An Act To
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1191
Committee Amendment CA_A_H433 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §6121, 12 MRSA §12462

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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 835, L.D. 
Strengthen the Fishing Laws" 
1191, Bill, "An Act To 
Amend the bill by im:erting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6121, as amended by PL 2011, c. 598, § 10, is further amended 
to read: 
§6121. Fishways in existing dams or artificial obstructions 
1. Commissioner's authority. In order to conserve, develop or restore anadromous 
fish resources, the commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
may require a fishway to be erected, maintained, repaired or altered by the owners, 
lessors or other persons in control of any dam or other artificial obstruction within coastal 
waters frequented by river herring, shad, salmon, sturgeon or other anadromous fish 
species. 
2. Examination of dams. The commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife shall annually examine all dams and other artificial obstructions to 
fish passage within the coastal waters in order to determine whether fishways are 
necessary, sufficient or suitable for the passage of anadromous fish. 
3. Initiation of fishway proceedings. The commissioner and the Commissioner of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall initiate proceedings to consider constmction, repair or 
alteration of fishways in existing dams or other artificial obstructions whenever fie 
determiaes the commissioners determine that either of the following conditions may 
exist: 
A. Fish passage at the dam or obstmction in issue, whether alone or in conjunction 
with fish passage at other upriver barriers, will improve access to sufficient and 
suitable habitat anywhere in the watershed to support a substantial commercial or 
recreational fishery for one or more species of anadromous fish; or 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A" to H.P. 835, L.D. 1191 
B. Fish passage at the dam or obstruction in issue is necessary to protect or enhance 
rare, threatened or endangered fish species. 
4. Adjudicatory proceedings. 
A. A fishway proceeding shall be i§. an adjudicatory proceeding under the Maine 
Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter I¥ 1, but a hearing 
may not be required unless requested in accordance with paragraph B. Notice of the 
proceeding shall must be given in accordance with Title 5, section 9052, and the 
following requirements: 
(1) Personal notice shall must be given to the dam owner, lessee or other person 
in control of the dam or artificial obstruction, informing that person that a 
proceeding has been undertaken and of his that person's right to request a 
hearing; and 
(2) 
Notice to the public, in newspapers of general circulation in the areas 
affected, notifying the public of the initiation of the proceedings and of the 
public's opportunity to request a hearing. 
B. If any interested person requests a public hearing, the commissioner and the 
Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall, within 30 days, either notify the 
petitioners in writing of his the commissioners' denial stating the reasons, or schedule 
a public hearing. 
The cOrrHnissioner commissioners shall hold a public hearing 
whenever: 
(1) He--is The commissioners are petitioned by 50 or more Maine residents; or 
(2) 
The owner, lessee or other person in control of the dam or artificial 
obstruction requests a public hearing. 
C. The commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall 
accept testimony from the dam owner, lessee or other person in control of the dam or 
artificial obstruction on alternate fishway designs to those proposed by the 
commissioner commissioners for that dam or artificial obstruction. 
5. Decision. In the event the commissioner decides and the Commissioner of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife decide that a fishway should be constructed, repaired, altered or 
maintained, his their final orders shaY must be issued with specific plans and descriptions 
of the fishway construction, alteration, repair or maintenance requirements, the conditions 
of the use of the fishway and the time and manner required for fishway operation. The 
comm.issioner commissioners may issue a decision requiring the owners, lessees or other 
persons in control of the dam or obstruction to construct, repair, alter or maintain a 
fishway. 
Such a decision shall must be supported by a finding based on evidence 
submitted to the collHll:issioner commissioners that either of the following conditions 
exist: 
A. 
One or more species of anadromous or migratory fish can be restored in 
substantial numbers to the watershed by construction, alteration, repair or 
maintenance of a fishway, and habitat anywhere in the watershed above the dam or 
obstruction is sufficient and suitable to support a substantial commercial or 
recreational fishery for one or more species of anadromous or migratory fish; or 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A " 
to H.P. 835, L.D. 1191 
B. The construction, alteration, repair or maintenance of a fishway is necessary to 
protect or enhance rare, threatened or endangered fish species. 
In the event that the commissioHer decides commissioners decide that no fishway should 
be constructed, he the comIJJ.issioners shall specify in that decision a period immediately 
subsequent to that decision during which no fishway may be required to be constructed. 
That period may not exceed 5 years. 
6. Compliance. 
A. 
The owner, lessee or other person in control of the dam or other artificial 
obstruction shall be i§. .iointly and severally liable for the costs of fishway design, 
construction, repair, alteration or maintenance and for full compliance with a decision 
issued pursuant to subsection 5. If the owner, lessee or other person in control of the 
dam or other artificial obstruction refuses to comply or does not fully comply with 
the commissioHcr's commissioners' decision, the cOllHnissioHer commissioners shall 
initiate a civil action to enjoin the owner, lessee or person in control of the dam to 
comply fully with 
th~: eomrnissioHer's commissioners' order or to restrain the 
violation of an order. In the proceeding, the court shall not review the legality of the 
commissioHcr's commiE:sioners' order, except when the owner, lessee or person in 
control of the dam or artificial obstruction has brought a timely petition for judicial 
review pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter ¥II 1-
B. The court may render judgment against and order the sale of the dam or other 
artificial obstruction, the land on which it stands and a right-of-way to the dam or 
artificial obstruction in order to secure the costs of fishway construction, repair, 
alteration or maintenance and costs of the court-ordered sale and the costs incurred by 
the department for fishway design. The purchaser of the dam or other obstruction 
shall be i§. subject to the commissioHer's commissioners' decision. 
7. Privileged entry. The commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries 
and Wildlife, the COllHTIissioneFs commissioners' agents or subcontractors are privileged 
to enter upon any private land in order to examine, at least annually, fishways in dams or 
other artificial obstructions and the examination of dams provided in subsection 2. The 
commissioner commissione:,s shall notify the landowner, lessee or other person in control 
of the dam when the examination will take place and the time required to complete the 
examination. The commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
shall make every effort to p:feserve private land and shall restore surrounding lands to the 
grade and condition existing prior to entry, if economically feasible. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRS A §10902, sub-§8, as affected by PL 2003, c. 614, §9 and 
amended by c. 655, Pt. B, §~i101 to 103 and affected by §422, is further amended to read: 
8. Mandatory revocation of fishing license. The commissioner shall suspend a 
person's fishing license for at least one year and may suspend any other license issued 
under this Part and held by that person if that person is convicted or adjudicated of: 
A. Introducing fish into inland waters a private pond without a pennit in violation of 
section 12509. subsection 2: and sectioHs 12510. 12511 and 12512; 
B. Taking or possessing sport fish in violation of bag, weight and size limits in 
violation of section 12602, as it relates to trout, salmon, togue and black bass, 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 835, L.D. 1191 
whenever the violation involves twice the general bag and possession limit adopted 
by rule by the commissioner for that species of fish; 
E 1. Possessing fish in yiolation of section 12611; 
C. Importing live bait fish or smelts, in violation of section 12556; 
D. Buying or selling freshwater sport fish, in violation of section 12609-A; or 
E. 
Taking fish by explosive, poisonous or stupefying substances, in violation of 
section 12653. 
The commissioner shall suspend a person's fishing license for 5 years and may suspend 
any other license issued under this Part and held by that person if the person is convicted 
or adjudicated of illegally importing, transporting or possessing live freshwater fish or 
fish gametes under sections 12509, 12510, 12512 and 12611, except that this mandatory 
revocation does not apply to offenses involving live bait fish or smelts.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 1 the following: 
'Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §12462 is enacted to read: 
§12462. Waters containing state heritage fish that have not been stocked since 1988 
1. Live bait rules. The commissioner shall adopt rules governing the use of live fish 
as bait on lakes and ponds that contain state heritage fish as defined under Title 1, section 
212-A and that according to reliable records have not been stocked since January 1, 1988. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined under Title 
5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
2. Live bait allowed. The use of live fish as bait is allowed on Millimagassett Lake, 
in T.7, R.8 W.E.L.S.; Millinocket Lake and Little Millinocket Lake, in T.7, R9 W.E.L.S., 
T.8, R9 W.E.L.S. and T.7, R.10 W.E.L.S.; and Webster Lake, in T.6, RIO W.E.L.S. and 
T.6, R.l1 W.E.L.S.' 
Amend the bill in section 2 in § 12504 in subsection 2-A in paragraph B in the 2nd 
line (page 2, line 4 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "part of the derby" the 
following: " if it is to be retained solely for derby purposes,' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 5 to 7 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 5. Report from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 
The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall review the lakes and ponds that 
contain eastern brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, and that according to reliable records 
have not been stocked since January 1, 1988, referred to in this section as "B List waters," 
and report the findings to the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
no later than January 15,2014. The report must include: 
1. 
A complete list of up-to-date B List waters with justification as to the 
qualifications for each water listed; and 
2. A management plan for the B List waters that is in accordance with the intent of 
the department's mandate in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 10051 to 
preserve, protect and enhance the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the State, to 
encourage the wise use of these resources, to ensure coordinated planning for the future 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ''14'' to H.P. 835, L.D. 1191 
use and preservation of these resources and to provide for effective management of these 
resources. 
The Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall review the 
commissioner's report and, if necessary, establish guidelines for qualifications for B List 
waters and the management of B List waters. The committee is authorized to submit 
legislation related to its findings to the Second Regular Session of the 126th Legislature.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment allows the use of live bait on Millimagassett Lake, Millinocket 
Lake, Little Millinocket Lake and Webster Lake. This amendment also directs the 
Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to adopt rules for the use of live bait on 
waters that contain state hentage fish and have not been stocked since January 1, 1988. 
This amendment enhances penalties for noncompliance with the requirements for the 
importation, transportation and possession of live freshwater fish and freshwater fish 
gametes, not including bait fish, by creating a 5-year revocation of licenses issued under 
the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife laws. 
This amendment also removes the provisions of the bill that strike reference to the 
authority of the Commissioner of Marine Resources over fishways under the jurisdiction 
of the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and instead creates joint authority 
for the 2 cOlmnissioners for the fishways currently under the exclusive jurisdiction of the 
Commissioner of Marine R~:sources. 
Finally, this amendment directs the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to 
provide a report on eastern brook trout B List waters to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife by January 15,2014 and authorizes the committee to report 
out a bill related to its review of the commissioner's report. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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Approved: 06/02/13 ;tvac 
LD 1191 
LR480(02) 
An Act To Strengthen the Fishing Laws 
Fiscal Note for Blll as Amended by Committee Amendment A' (tl-~66 ') 
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
II 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Minor revenue increase - General Fund 
Correctional and JUdicial Impact Statements 
Increases the number of civil violations. 
The collection of additional fines may also increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife associated with reviewing the lakes and ponds 
referred to in the bill and reporting the results can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0480(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1