An Act To Address the Constitutionality of Maine's Resident-only Lobster License
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1421
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: DUPLESSIE
Amends: 12 MRSA §6421, 12 MRSA §6451

Legislative Document 
No. 1421 
H.P.985 
House of Representatives, March 22,2005 
An Act To Address the Constitutionality of Maine's Resident-only 
Lobster License 
Submitted by the Department of Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative DUPLESSIE of Westbrook. 
Printed on recycled paper 
I!/~ 
/J?1lldC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
~ 
1. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§5, as corrected by RR 2001, c. 2, 
Pt. A, 
§~14 ~nd 15, is amended to read: 
5. 
Eligibility. 
A 
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app~eR~ieeT noncommercial or student lobster and crab fishing 
license may only be issued to an individual who is a resident. 
A 
Class I, Class II or Class III license may be issued to a person 
only if the person: 
A. 
Possessed a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and 
crab fishing license in the previous calendar year; 
C. 
Meets the requirements of the apprentice program under 
section 6422 or section 6475; or 
D. 
Did not possess a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster 
and 
crab fishing license in the 
previous 
calendar year 
because the commissioner had suspended the person's license 
privileges for a length of time that included the previous 
calendar year. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRS A §6421, sub-§7-A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, 
Pt. WW, §2, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
7-A. 
Fee. 
Except as provided in subsection 8, the fee for 
the license is: 
A. 
Fifty-six dollars for a 
resident Class 
I 
license for 
applicants under 18 years of age; 
A-I. 
Three hundred and thirty-six dollars for a nonresident 
Class I license for applicants under 18 years of age; 
8. 
One hundred and thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents 
for a resident Class I 
license for applicants 18 years of 
age or older: 
8-1. 
Six hundred and eighty-two dollars and seventy-five 
cents for a nonresident Class 
I 
license for applicants 18 
years of age or older; 
C. 
Two hundred twenty-eight dollars and fifty cents for a 
resident Class II license; 
C-1. 
Thirteen hundred seventy-one dollars and fifty cents 
for a nonresident Class II license; 
Page l-LR0631(1) 
D. 
Three hundred forty-one dollars and twenty-five cents 
for a resident Class III license; 
D-l. 
Two thousand forty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents 
for a nonresident Class III license: 
E. 
Fifty-six dollars for a resident apprentice lobster and 
crab fishing license for applicants under 18 years of age: 
E-l. 
Three hundred thirty-six dollars for 
a 
nonresident 
apprentice lobster and crab fishing license for applicants 
under 18 years of age; 
F. 
One 
hundred 
and 
fourteen 
dollars 
for 
a 
resident 
apprentice lobster and crab fishing license for applicants 
years of age or older; 
F-1. 
Six hundred and eighty-two dollars and seventy-five 
cents for a nonresident apprentice lobster and crab fishing 
license for applicants 18 years of age or older; 
G. 
Fifty-six dollars for a student lobster and crab fishing 
license: and 
H. 
Fifty-six dollars for a noncommercial lobster and crab 
fishing license. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6451. sub-§I, as amended by PL 2003, c. 520, 
§6, is further amended to read: 
1. 
A11ocation of 1icense fees. 
Ten dollars of each $113.75 
fee, $10 of each $114 fee, $20 of each $228.50 fee, $30 of each 
$341. 25 fee, $30 of each $336 fee, $60 of each $682.75 fee, $120 
of each $1,371.50 fee, $180 of each $2,047.25 fee and $5 of each 
$56 
fee 
for 
each lobster 
and 
crab 
fishing 
license 
must 
be 
allocated to the Lobster 
Fund, 
which 
must be 
used for 
the 
purposes of lobster biology research, of propagation of lobsters 
by liberating seed lobsters and female lobsters in Maine coastal 
waters and of establishing and supporting lobster hatcheries. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
creates 
new 
types 
of 
lobster 
licenses: 
nonresident Class I, nonresident Class II, nonresident Class III 
and nonresident apprentice. 
In order 
to 
become eligible to 
obtain a nonresident Class I, II or III license, an individual 
would have to meet the requirements of the apprenticeship program 
under 
the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 12, 
section 6422 
or 
section 6475.