E ENElZAL 

June 10, 1960 

Honorable H. D. Dodgen 

Executive Secretary 

Game & Fish Commission 

Austin, Texas Opinion No. WW - 846 

Be: Under the provisions of 

Article hO75b, V.A.C.S., 

as amended, is the Game 

and Fish Commission required to issue a Commercial 

Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat license 

to any person who, for a 

valid reason, was unable or 

failed to make application 

during the months of January 

& February? 

Dear Mr. Dodgen: 

You requested the opinion of this Department in a letter in which 

two question6 were posed: 

"(1) Is the Game and Fish Commission required 

to issue Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat licenses to persons 

requesting to buy said licenses prior to the months 

of January and February who failed to make the required remittance and renew the application during 

the months of January and February? 

"(2) Is the Game and Fish Commission required 

to issue a Commercial Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat license to 

any person who, for valid reason, was unable to or 

failed to make application during the months of 

January and February?" 

House Bill 12, Chapter 187, Acts of the 56th Legislature, Regular 

Session, 1959, now found in Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas as 

Article 4075b, provides in part as follows: 
Honorable H. D. Dodgen, Page 2. (ww - 846) 

"Sec. 5. It shall be unlawful for any Commercial 

Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat to be used for the purpose of 

taking or catching, or assisting in taking or catching, 

shrimp from the inside waters of Texas, without the 

owner thereof having first procured a license, to be 

known as a Commercial Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat License, 

from the Commission privileging such boat to be so used 

within the inside waters of Texas. The fee for a Commercial Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat License shall be Thirty Dollars ($3X?) and such License shall be issued for a period 

of one (1) year and shall expire March 1st of the year 

following the date of issuance, and shall be secured 

from and issued by the Commission only during the months 

of January and February of each year; the License shall 

include the right to use, operate and tow within the inside waters of this State all shrimp trawls with which 

said boat is equipped, the use of which is not otherwise 

prohibited by Law, without the payment of any additional 

trawl license whatsoever, and said boat shall not be 

required to also have a "Commercial Fishing Boat License" 

as provided by Section 3 of Chapter 68 of the Acts of the 

Fifty-first Legislature of Texas, Regular Session, 1949, 

or other Statutes of this State; but the captain and each 

member of the crew of said boat shall be required to have 

a Commercial Fisherman's License issued by the Commission, 

and said boat shall be required to be licensed as a Commercial Gulf Shrimp Boat in order to operate \<it.hin the outside waters of this State; the Commercial Bag-8it Shrimp 

Boat License shall be a metal or plastic sigc or emblem, 

of prescribed and uniform character and of a different 

color or design for each year, at least thirty-t,iro (32) 

square inches in size, of a distinguishable character, 

color snd design different from the emblem required of a 

Commercial Gulf Shrimp Boat, issued by the Commission, 

and shall be prominently displayed on the bow, outside 

of the wheelhouse, or at other designated point on the 

outside of said boat as specified hy said Commission and 

on each side of said boat, evidencing the payment of such 

Boat License." (Emphasis added.) 

In granting a license, the Legislature is merely granting a privilege 

and not a property right and the Legislature baas the authority to deny the 

granting of any license whatever. Obviously, the legislative intent, as 

evidenced in Article 4075b, should be directed for the purposes of conseming and protecting the shrimp resources of the State from depletion and 
Honorable H. D. Dodgen, Page 3, (NW - 846) 

waste and to achieve fair, impartial, and uniform law enforcement. 

The Legislature has enacted many laws limiting the time in 

which a license might be issued or a claim might be prosecuted, such 

as a claim for refund of tax on motor fuel provided in Article 70658, 

V.A.C.S. This Department has written numerous opinions relating to 

the subject of Legislative authority to limit the time. Some of such 

opinions may be cited as: NO. V-721, NO. 0-3850, and NO. o-223. In 

such opinions it has been consistently held by this Department that 

the privileges granted and affixed by law are strictly construed, and 

the time limit provided therein shall be maintained, and the time for 

the granting of such privileges shall be strictly enforced. The Legislature has clearly stated a limitation for the issuance of such a 

license & during the months of January and February of each year. 

In determining the intent of the Legislature, the particular 

meaning depends upon, and must be de-:ermined by, the context and subject 

matter. One of the primary and settled rules of construction is that 

words in common use, when contained in a statute, will be read according 

to their natural ordinary and popular meaning, unless the contrary intent is clearly apparent from the context, or unless there is some necessity, in a particular case, for adopting a different construction. 

The ordinary significance shall be applied to words, and similar provisions are found in the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. 

"When the language of a statute is unambiguous, a 

court is not justified in departing from the commonly 

accepted meaning of words found therein, for reasons of 

public policy, or because of the consequences of a construction that observe the conventional meaning of such 

words. 

"In particular, words used in a penal statute 

should not be broadened or extended beyond their ordinary meaning. But, this, of course, does not preclude a court from taking into consideration the context and the subject matter of the statute." (39 Tex. 

Jur. 197,198) 

Answering your two questions submitted, and basing our answers on 

the principles hereinabove discussed, it is the opinion of this Department that the Game and Fish Commission is without authority to issue a 

Bay-Bait Shrimp Boat license to any person except during the months of 

January and February. Due diligence upon the part of the license 

applicant is required by law, and one who has failed to apply in accordance with the provisions of law is not entitled to a license, and the 

Game and Fish Commission has no authority to make exceptions to the law. 
- . 

Honorable H. D. Dodgen, Page 4. (ww - 846) 

However, it is the opinion of this Department that if a person 

applies fpr a license and remits his money therefor prior to the first 

of January that the Commission should hold the same in suspense until 

after the first of January and then issue such license, the issuance 

of which is prohibited except during the months of January and February. 

The good faith of the applicant and his diligence in applying is recognized and the license should issue during the proper months. 

SJMMARY 

The Game and Fish Commission is not 

required, nor does it have the authority 

to, issue a Commercial Bay-&it Shrimp 

Boat license to any person except during 

the months of January and February. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

By: 

Harris Toler 

Assistant 

BT:ca 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE: 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

John Reeves 

Charles Cabaniss 

Mary K. Wall 

B. H. Timmins 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: 

Leonard Passmore