House Bill 1265

(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 49-15-80, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY VESSEL AND INDIVIDUAL HOOK AND LINE FEES, AND TO DELETE REFERENCE TO LENGTH OF CERTAIN NETS; TO AMEND SECTION 49-15-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSION ON MARINE RESOURCES TO REGULATE NETS AND SEINES USED IN COMMERCIAL HARVESTING OF SEAFOOD; TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR SELLING OF FINFISH WITHOUT A LICENSE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 49-15-80, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-15-80. (1) (a) All persons, individuals, corporations, and, if applicable, their vessels to be used in catching or transporting fish in the waters of the State of Mississippi for commercial purposes shall, before beginning operations, obtain an annual license from the commission and pay a license fee according to the following schedule:

(i) All resident vessels engaged in commercial hook and line or gig fishing shall be issued an annual license by the commission at a fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00). All nonresident vessels engaged in commercial hook and line or gig fishing shall be issued an annual license by the commission at a fee of Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00). * * * If a duly licensed commercial hook and line or gig fishing vessel is engaged in commercial fishing, each individual aboard must possess a commercial fisherman license.

(ii) A resident fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or a nonresident fee of Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00), on boats or to persons using trammel nets, gill nets or seines, or any other net approved by commission ordinance or in writing by the Department of Marine Resources. The commission shall have the authority to regulate all types of nets and seines used in the harvest of seafood.

(iii) Each individual engaged in commercial hook and line, or gig fishing must obtain a commercial fisherman license subject to the following fees: One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for a resident commercial fisherman license; or Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00) for a nonresident commercial fisherman license.

(b) A vessel licensed for commercial purposes may be used as a sport fishing vessel provided that:

(i) All persons fishing aboard the vessel have a valid saltwater fishing license in their possession; and

(ii) All statutes, rules, and regulations pertaining to season, size and creel limitations, and other appropriate regulations are followed; and

(iii) No person fishing aboard the vessel is fishing as a licensed commercial fisherman.

(c) Beginning September 15, 1994, no nonresident shall be issued a commercial fishing license under this chapter for the taking of fish using any type of net if that nonresident's state of domicile prohibits the issuing of commercial fishing licenses to residents of this state to engage in like activity.

(2) Each factory or manufacturing establishment engaging in the manufacture of oil, fish scrap, fish meal, fertilizer or other products from menhaden, shall pay a license fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).

(3) Each boat or vessel engaging in the catching, taking or transporting menhaden in the waters of the State of Mississippi, the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and shall pay Fifty Dollars ($50.00) on each net, seine, trawl or purse net used in catching or taking menhaden in the waters of the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 2. Section 49-15-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-15-15. (1) In addition to any other powers and duties authorized by law, the commission shall have the following powers and duties regarding the regulation of seafood:

(a) To exercise full jurisdiction and authority over all marine aquatic life and to regulate any matters pertaining to seafood, including cultivated seafood;

(b) To adopt, promulgate, amend or repeal, after due notice and public hearing, in accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law and subject to the limitations in subsection (2) of this section, rules and regulations authorized under this chapter, including, but not limited to, rules and regulations necessary for the protection, conservation or propagation of all seafood in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi and for the regulation of gill net and purse seine fishermen. All public hearings under this chapter concerning the regulation of marine resources shall be held in Hancock, Harrison or Jackson counties. Each rule or regulation promulgated under this chapter shall immediately be advertised one (1) time in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in counties affected by that regulation. A regulation shall become effective at 6:00 a.m. on the day after its publication;

(c) To regulate all seafood sanitation and processing programs. In the three (3) coastal counties, the sanitation program regulating processing plants and seafood sold in retail stores operating in conjunction with a processing plant or seafood market that primarily deals with seafood is under the exclusive authority of the commission. The commission may also inspect and regulate those areas of any seafood processing plant which process freshwater species at any site where the department inspects seafood processing plants. To effectively and efficiently implement the state seafood sanitation program, the State Health Officer, the Commissioner of Agriculture and the executive director of the department may enter into a memorandum of understanding, which at a minimum, clearly specifies the responsibilities of each agency in implementing the seafood sanitation program, as well as the sharing of information and communication and coordination between the agencies;

(d) To set standards of measure;

(e) To set requirements for employment of commission employees whose compensation shall be governed by the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board;

(f) To acquire and dispose of commission equipment and facilities;

(g) To keep proper records of the commission, including an official ordinance book which contains all rules and regulations promulgated by the commission under this chapter;

(h) To enter into advantageous interstate and intrastate agreements with proper officials, which directly or indirectly result in the protection, propagation and conservation of the seafood of the State of Mississippi, or continue any such agreements now in existence;

(i) To arrange, negotiate or contract for the use of available federal, state and local facilities which would aid in the propagation, protection and conservation of the seafood of the State of Mississippi;

(j) To authorize the operation of double rigs in the waters lying between the mainland coast and the island chain, and those rigs shall not exceed a length of twenty-five (25) feet at the cork line, and to prescribe the length at the lead line for each rig, net or try-trawl;

(k) To destroy or dispose of equipment or nets which have been lawfully seized by the commission and which are not sold under Section 49-15-65;

(l) To open, close and regulate fishing seasons for the taking of shrimp, oysters, fish taken for commercial purposes and crabs and set size, catching and taking regulations for all types of seafood and culling regulations for oysters, except as otherwise specifically provided by law;

(m) To utilize the resources of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory to the fullest extent possible;

(n) To develop a resource management plan to preserve seafood resources and to ensure a safe supply of these resources;

(o) To prescribe types and forms of scientific permits for public educational or scientific institutions, federal and state agencies and consultants performing marine resource studies; (p) To suspend the issuance of licenses when necessary to impose a moratorium to conserve a fishery resource; * * *

(q) To promote, construct, monitor and maintain artificial fishing reefs in the marine waters of the State of Mississippi and in adjacent federal waters; to accept grants and donations of money or materials from public and private sources for such reefs; and to apply for any federal permits necessary for the construction or maintenance of artificial fishing reefs in federal waters; and

(r) To regulate all types of nets and seines used in the harvest of seafood.

(2) The commission shall not adopt rules, regulations or ordinances pertaining to marine resources which are more stringent than federal regulations. In any case where federal laws and regulations are silent on a matter pertaining to marine resources, the laws and regulations of the State of Mississippi shall control. The commission shall review all marine resource ordinances for compliance with the no more stringent standard and revise any ordinances more stringent than this standard no later than December 31, 1992. This subsection shall not apply to rules, regulations or ordinances pertaining to the wild stock of marine finfish.

SECTION 3. (1) Any person selling finfish without a license shall, on conviction, be fined not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), nor more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), for the first offense; not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), nor more than Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), for the second offense, when the second offense is committed within a period of three (3) years from the first offense; and not less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days for any third or subsequent offense when such offense is committed within a period of three (3) years from the first offense.

(2) Any person convicted under this section shall not be considered for a reduction of sentence.

(3) Any fine collected under this section shall be paid into the Seafood Fund.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.