Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 76 - WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES › Part VII - Fish and Other Aquatic Life › Chapter 4 - License and License Fees › Section VII-403 - Gulf Seafood Traversing and Offloading Permit

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
				is authorized to issue a Gulf Seafood Traversing and Offloading permit
				("traversing permit") upon application to its Commercial License Section at the
				Baton Rouge office. Application for permits must be made in person or as
				provided by
				Section
				415 of this Part.
B. The traversing permit shall be valid for
				the calendar year of issue (January 1 through December 31).
C. A traversing permit shall be in lieu of a
				commercial fisherman's license, vessel license, and any applicable commercial
				gear license for fishing gear aboard the vessel. Each gear used in the waters
				of the federal exclusive economic zone (EEZ) shall be properly licensed. For
				licensing purposes, trammel nets, strike nets, and seines are required to be
				licensed as gill nets when used in the EEZ.
D. The possession of gill nets, trammel nets,
				strike nets, or seines on or aboard any vessel in the saltwater areas of the
				state is prohibited unless the captain or owner of the vessel has in his
				immediate possession upon the vessel a traversing permit as well as any other
				licenses as required by law.
E.
				While traversing state waters going to and from the waters of the federal
				exclusive economic zone, all gill nets, trammel nets, strike nets, and seines
				shall remain on board the vessel and shall not be used in state
				waters.
F. Harvest and possession
				of all fish pursuant to this permit is subject to all rules established by the
				Wildlife and Fisheries Commission relative to seasons, size limits, and
				quotas.
G. Vessels containing or
				transporting prohibited nets shall proceed as directly, continuously, and
				expeditiously as possible.
H.
				Permittees will be required to abide by the following conditions.
1. Possession of a permit does not exempt the
				permittee from laws or regulations except for those which may be specifically
				exempted by the permit. Any violation of a fish law shall constitute a
				violation of this permit.
2.
				Information gained by the department through the issuance of a traversing
				permit is not privileged and will be disseminated to the public upon
				request.
3. When permitted gear is
				on board the permitted vessel or in possession of the permittee, the permittee
				and the vessel are assumed to be operating under authority of the permit. No
				gear other than gear allowed under the traversing permit may be on board the
				vessel or in possession of the permittee.
4. The vessel authorized for use under the
				traversing permit shall have distinguishing signs so that it may be identified
				as such. The signs shall have the letters "EEZ" and assigned numbers printed on
				them in at least 10-inch high letters and numbers on a contrasting background
				in block style so as to be visible and legible from low-flying aircraft and
				from any vessel in the immediate vicinity. The assigned numbers shall be
				situated on both sides and on top of the vessel.
5. The department reserves the right to
				observe the operations taking place under the traversing permit and, at its
				request, the department may assign aboard any permitted vessel an enforcement
				agent as an observer.
6. All
				permittees shall notify the department four hours prior to leaving port to
				traverse or fish under the conditions of the traversing permit and immediately
				upon returning from the permitted trip. The department shall be notified by
				calling a designated phone number.
7. The permittee must report to the
				department the name of the buyer who will purchase the fish product obtained
				under the traversing permit. This information shall be provided at the time
				that permittee notifies the department of his return.
8. When quotas have been met or seasons have
				been closed, no fish affected by such quotas or seasons may be possessed on
				board a vessel while having commercial gear on board traveling state
				waters.
9. Any violation of the
				conditions of the traversing permit and any violation of any fisheries
				regulation shall be punishable as defined by
				R.S.
				56:320.2.D.(1) in accordance with Act 1316 of
				the 1995 Legislature.