An Act To Allow the Sale of Saltwater Smelt for Bait
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0617
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: HIGGINS, DAVIS, STEARNS
Amends: 12 MRSA §12551-A

Legislative Document
No. 617
H.P. 433
House of Representatives, February 16, 2017
An Act To Allow the Sale of Saltwater Smelt for Bait
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative HIGGINS of Dover-Foxcroft.
Cosponsored by Senator DAVIS of Piscataquis and
Representative: STEARNS of Guilford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §12551-A, sub-§7, ¶A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 301, §36, 
is further amended to read: 
A.  The holder of a smelt wholesale dealer's license may: 
(1)  Take live smelts for resale from inland waters or private ponds.  The taking 
of live smelts from inland waters must be in accordance with general rules 
adopted by the commissioner in regard to the taking of smelts.  Except as 
provided in paragraph B, the holder of a smelt wholesaler's license shall comply 
with the same daily bag limit and the same tackle restrictions that apply to all 
other anglers and is subject to the same penalties for violations of those limits and 
restrictions.  This subparagraph does not apply to a holder of a fish cultivator 
license as provided under section 12507; 
(2)  Beginning on the date the body of water on which the smelts are taken is 
open to ice fishing and ending March 31st annually, use a drop net, a lift net or 
hook and line to take up to 8 quarts of smelts through man-made openings in the 
ice while fishing on the ice from specific inland waters designated by the 
commissioner.  A dip net may be used in conjunction with the above methods to 
assist with the handling and transporting of smelts.  A licensee may keep the 
daily bag limit alive.  The daily bag limit established under this subparagraph is 
for a 24-hour period, beginning at noon on a given day and ending at 11:59 a.m. 
the following day; 
(2-A)  In waters naturally free of ice, take smelts from noon to 2:00 a.m. by the 
use of a dip net in the usual and ordinary way.  The commissioner may establish 
the daily bag limit by rule and a licensee may keep the daily bag limit of smelts 
alive. The daily bag limit established under this subparagraph is for a 24-hour 
period, beginning at noon on a given day and ending at 11:59 a.m. the following 
day. The commissioner may shorten the noon to 2:00 a.m. smelt fishing time 
frame by rule for enforcement or conservation purposes; 
(3)  Use artificial light for the purpose of luring smelts to a drop net or a lift net; 
(4)  Transport or possess at the holder's business facility more than the daily bag 
limit of smelts provided that the smelts were taken by the license holder in 
accordance with this section or acquired from a person licensed under this section 
to deal in live smelts; 
(5)  Designate others to assist in selling live smelts at the holder's business 
facility; and 
(6)  Transport or designate others to transport on the license holder's behalf live 
smelts in accordance with this subsection.; and 
(7)  Possess and sell at the holder's business facility more than the daily bag limit 
of smelts taken from the State's coastal waters provided that the smelts were 
acquired from a person licensed under chapter 615 to deal in live smelts. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows the holder of a smelt wholesaler's license to possess and sell at the 
licensee's business facility smelts taken from the State's coastal waters.