An Act to Limit Lobster Management Zones to State Coastal Waters
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0207
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: PERCY
Amends: 12 MRSA §6446

Legislative Document 
No. 207 
H.P.166 
House of Representatives, January 21, 2003 
An Act to Limit Lobster Management Zones to State Coastal 
Waters 
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative PERCY of Phippsburg. 
Printed on recycled oaoer 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6446, sub-§ 1, as enac ted by PL 1995, c . 468, 
§S, is amended to read: 
1. 
Establishment of zones. 
The commissioner may establish 
by rule zones to facilitate local or regional management of 
lobster fishery efforts. 
A lobster management 
zone 
may 
not 
extend beyond the 3-mile nautical line as 
shown on National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nautical charts. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6446, sub-§1-A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 
508, §l, is amended to read: 
I-A. Declared lobster zone. 
A person shall declare on an 
application for a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab 
fishing license the lobster management zone in which that person 
proposes to fish a majority of that person's lobster traps. 
A 
license must identify the zone in which the person is authorized 
to fish a majority of that person's lobster traps. 
When fishing 
beyond the 3-mile nautical line, a license holder is not limited 
to fishing a majority of that person's traps within that person's 
declared lobster management zone. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6446, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 468, 
§8, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
3. Application of zone rules. 
Rules adopted for 
a 
zone 
pursuant to subsection 2 apply to a person who holds a license 
under section 6421 and who fishes for lobsters in more than one 
zone as follows. 
A. 
When fishing inside the 3-mile nautical line, a license 
holder is subject to the most restrictive rules regarding 
the number of lobster traps allowed on a trawl and the time 
of day when lobster fishing may occur adopted for any zone 
in which the license holder fishes. 
When fishing beyond the 
3-mile nautical line, a license holder is not subject to 
those rules. 
B. When fishing inside the 3-mile nautical line, a license 
holder is subject to the most restrictive rules regarding 
the number of lobster traps fished and the time periods 
allowed for complying with that number adopted for any zone 
in which the license holder fishes. 
When fishing beyond the 
3-mile nautical line, a license holder is subject to the 
rules adopted for the zone declared by the license holder as 
the zone in which the person fishes 
a majority of that 
person's lobster traps. 
Page l-LR0522(1) 
r 
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "3-mile nautical 
line" means the 3-mile nautical line as shown on National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration nautical charts. 
SUMMARY 
This bill limits lobster management 
zones to the 3-mile 
nautical line as described on nautical charts. 
A lobster license 
holder will not be required to fish a majority of that 
traps within the license holder's declared lobster 
zone when fishing beyond the 3-mile nautical line. 
person's 
management 
A license holder will be subject to the most restrictive 
rules regarding the number of lobster traps allowed on a trawl 
and the time of day when lobster fishing may occur adopted for 
any zone in which the license holder fishes only when fishing 
inside the 
3-mile nautical line. 
A license holder will 
be 
subject to the most restrictive rules regarding the number of 
lobster traps fished adopted for any zone in which the license 
holder fishes when that license holder is fishing inside the 
3-mile nautical line and will be subject to the rules for the 
license holder's own zone when fishing beyond the 3-mi1e nautical 
line.