Resolve, Directing the Commissioner of Marine Resources To Review the Issues Associated with the Issuance of a Nonresident Lobster License
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1955

Legislative Document 
No. 1955 
H.P.1455 
House of Representatives, April 1, 2004 
Resolve, Directing the Commissioner of Marine Resources To 
Review the Issues Associated with the Issuance of a Nonresident 
Lobster License 
Reported by Representative BULL of Freeport for the Committee on Marine Resources 
pursuant to Joint Order 2003, H.P. 1448. 
Printed on recycled paper 
1J1~ 
1J7.11!~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Sec. 1. Review of issues. Resolved: 
That the Commissioner of 
Marine Resources shall review the issues concerning the issuance 
of nonresident lobster· licenses in light of the September 30, 
2003 decision by the Utiited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd 
Circuit in the case Voloyar, 
et ale 
V. 
Cahill, et ale 
In 
conducting the review, the commissioner shall consult with the 
Office of the Attorney General and may solicit input from other 
affected state or municipal entities and interested parties. 
The 
commissioner shall address the following issues: 
1. 
Whether Maine's lobster license laws might be subject to 
a constitutional challenge similar to that raised in Volovar, et 
ale v. Cahill, et al., Docket #01-7325; 
2. 
Liability issues, including whether the individual state 
officials 
charged 
with 
upholding 
Maine's 
current 
lobster 
licensing 
laws 
are 
vulnerable 
to 
lawsuit 
in their 
personal 
capacities for purposes of monetary damages; and 
3. 
The 
ramifications 
of 
extending lobster 
licenses 
to 
nonresidents and methods by which to mitigate any adverse impact 
of such a change in the law. 
Sec. 2. Recommendations; report. Resolved: 
That no later than 
November 
3, 
2004 
the 
Commissioner 
of Marine 
Resources 
shall 
submit the commissioner's report and recommendations, 
together 
with any necessary implementing legislation, for consideration by 
the 
First 
Regular 
Session 
of 
the 
122nd 
Legislature. 
The 
commissioner is authorized to introduce a bill related to the 
report to the First Regular Session of the 122nd Legislature. 
SUMMARY 
The United States Court of Appeals 
for the 
2nd Circuit 
recently found that New York's nonresident lobster law, 
which 
restricted the areas in which nonresidents could take and land 
lobsters, 
discriminated against nonresidents 
and violated the 
privileges and immunities clause of Article IV of the United 
States Constitution. 
The court then enjoined enforcement of that 
New York law and considered whether to uphold the lower court's 
finding that individual New York state officials who were charged 
with upholding the law were personally liable for purposes of 
obtaining monetary damages. 
This resolve directs the Commissioner of Marine Resources to 
review the issues concerning the issuance of nonresident lobster 
licenses in light of that finding and to specifically consider 
whether Maine's 
lobster license 
laws 
might 
be 
subject 
to 
a 
Page l-LR2866 (1) 
similar constitutional challenge, whether the individual state 
officials 
charged 
with 
upholding 
Maine's 
current 
lobster 
licensing 
laws 
are 
vulnerable 
to 
lawsuit 
in their personal 
capacities for purposes of monetary damages, the ramifications of 
extending lobster licenses to nonresidents and methods by which 
to mitigate any adverse impact of such a change in the law.