Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 391-4 - WILDLIFE RESOURCES DIVISION › Subject 391-4-11 - COMMERCIAL ALLIGATOR FARMING › Rule 391-4-11-.05 - Harvest of Alligators

Current through Rules and Regulations
				filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Alligators, or the skins or products of
				such captive-reared alligators raised on a farm licensed under the provisions
				of O.C.G.A. Section
				27-2-10, or alligators purchased
				from a licensed alligator agent-trapper or other legal source may be sold, but
				only in accordance with the following restrictions:
(a) Alligators may be harvested and skinned
				only at Department approved sites and only with approval of an authorized agent
				of the Department. Alligator hides must be held at a specified site until the
				date of sale. An alligator farmer may request authorization from the Department
				to skin and receive hide tags for no more than his current total farm inventory
				of alligators.
(b) The sale of
				alligators or alligator products from the captive-reared or otherwise
				legally-obtained alligators shall not be permitted until six (6) months have
				elapsed from the date of the initial issuance of an alligator farming
				license.
(c) Any alligator killed
				under authority of this section shall be tagged within 24 hours with a tag
				furnished by the Department. Such tag shall remain attached to the alligator
				hide until finally processed by the fabricator. Tags removed from hides used to
				manufacture alligator products shall either be a) turned over to the U.S. Fish
				and Wildlife Service upon product export or b) turned over to the Georgia
				Department of Natural Resources, Game and Fish Division, if the product is not
				exported. It shall be unlawful for any farmer or processor to possess untagged
				alligator hides or carcasses following the 24 hour period allowed. All
				alligators that die due to accident, natural causes, or reasons other than
				harvest shall be tagged within 24 hours or destroyed and recorded in the farm
				inventory records.
(d) Property
				rights to identifying hide tags issued to farmers shall be vested in the
				Department, and tags shall remain the property of the state. Unused tags will
				be returned to the Department within 15 days of the end of the calendar year.
				Possession of any alligator hide tags by persons other than licensed farmers or
				licensed nuisance alligator agent-trappers shall be prohibited.
(e) The meat of any alligator legally
				harvested or purchased from a licensed alligator agent-trapper may be consumed
				by the farmer or his immediate family, but shall not be sold or transferred
				except as provided in Rule
				391-4-11-.07 below. Other alligator
				products may be sold subject to Rule
				391-4-11-.07 also. Meat not
				processed and packaged for sale may be kept for personal consumption, but shall
				not be sold. Each package of meat so processed shall be labeled in indelible
				ink to indicate the hide tag number of the alligator from which it came and the
				alligator farm or agent-trapper's name who harvested the alligator.