An Act To Fund Research on and Management and Enforcement of the Eel and Elver Fisheries
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1455
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: SIMMONS
Amends: 12 MRSA §6404-H, 12 MRSA §6505-A

Legislative Document
No. 1455
H.P. 1005
House of Representatives, April 18, 2017
An Act To Fund Research on and Management and Enforcement of 
the Eel and Elver Fisheries
Submitted by the Department of Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Marine Resources suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SIMMONS of Waldoboro.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §6404-H, as amended by PL 2013, c. 49, §4, is further amended 
to read: 
§6404-H.  Suspension or revocation based on conviction of an elver fishing license 
offense 
The commissioner shall suspend or revoke a person's eligibility for the elver lotteries 
lottery under section 6505-A, subsection 2-B 2-C if the person is convicted of an offense 
in violation of section 6505-A, subsection 1. 
1.  First offense.  For a first offense, the commissioner shall suspend the person's 
eligibility for the elver lotteries lottery under section 6505-A, subsection 2-B 2-C for one 
year. 
2.  Second offense.  For a 2nd offense, the commissioner shall permanently revoke 
the person's eligibility for the elver lotteries lottery under section 6505-A, subsection 2-B 
2-C. 
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§1-C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 485, §6, is 
further amended to read: 
1-C.  Elver transaction card issued.  The department may issue an elver transaction 
card to each license holder under this section and to each license holder under section 
6302-A, subsection 3, paragraphs E, E-1, F and G in accordance with section 6302-B.  
The department may charge each license holder an annual fee for the elver transaction 
card that may not exceed $25.  Fees collected under this subsection must be deposited in 
the Eel and Elver Management Fund under section 6505-D.  The license holder shall use 
the elver transaction card to meet electronic reporting requirements established by rule 
pursuant to section 6173.  The elver transaction card must include the license holder's 
name and license number. 
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§2, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 549, §3, is 
amended to read: 
F.  Becomes eligible to obtain an elver fishing license pursuant to the elver lotteries 
lottery under subsection 2-B 2-C. 
Sec. 4.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§2-B, as amended by PL 2013, c. 301, §9, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 5.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§2-C is enacted to read: 
2-C.  Elver license lottery.  The commissioner shall establish an elver fishing license 
lottery system under which a person who did not hold an elver fishing license in the 
previous calendar year may become eligible to obtain that license.  The number of 
persons issued elver fishing licenses under this subsection may not exceed the number of 
pieces of elver fishing gear held by individuals who held an elver fishing license in the 
year prior to the previous calendar year, but did not hold an elver license in the previous 
calendar year. 
A.  The elver fishing license lottery must be held on or before February 15th of each 
calendar year beginning in 2018. 
B.  In order to be eligible for the elver fishing license lottery, a person must submit a 
lottery application together with a $25 nonrefundable application fee no later than 
January 15th of the same calendar year as the lottery. 
C.  A person may submit no more than one elver fishing license lottery application 
per lottery year. 
The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement the elver fishing license lottery.  The 
rules must include provisions for the method and administration of the lottery.  Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Application fees collected under this subsection must be deposited in the Eel and Elver 
Management Fund under section 6505-D. 
Sec. 6.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§3-A, ¶¶B and C, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 
485, §7, are amended to read: 
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 
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.; and 
Sec. 7.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§3-A, ¶D is enacted to read: 
D.  Provide that individual quota allocations assigned to persons licensed under this 
section who held an elver fishing license in the year prior to the previous calendar 
year, but did not hold an elver fishing license in the previous calendar year, may be 
sold by auction by the department to any person licensed under this section.  The 
revenues raised through an auction of an individual quota allocation must be 
deposited in the Eel and Elver Management Fund under section 6505-D. 
Sec. 8.  12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2013, c. 468, §25, is 
further amended to read: 
4.  Fees.  Fees for elver fishing licenses are: 
A.  For a person who is a resident, $105 $205;  
B.  For a person who is a nonresident, $442 $542; 
C.  For a person who is a resident with crew, $305 $405; and 
D.  For a person who is a nonresident with crew, $1,326 $1,426. 
Fifty One hundred and fifty dollars of each license fee collected under paragraphs A and 
B and $200 $300 of each license fee collected under paragraphs C and D accrue to the 
Eel and Elver Management Fund established in section 6505-D. 
Sec. 9.  Rulemaking.  The Commissioner of Marine Resources shall, by December 
31, 2017, adopt rules to implement the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 6585-A, 
subsection 2-C. 
SUMMARY 
This bill increases the fee for an elver fishing license by $100.  The revenue from the 
increase is deposited in the Eel and Elver Management Fund.  The bill also reinstates a 
lottery for elver licenses based on the number of pieces of gear that are retired in the prior 
calendar year.  It allows the Department of Marine Resources to charge an annual fee of 
up to $25 for the elver transaction card used by harvesters for electronic reporting.  It also 
authorizes the department to sell at auction a portion of the individual quota allocations 
that are associated with retired licenses to existing license holders, with the revenues of 
the sale to be deposited in the Eel and Elver Management Fund.