person who removes crab traps that are illegally placed or in an illegal location. This section shall not apply to any person who catches abandoned crab traps in a shrimp trawl, keeps the crab traps aboard the vessel and properly disposes of the crab traps.

SECTION 2. (1) It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to engage in the commercial harvesting of crabs, oysters, shrimp, bait shrimp or saltwater fish in marine waters north of the CSX Railroad in Harrison and Hancock Counties except for the taking of live bait shrimp as may be allowed by the commission after the department conducts sampling studies.

(2) For a first offense, a violation of this section is punishable by a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). For a second violation and subsequent violations when such violations are committed within three (3) years of the first offense, a person shall be fined Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00).

SECTION 3. Section 49-15-86, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-15-86. * * * Each person catching or taking any saltwater crabs in the waters of the State of Mississippi for commercial purposes shall obtain a license from the commission and shall pay the following annual * * * license fees:

(a) Resident fee of Seventy Dollars ($70.00) for each boat; * * *

(b) Nonresident * * * fee of One Hundred Sixty Dollars ($160.00) for each boat * * *;

(c) At least one (1) person on each boat must have a crab fishermen captain's license or be named as an alternate on the captain's license. The resident captain's license fee is Five Dollars ($5.00). The nonresident captain's license fee is Forty Dollars ($40.00); and

(d) If applicable, the commission shall establish reciprocal nonresident fees according to Section 49-15-30.

SECTION 4. Section 49-15-84, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-15-84. (1) The commission shall coordinate with the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in the development of an ordinance for the purpose of taking Callinectes sapidus (blue crab) or allied species. The ordinance shall include provisions for the establishment of size limits for individual or market use as well as establishing legal harvest size for the cultivating of peeler crabs and soft-shell crabs.

(2) The commission shall establish minimum specifications for crab traps and shall require buoys of adequate size which are identified as to the owner of the buoys and traps. Within the bays and bayous recreational crabbers may use no more than six (6) crab traps per household. All recreational crab traps shall be attached to a fixed structure. The taking of crabs with drop nets is permitted without a license.

(3) It is unlawful to catch, hold or have in possession any female sponge crab or any female crab bearing visible eggs at any time within marine waters. It is not unlawful to catch those crabs unintentionally, if the crabs are immediately returned to the water.

SECTION 5. Section 97-17-58, Mississippi Code of 1972, which establishes penalties for theft of crab pots, is repealed.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2001.

AN ACT TO CREATE CODE SECTION 49-15-92, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR THE THEFT OF CRAB TRAPS; TO PROHIBIT COMMERCIAL CRABBING NORTH OF THE CSX RAILROAD; TO PROVIDE A PENALTY; TO AMEND SECTION 49-15-84, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE RECREATIONAL CRAB TRAPS TO BE ATTACHED TO A FIXED STRUCTURE; TO REPEAL SECTION 97-17-58, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ESTABLISHES PENALTIES FOR THEFT OF CRAB POTS; TO AMEND

SECTION 49-15-86, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR THE LICENSING OF INDIVIDUAL COMMERCIAL CRABBERS; TO DELETE FEE AUTHORIZED FOR RECREATIONAL CRABBERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.