An Act To Ensure Maine's Elver Fishermen Can Fully Access Maine's Elver Resource
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0353
Committee Amendment CA_A_H63 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §6505-A, 12 MRSA §6575-L

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " to H.P. 240, L.D. 353, Bill, "An Act To 
Ensure Maine's Elver Fishermen Can Fully Access Maine's Elver Resource" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Authorize a Temporary Medical Transfer of an Elver Individual Fishing 
Quota' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and 
inserting the following: 
'Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 485, §7, is 
amended 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 
the elver fishery annual landings do not exceed the overall annual quota established by 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. A Except as provided in section 
6575-L, 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 rules must: 
A. Establish an overall annual quota for the State; 
B. 
Establish the amount of the overall annual quota under paragraph A that is 
allocated to persons licensed under this section and specify a formula to establish 
individual quotas for persons licensed under this section. The formula may take into 
account the amount of elvers a person licensed under this section lawfully harvested 
in previous seasons based on final harvesting reports. The rules must specify the date 
by which harvester reports are considered final for the purpose of determining 
individual quotas; and 
C. Provide, in accordance with section 6302-B, that 21.9% of the overall annual 
quota under paragraph A is allocated to the federally recognized Indian tribes in the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'A "to H.P. 240, L.D. 353 
State and establish the amount of that portion of the overall annual quota allocated to 
the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet 
Indians and the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. 
If persons issued licenses under this section collectively exceed the overall annual quota 
allocated to those persons pursuant to paragraph B, 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 allocated to persons licensed under this section. If the overage 
exceeds the overall annual quota allocated to persons licensed under this section for the 
following year, the overage must be deducted from the overall annual quota allocated to 
persons licensed under this section in subsequent years until the entire overage has been 
accounted for. 
The commissioner may adopt or amend rules 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 rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 2. 12 lVlRSA §6575-K, sub-§§l and 2, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 485, §9, 
are amended to read: 
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, plus any additional quota the person may be authorized 
to take under section 6575-L. 
2. Prohibition on fishing after elver individual fishing quota has been reached. 
Except as provided in section 6575-L, this section applies to fishing after a person's 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. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6575-L is enacted to read: 
§6575-L. Temporary medical transfer 
The commissioner may authorize a temporary medical transfer of the elver individual 
fishing quota allocated to a person under section 6505-A in accordance with this section. 
The holder of an elver fishing license who requests a temporary medical transfer under 
this section must maintain a valid elver fishing license during the duration of the 
temporary medical transfer. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT·A "to H.P. 240, L.D. 353 
1. Temporary medical transfer requested prior to March 1st. Notwithstanding 
section 6505-A. subsection 3-A, the commissioner may authorize a temporary medical 
transfer that permits the holder of an elver fishing license issued under section 6505-A to 
transfer the entire annual quota allocated to that person to another person holding an elver 
fishing licence issued under section 6505-A if the following criteria are met: 
A. The transferor reported elver landings in the prior fishing year; 
B. The transferor is unable to fish the quota allocated to the transferor because the 
transferor has experienced a substantial illness or medical condition. The transferor 
shall provide the commissioner with documentation from a physician describing the 
substantial illness or medical condition; and 
C. The transferor requests a temporary medical transfer in writing before March 1 st 
of the fishing year for which it is being requested, except that the commissioner may 
adopt rules that provide a method for authorizing a temporary medical transfer 
requested after March 1 st to address emergency medical conditions. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 4. Report. 
The Commissioner of Marine Resources shall provide rules 
adopted, or a written justification for not adopting rules, under the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 12, section 6575-L, subsection 1, paragraph C to the Joint Standing 
Committee on Marine Resources no later than January 31,2016. After receiving the rules 
or the written justification for not adopting rules, the committee may report out a bill 
related to temporary medical transfers of elver individual fishing quotas to the Second 
Regular Session of the 127th Legislature.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment provides that the Commissioner of Marine Resources may authorize 
a temporary transfer of the elver individual fishing quota allocated to the holder of an 
elver fishing license to another holder of an elver fishing license. In order to be eligible 
to transfer quota, the transferor of the quota must have experienced a substantial illness or 
medical condition, must request the transfer in writing prior to March 1 st of the fishing 
year and must have reported elver landings in the prior fishing year. The Commissioner 
of Marine Resources is authorized to adopt rules that would allow a temporary medical 
transfer requested after March 1 st to address emergency medical conditions and must 
submit the rules or a written justification for not adopting rules to the Joint Standing 
Committee on Marine Resources by January 31,2016. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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Approved: 03/24/15 frac 
LD353 
LR 668(02) 
An Act To Ensure Maine's Elver Fishermen Can Fully Access Maine's Elver Resource 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A' (l-t-(o 3 ) 
Committee: Marine Resources 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Any additional costs to the Department of Marine Resources from allowing elver fishing license holders to transfer 
their entire allocated annual quota to another elver fishing license holder under certain conditions are expected to be 
minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0668(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1