An Act To Clarify the Law Concerning Maine's Elver Fishing License
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1625
Committee Amendment CA_B_H687 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §6210, 12 MRSA §6404-M, 12 MRSA §6505-A, 12 MRSA §6575-K

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ;B" to H.P. 1197, L.D. 1625, Bill, "An Act To 
Clarify the Law Concerning Maine's Elver Fishing License" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act Concerning Maine's Elver Fishery' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
emergency clause and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6210, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 468, §8, is amended to read: 
§6210. Procedure for administrative assessment of penalty for pecuniary gain 
The department in an adjudicatory proceeding may impose an administrative penalty 
for a violation of section 6575-K or section 6864, subsection 7-A equal to the pecuniary 
gain from that violation in accordance with this section. 
1. 
Definition. 
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, 
"pecuniary gain" means the amount of money or the value of property at the time a 
person violates section 6575-K or section 6864, subsection 7-A that the person derives 
from the violation. 
2. Initiation and notice. If the Chief of the Bureau of Marine Patrol delivers to the 
commissioner a written statement under oath that the chief has probable cause to suspect 
that a violation of section 6575-K or section 6864, subsection 7-A has been committed, 
the commissioner shall immediately examine the statement and determine whether to 
conduct an adjudicatory proceeding for the purpose of imposing an administrative penalty 
under this section. If the commissioner determines that the imposition of a penalty is 
necessary, the commissioner shall immediately notify the person who is alleged to have 
violated the law in accordance with Title 5, section 9052. The notice must state that the 
person may request a hearing in writing within 10 days of the notice. 
3. Hearing. If a hearing is requested pursuant to subsection 2, it must be held within 
business days after receipt by the commissioner of the request for a hearing, except 
that a hearing may be held more than 30 business days after the request if the delay is 
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requested by the person requesting the hearing and mutually agreed to in writing. The 
hearing must be held in accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, except 
that: 
A. Notwithstanding Title 5, section 9057, issues of the hearing are limited to whether 
the person requesting the hearing committed a violation of section 6575-K or section 
6864, subsection 7-A; and 
B. Notwithstanding Title 5, section 9061, the decision of the presiding officer under 
Title 5, section 9062 must be made not more than 10 business days after completion 
of the hearing. The presiding officer must be the commissioner or the commissioner's 
designee. 
Any decision to impose an administrative penalty under this section must be based on 
evidence in the record of the pecuniary gain, which may include evidence of the fair 
market value of any elvers illegally possessed by the person at the time the violation was 
committed. The penalty may be based on evidence of the amount of money or value of 
property the person received for elvers sold in violation of section 6575-K or section 
6864, subsection 7-A. 
4. Appeal. A decision of the commissioner or the commissioner's designee to assess 
an administrative penalty for pecuniary gain pursuant to this section may be appealed to 
the Superior Court if the appeal is filed with the court within 30 days of the decision. 
5. Request for hearing on penalty amount; place of hearing. The license holder 
may request a hearing regarding the amount of the administrative penalty assessed under 
this section. A hearing must be requested in writing within 10 days from the receipt of the 
notice of the penalty. The hearing must be held within 10 days of the request unless a 
longer period of time is mutually agreed to by the commissioner or the commissioner's 
designee and the license holder who requests the hearing in writing. The hearing must be 
conducted in the Augusta area. 
6. Disposition of penalty. 
The commissioner shall deposit any payments for 
administrative penalties collected pursuant to this section into the Eel and Elver 
Management Fund established under section 6505-D. 
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §6404-M is enacted to read: 
§6404-M. Suspension or revocation based on conviction of a violation of an elver 
individual fishing quota 
The commissioner shall suspend or revoke the elver fishing license of any license 
holder convicted of violating section 6575-K. 
1. First offense. For the first offense, the commissioner shall suspend the license 
holder's license for one year. 
2. Second offense. For a 2nd offense, the commissioner shall permanently revoke 
the license holder's license. 
Sec. 7. 12 MRSA §6505-A, suh-§3-A is enacted to read: 
3-A. 
Elver fishing quotas. 
The commissioner may adopt rules to establish, 
implement and administer an elver individual fishing quota system in order to ensure that 
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the elver fishery annual landings do not exceed the overall annual quota established by 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. A person issued a license under this 
section or section 6302-A, subsection 3, paragraph E, E-l, F or G may not take, possess 
or sell elvers in excess of the weight quota allocated to that person under the quota 
system. The niles must: 
A. Establish an overall annual quota for the State; and 
B. Specify a formula to establish individual elver fishing quotas for persons licensed 
under this section or section 6302-A, subsection 3, paragraph E, E-l, F or G. The 
formula may take into account the amount of elvers a person licensed under this 
section or section 6302-A, subsection 3, paragraph E, E-I, F or G lawfully harvested 
in previous seasons, based on final harvesting reports. The niles must specify the 
date by which harvester reports are considered final for the purpose of determining 
individual quotas. 
Ifpersons issued licenses under this section or section 6302-A, subsection 3, paragraph E, 
E-1, F or G collectively exceed the overall annual quota, the number of pounds by which 
the license holders exceeded that overall annual quota must be deducted from the 
following year's overall annual quota. If the overage exceeds the overall annual quota 
allocated to a person licensed under this section or section 6302-A, subsection 3, 
paragraph E, E-1, F or G for the following year, the overage must be deducted from the 
overall annual quota allocated to a person licensed under this section or section 6302-A, 
subsection 3, paragraph E, E-l, F or G in subsequent years until the entire overage has 
been accounted for. 
The commissioner may adopt or amend niles on an emergency basis if immediate action 
is necessary to establish and implement the elver individual fishing quota in advance of 
the beginning of the elver fishing season. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical niles as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 8. 12 MRSA §6575-K is enacted to read: 
§6575-K. Elver individual fishing quota 
1. Prohibition on possession or sale of elvers in excess of elver individual fishing 
quota. A person may not possess or sell a weight of elvers that exceeds the elver 
individual fishing quota that person has been allocated for the fishing season pursuant to 
section 6505-A, subsection 3-A. 
2. Prohibition on fishing after elver individual fishing quota has been reached. 
A person who has sold a weight of elvers that meets or exceeds that person's elver 
individual fishing quota may not fish for or possess elvers for the remainder of the 
season, except that such a person who has been issued a license to fish for elvers may in 
accordance with section 6575-D assist another person who has been issued a license to 
fish for elvers who has not met or exceeded that person's elver individual fishing quota as 
provided in section 6505-A, subsection 3-A. All gear tagged by a license holder who has 
met or exceeded that person's elver individual fishing quota must be removed. A marine 
patrol officer may seize the elver transaction card of a license holder who has met or 
exceeded that person's elver individual fishing quota. 
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3. Violation. An individual who in fact violates this section commits a crime in 
accordance with section 6204 for which a fine of $2,000 must be imposed, none of which 
may be suspended.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee and replaces the bill, 
authorizes the Commissioner of Marine Resources to establish by rule an elver fishing 
quota for the State and to allocate elver individual fishing quotas to elver harvesters 
licensed by the State and Maine's federally recognized Indian tribes by a formula that 
may take into account previous years' landings. The majority report allocates a portion of 
the State's overall elver fishing quota to the tribes and directs each of the tribes to assign 
elver individual fishing quotas to its members. This amendment leaves in place the 
statute limiting the number of elver fishing licenses that may be issued by the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe to tribal members to 200 licenses. This amendment makes it a 
Class D strict liability crime with a mandatory $2,000 fine for violating prohibitions on 
possessing, fishing for or selling elvers in excess of a person's elver individual fishing 
quota and on fishing after a person's elver individual fishing quota has been met. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/13/14 
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LD 1625 
LR 2543(03) 
An Act To Clarify the Law Concerning Maine's Elver Fishing License 
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Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ::B' C H - b37J 
Committee: Marine Resources 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Minor revenue increase - General Fund 
Correctional and Judicial Impact Statements 
Establishes new Class D crimes. 
The collection of additional fines may also increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Any additional costs to the Department of Marine Resources to establish a framework for an elver individual fishing 
quota system are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR2S43(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1