An Act To Create a Nonresident Lobster and Crab Landing Permit
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0311
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: WHEELER
Amends: 12 MRSA §6402, 12 MRSA §6402-B, 12 MRSA §6404, 12 MRSA §6421, 12 MRSA §6431-A, 12 MRSA §6432, 12 MRSA §6434, 12 MRSA §6446, 12 MRSA §6455

Legislative Document 
No. 311 
H.P.255 
House of Representatives, January 19,2007 
An Act To Create a Nonresident Lobster and Crab Landing Permit 
Submitted by the Department of Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative WHEELER of Kittery. 
'!r/~ frl· 7l!tlC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6402, first.,-r, as amended by PL 1993, c. 543, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
The commissioner shall suspend the lobster and crab fishing license of a license 
holder or the nonresident lobster and crab landing permit of a permit holder convicted in 
court of violating section 6434. This suspension is for 3 years from the date of conviction. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6402-B, first .,-r, as amended by PL 1995, c. 315, § 1 , is further 
amended to read: 
NotwIthstanding section 6401, subsection 2, the commISSIoner shall suspend the 
lobster and crab fishing license of any license holder or the nonresident lobster and crab 
landing permit of a permit holder convicted of a 2nd or subsequent offense of possessing 
a lobster smaller than the minimum size established in section 6431, subsection 1 if the 
conviction of the 2nd or subsequent offense involved possession of 3 or more lobsters 
smaller than that minimum size. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6404, as amended by PL 1995, c. 468, §2, is further amended 
to read: 
§6404. Suspension based on conviction of scrubbing lobsters 
The commissioner shall suspend the lobster and crab fishing license, wholesale 
seafood license and the commercial fishing license of any license holder or the 
nonresident lobster and crab landing permit of a permit holder convicted in court of 
violating section 6438-A. The suspension must be for one year from the date of 
conviction. 
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§I, .,-rF, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. F, §8 
and affected by Pt. X, §2, is amended to read: 
F. 
Noncommercial lobster and crab fishing license; ef 
Sec. 5. 12 MRS A §6421, sub-§I, .,-rF-l is enacted to read: 
F-l. Nonresident lobster and crab landing permit; or 
Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§2-B is enacted to read: 
2-B. Licensed activity; nonresident lobster and crab landing permit. The holder 
of a nonresident lobster and crab landing permit may possess and sell within the State 
lobsters or crabs the license holder has taken from outside Maine's territorial waters. The 
permit does not authorize the permit holder to remove lobster meat from the shell or to 
take, possess, transport or ship lobster parts or meat. 
Sec. 7. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§5-D is enacted to read: 
Page I - U3LR06S4(OI)-1 
5-D. Nonresident lobster and crab landing permit eligibility. A nonresident 
lobster and crab landing permit may be issued only to an individual who: 
A. Does not meet the resident provisions under section 6301, subsection 1; 
B. Possesses a valid federal lobster permit or a valid lobster fishing license from a 
state other than this State; and 
C. Except as authorized under subsection 5-E, does not operate a lobster and crab 
fishing vessel with an established base of operations in this State. 
Sec. 8. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§5-E is enacted to read: 
5-E. 
Exception; nonresident lobster and crab landing permit with an 
established base of operations in State. 
An individual may be excepted from 
subsection 5-D, paragraph C as long as the individual submits documentation to the 
commissioner by December 31, 2007 that the individual operated a lobster and crab 
fishing vessel with an established base of operations in the State as a nonresident in 
calendar years 2006 and 2007. Documentation must include at a minimum proof of 
lobster landings at a Maine dealer, proof of utilization of a mooring or dock in a Maine 
harbor for a sufficient time to meet the requirements to be an established base of 
operations in this State pursuant to Title 12, section 6001, subsection 13-1, proof that the 
individual possessed a valid federal lobster permit or a valid lobster fishing license from a 
state other than this State and proof that the individual did not meet the resident 
provisions under section 6301, subsection 1. 
Sec. 9. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§7-A, ~G, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 
354, §2, is amended to read: 
G. 
Fifty-six dollars for a student lobster and crab fishing license; aOO 
Sec. 10. 12 MRS A §6421, sub-§7-A, ~H, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, 
c. 354, §2, is amended to read: 
H. 
Fifty-six dollars for a noncommercial lobster and crab fishing license7; and 
Sec. 11. 12 MRSA §6421, sub-§7-A, ~I is enacted to read: 
I. Two thousand forty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents for a nonresident lobster 
and crab landing permit. 
Sec. 12. 12 MRS A §6421, sub-§10 is enacted to read: 
10. Rules. The commissioner may establish by rule procedures to implement this 
section. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined 
in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 13. 12 MRSA §6431-A, sub-§1, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 
187, §1, is amended to read: 
1. Limit. Before March 1, 2000, the holder of a Class I, Class II or Class III license 
issued under section 6421 may not submerge more than 1,000 traps. After February 29, 
., 
2000, the holder of a Class I, Class II or Class III license or a nonresident lobster and crab 
landing permit issued under section 6421 may not submerge more than 800 traps. If a 
lower trap limit is adopted by rule for a zone pursuant to section 6446, a license holder 
who fishes in that zone may not submerge a number of traps that exceeds the lower limit. 
The number of traps fished from a vessel may not exceed the applicable trap limit 
established in this subsection, regardless of the number of license holders fishing from 
that vessel. 
Sec. 14. 12 MRS A §6431-B, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. WW, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
§6431-B. Tag system 
., 
By March 1, 1996, the The commissioner shall establish by rule a lobster trap tag 
system under which lobster and crab fishing license holders and nonresident lobster and 
crab landing permit holders must purchase tags for the purpose of identifying and 
tracking traps. 
The rules must contain provisions for replacing lost tags. 
The 
commissioner may impose a per-tag fee to cover the cost of trap tags, the costs of 
administering and enforcing a lobster trap tag system, the costs of management of the 
lobster fishery and the costs associated with lobster management policy councils and 
referenda pursuant to section 6447. Trap tag fees must be deposited in the Lobster 
Management Fund established under section 6431-C. 
Sec. 15. 12 MRSA §6432, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 661, §5, is amended 
to read: 
2. Marking. It shall be i§ unlawful to set, raise, lift or transfer any lobster trap or 
buoy unless it is clearly marked with the owner's lobster and crab fishing license number 
or the owner's nonresident lobster and crab landing permit number. 
Sec. 16. 12 MRSA §6434, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2003, c. 520, §5, is further 
amended to read: 
4. 
Additional penalty. If the holder of a lobster and crab fishing license or a 
nonresident lobster and crab landing permit violates this section by cutting a lobster trap 
line, the court shall: 
A. 
Order that person to pay to the owner of the trap line that was cut an amount 
equal to twice the replacement value of all traps lost as a result of that cutting; and 
B. 
Direct that person to provide proof of payment of that restitution to the 
commissioner as required by section 6402, subsection 1. 
A penalty imposed under this subsection is in addition to any penalty imposed under 
section 6204. 
Sec. 17. 12 MRSA §6446, sub-§I-A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 239, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
I-A. Declared lobster zone; authorized zones. On an application for a Class I, 
Class II, Class III or noncommercial lobster and crab fishing license or a nonresident 
lobster and crab landing pennit, a person shall declare the lobster management zone in 
which that person proposes to fish a majority of that person's lobster traps and shall list all 
other zones in which that person proposes to fish any of that person's lobster traps. A 
Class I, Class II, Class III or noncommercial lobster and crab fishing license or a 
nonresident lobster and crab landing pennit must identify the declared lobster zone in 
which the person is authorized to fish a majority of that person's lobster traps and must 
identify all other zones in which a person is authorized to fish that person's traps. A 
person may not place any lobster traps in a zone that is not identified on that person's 
license. For the purposes of this subsection, the majority of a person's lobster traps must 
be determined from the number of trap tags issued to that person. 
Sec. 18. 12 MRSA §6455, sub-§5, ~D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 226, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
D. 
Wholesale seafood licenses with lobster permits, $250; iffid 
Sec. 19. 12 MRS A §6455, sub-§5, ~E, as amended by PL 2001, c. 226, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
E. 
Lobster transportation licenses, $250~; and 
Sec. 20. 12 MRSA §6455, sub-§5, ~F is enacted to read: 
F. Nonresident lobster and crab landing pennits, $93.75. 
SUMMARY 
This bill creates a new pennit that allows nonresident lobster fishermen to land their 
catch in a Maine port.