An Act To Allow Certain Wholesale Seafood Dealers To Process Imported Lobsters
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1547
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: SNOWE-MELLO, WEAVER
Amends: 12 MRSA §6431, 12 MRSA §6851-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1547 
S.P. 494 
In Senate, May 5, 2011 
An Act To Allow Certain Wholesale Seafood Dealers To Process 
Imported Lobsters 
(AFTER DEADLINE) 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205. 
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator SNOWE-MELLO of Androscoggin. 
Cosponsored by Representative WEAVER of York. 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the Maine lobster processing season begins on or about May 1st; and 
Whereas, that Maine wholesale seafood licensees with lobster permits are currently 
not allowed to perform certain activities puts them at a competitive disadvantage in 
relation to Canadian lobster processors and impairs their ability to open new markets for 
Maine lobster and to create new job opportunities for Maine workers; and 
Whereas, this legislation eliminates the restrictions and it is important that this 
legislation take effect immediately so that business in this State is improved in the 
upcoming lobster season; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §6431, sub-§6, as repealed and replaced by PL 1987, c. 513, 
§4, is amended to read: 
6.  Exception; wholesale seafood dealer with lobster permit; rules.  This section 
shall does not apply to live lobsters imported intact in the original crates by a holder of a 
wholesale seafood license with a lobster permit to another wholesale seafood license 
holder with a lobster permit if the crates containers are sealed in accordance with 
regulations rules adopted by the commissioner; or to imported lobsters being shipped or 
transported out-of-state if they are in containers sealed in accordance with regulations 
rules adopted by the commissioner.  The commissioner may adopt or amend regulations 
rules to prescribe the time, manner and method of sealing crates or containers for the 
effective operation of this subsection.  The regulations rules may contain a requirement 
for a special permit and provisions for inspection of the crates, containers, contents and 
seals. 
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §6431, sub-§6-B is enacted to read: 
6-B.  Exception; lobster processing; rules.  A person who holds both a wholesale 
seafood license with a lobster permit and a lobster processor license and who possesses 
lobster in accordance with subsection 6 may process those imported lobsters in 
accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner, as long as the following criteria are 
met: 
A.  The lobsters are not harvested or landed in this State; 
B.  The lobsters are legal in the waters from which they were harvested; and 
C.  The lobsters are not less than the minimum size established in this section. 
Lobster tails processed under this subsection may not be offered for sale within this State 
in the wholesale or retail trade.  Lobster meat processed from the claws and knuckles may 
be sold within this State in the wholesale or retail trade. 
The commissioner may adopt or amend rules to prescribe the time, manner and method of 
sealing containers for the effective operation of this subsection.  The rules may include a 
requirement for a permit and provisions for inspection that establish a chain of custody 
that ensures that the lobsters were not harvested or landed in this State.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §6851-B, sub-§2, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 523, §9, is 
amended to read: 
B.  The lobster meat or lobster parts may come from only legal-sized lobsters except 
as provided in section 6431, subsection 6-B; 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
Current law allows wholesale seafood dealers with a lobster permit to import, handle 
and transport lobsters that do not meet minimum or maximum length requirements.  This 
bill allows those permit holders who also hold a lobster processing license to process 
those legally imported lobsters as long as the lobsters were not landed in this State and, 
except for the claws and knuckles, are not later sold in this State.