An Act To Allow Lobster License Exemptions to Persons with Certain Medical Criteria
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1009
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: PINGREE
Amends: 12 MRSA §6310, 12 MRSA §6421

Legislative DocumeIit 
No. 1009 
H.P.697 
House of Representatives, March 12,2009 
An Act To Allow Lobster License Exemptions to Persons with 
Certain Medical Criteria 
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed . 
Presented by Speaker PINGREE of North Haven. 
Cosponsored by SenatOr DAMON of Hancock. 
Print~tJ on rct:yd~tI p:lpt::r 
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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 §6310, sub-§2, ~A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 643, § 1, IS 
amended to read: 
A. A Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license may be issued to a 
person on appeal only if: 
(1)' A substantial illness or medical condition on the part of the person or a 
family member prevented that person from meeting the eligibility requirements 
for a license in 1997, 1998 or 1999, and the person documents that the person 
harvested lobsters while in possession of a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster 
and crab fishing license within one year prior to the onset of the illness or 
medical condition. 
The person shall provide the commissioner with 
documentation from a physician describing the illness or other medical condition. 
A 'person may not request an appeal under this subparagraph after December 31, 
2001; 
(2) A substantial illness or medical condition on the part of the person or a 
family member prevented that person from meeting the eligibility requirements 
for a license in licensing year 2000 or in subsequent years, and the person 
documents that the person harvested lobsters while in possession of a Class I, 
Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license within one year prior to the 
onset of the illness or medical condition. 
The person shall provide the 
comm.issioner with documentation from a physician describing the illness or 
other medical condition. 'A person must request an appeal under ,this 
subparagraph within one year of the onset of the illness or medical condition; or' 
(3) Service in the United States Armed Forces or the United States Coast Guard 
precluded that person from participating in the lobster fishery and meeting the 
eligibility requirements for a license, and the person documents that the person 
harvested lobsters while in possession of a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster 
, and crab fishing license within one year prior to entering the service. The person 
may not have served for more than 6 consecutive years since the most recent year 
in which the person 'held a license, and the person must· have been honorably 
discharged from service. 
A person must request an appeal under this 
subparagraph within one year of discharge from service. 
Sec. '2. 12 MRSA §6421, sulb-§5, ~A, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 
250, § 1 and affected by § 10, is amended to read: 
A. Possessed a Class I, Class II or Class III lobster and crab fishing license in the 
previous calendar year or fulfills the requirements of section 6310, subsection 2, 
paragraph A. subparagraph (2); 
SUMMARY 
Current law requires that to be eligible fora lobster license, a person must have had a 
lobster license in the previous year. An appeal of a denial of a license can be made to the 
Commissioner of Conservation if the person did not have a license in the previous year 
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due to an illness or medical condition. This bill strikes the language that requires a 
person to have had a license and make the appeal within· one year of the onset of the 
illness or medical condition.