OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

.‘ionorable 3, D. Dodgen 

Exeoutive SeoretaryGaae , Z’leh and Oyster Co,~ission 

Austin, Texaa 

opinion KO. o-7457 

Authority of th 

Zish and Oyater 

fied as Art101 

question you s 

ertain c_uestions 

fishermn and 

9, 46 Leg., p. 238, 

, ch. 55, and oodid Ienal Code, The 

he above mentioned 

nnd Oyster Con&sfuse to issue a i,onemah’s iicensa or a 

Fishing 3oat License 

ate Of Louisiana viheh 

is mde for either or both. of such 

mGuired fee offered in paynent’?W 

ion calls for a ooinpariaon of the provisions 

with the oorresponding provisions of the 

1946, i:OE. 

s, es shown by the newspaper copies of Acts 

78 and 210, of the Louisiana Legislature, furnished 

to you by Iion. Isaac Chapman of the Louisiana Departmnt of 

h~ildlife and Fisheries, which copies we assuL:e to be correct. 
Hon. E. D. Dodgen, page 2 

Our Artiole 934b-1 prohlbits (Sea. 3) any non-resident 

coinmtilal risherman rrom taking or aesisting in taking any 

fish or shrbap or oysterr or any other edible aquatio life 

from the tidal salt waters of this State without first procurihg a Non-Resident Comeroial Piehermnls License, and 

prohibits (Sea, 4) the, use of a non-resident .oomneroial 

fishing boat for the same purpoaea, or any of them, without 

firat proourlng a Ron-Resident Cosmeroial Biehiug Boat License. 

Sea. 5 of said Article provides: 

“The &use, Fish and Oyster Comnlssion of T6Xam, 

or its authorized agent or agents, shall have the 

right and authority to refuse to sell or grant any 

suoh Ron-resident Comaroial Fishernsn*e Lioense or 

Non-resident Comeroial Fishing Boat License to the 

residents of any State that nay now or hereafter 

refuse to sell or grant equal privileges or lioensss 

to the oitizens of this~ State.” 

The olted acts of Louisiana, whioh relate to the taking of 

shrimp and oysterm, oontain substantielly similar provieions. 

But an important differehoe between the regulations of the two 

states appears when we oonsider the territory in whldh eaoh 

permits non-residents to engage in oomaarolnl fishing for 

shrimp and ‘oysters. 

Sea, 6 of our Article 934b-1 provideat 

“The licensed comneroial fiahermn, resident or 

non-resident, uiay fish ooamercially in the ooestal 

wate’r6 bounded on the east by a Line drawn from the 

center of Sablne Pass, outting aorosa the li;ast Sabine 

Jetty at a point two thousand (2,000) feet north of 

the present fishing pier known aa the Jaycee pier, and 

extending three (3) marine leagues into the Gulf of 

Xsxioo, following along the coast line of T6xaa to the 

present acknowledged boundary between the State of 

Texas aad the Republlo of Mexloo.” 

Thus It is seen that in Texas a non-resident, rhen licensed, 

has the sam privileges, aa to the territory in which he nay engage in ooameroial fishing, aa the resident oommerolel fishernan. 

Not so in Louisiana, Act No. 78 of 1946 (Sec. 4, amending Sea. 10 

of Aot lie. 143 of 1942) restriots the shrimping operations of nonresident oomeroial f iehermen, and non-resident oomeroial f ishihg 
Aonorable EL D. Dod@n, paga 3 

boats, to a relatively mall area F,rst or the 3Jissiraippi Rlwr, 

lesviug the Whole or the tidal waters from the Xisaisrippi afvsr 

Tieat to the Texas border (ah air-lina diatahce of som 300 miles) 

aa *restricted tidal watars of the Stat6 of Louisiana,* in which 

only bona fide residents of Louislana rta’ fish for ehrlxp far 

oomercial gurpoaes. Aot No. 210 of 1946 oonta.iha the aamv 

territorial restriotion :aa to the taking of both shrFap and 

oystera by lioenaed non-resident oo;llaeroial 9ieheraen and fishing 

boatr. 

Thus the State of Louisiana refuses to sell or grant privilseoa or lloenaea to the aitlzens of this bfate equal to those 

granted to non-residenta by tha State of ilsxas radar our ijonZesfdent Oomarcial ~ishamants aEd lion-im8ideut CorPmsroia~ 

Fishing 9oat Lioenaea. 

It is therefore our opinion that the Gam, Plah and Oyster 

Comisrlon or Texas has the right and authority to rsfuee to iseue 

either a &oh-kesideat iomeroial Slishar.mhls iiaehs,d, or 6 KMiIe side& Commroial Fishihg Joa t iioeme , or both, ta a resident 

of Loulsiaha wheu agplioc,tion is DDE therrsfor ahd tkm reqJircd 

fee offered in payment. 

The clippings froa the Saton 20uza state-TIma, containing 

the oited Louisiana s~tatutes, aTa returned herewith. 

N-7