An Act To Protect the Long-term Viability of Island Lobster Fishing Communities
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1231
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: PINGREE, DAMON, EATON, KRUGER, PERCY, STRANG BURGESS, RECTOR
Amends: 12 MRSA §6448, 12 MRSA §6449

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAINE LEGISLATU 
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Legislative Document 
No. 1231 
H.P.851 
House of Representatives, March 26,2009 
An Act To Protect the Long-term Viability of Island Lobster Fishing 
Communities 
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Speaker PINGREE of North Haven. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Senator DAMON of Hancock and 
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Representatives: EATON of Sullivan, :FLEMINGS of Bar Harbor, KRUGER of Thomaston, 
McKANE of Newcastle, PERCY of Phippsburg, STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland, 
STUCKEY ofPOliland, Senator: RECTOR of Knox. 
Primed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by thePeopJe of the State of Maine as follows: 
_ Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6448, sub-§8, &JlE is enacted to read: 
E. 
Notwithstanding section 6447, subsecti0l1 5-C, a person who has either 
successfully completed the reqliin~mentsof the apprentice ·program under section 
6422 or 6475 or held a Class 1, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license in 
the previous calendar year and who has registered to enter an established island 
license management area as uescribed under section 6449 may declare as that 
person's declared lobster zone the zone in which the island license management area 
is located when the person becomes eligible to enter the island license management 
area. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6449 is enacted to read: 
§6449. Island license management areas 
1. Proposal to commissioner. A person who is issued a Class I, Class II or Class III 
lobster and crab fishing license who is a resident on an island in the coastal waters with a 
year-round community that is not connected to the mainland by any artificial structure 
may propose to the commissioner the establislunertt of a limited-entry zone program for 
the island. The purpose of the limited-entry zone program for the island is to maintain a 
number of licenses appropriate for the needs of the island community and the local 
lobster resource. 
2; 
Petition. 
In order for an island lobster fishing community to petition the 
commissioner for the establishment of an island limited-entry zone program, a minimum 
of either 5 Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license holders or 10% of 
the Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license holders, whichever is 
greater, must sign the petition submitted to the commissioner. If 2/3 of the Class I, Class 
II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license holders voting in -a referendum held 
pursuant to section 6447, subsection 6 support the establislunent of an island limited-
entry zone program, the commissioner may adopt rules to establish such a system, 
including an island license waiting list. Before establishing ·or amending the number of 
licenses available to island residents, the commissioner shall determine the number of 
licenses preferred by 2/3 of the _ Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing 
license holders resident on the island. The commissioner may accept the preferences-
proposed by 2/3 of the license holders as reasonable and adopt those preferences or reject 
the preferences as unreasonable. - The commissioner shall consult with the lobster 
management policy council for the lobster management zone in which the island is 
located before making the decision. 
3. No longer resident. An individual who obtaihs a Class I, Class II or Class III 
lobster and crab fishing license through an island limited-entry zone program but who no 
longer wishes to maintain residency on the island is subject to the following-
requirements. 
A. A person who held a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license 
and maintained residency on the island for a period of not less than 5 years and who 
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can document to the commissioner that the person harvested lobsters in each of the 5 
years may end the person's residency on the island and fish elsewhere in the lobster 
management zone in which the island is located without going on a waiting list as 
established in section 6448. 
B. A person who has maintained residency on the island for less than 5 years or who 
has maintained residency on the island for at least 5 years but call110t document to the 
conmlissioner that the person harvested lobsters in each of the 5 years may end the 
person's residency on the island and become eligible to fish elsewhere in the lobster 
management zone in which the island is located if that· person complies· with the 
waiting list requirement established in accordance with section 6448. 
. 4. Rules. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement the island limited-entry 
zone program. The rules must in.elude a definition of residency on an island. Rules 
adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
The purpose of this bill is to protect the long-term viability of island ·lo·bster fishing 
communities by creating limited-entry zone programs for islands in the coastal waters 
with year-round communities. 
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