Opinion ID: 4512175
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Commercial Fishing”

Text: [¶10] On its face, the statute exempts from attachment and execution a boat used primarily for “commercial fishing.” 14 M.R.S. § 4422(9). The word “fishing” is commonly understood as the act of catching fish6 and, because we give “technical or trade expressions . . . a meaning understood by the trade or profession,” Cobb, 2006 ME 48, ¶ 12, 896 A.2d 271, it also encompasses the act of catching other marine organisms like lobsters and crabs. See, e.g., 12 M.R.S. § 6421 (2018) (including the requirements to obtain a crab or lobster “fishing” license); 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 25 (effective August 21, 2018) (discussing “lobster fishing” pursuant to the Department of Marine Resources’ lobster and crab regulations). As such, the word “fishing” is not ambiguous. [¶11] The meaning of “commercial,” however, can be understood in different ways. “Commercial” may mean “concerned with or engaged in commerce,” Commercial, New Oxford American Dictionary (3d ed. 2010), or “of or relating to commerce,” Commercial, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed. 2016). “Commerce,” in turn, is defined as “the buying and selling of goods, especially on a large scale, as between cities or nations.” 6 Dictionaries define the term “fishing” as “the activity of catching fish, either for food or as a sport,” Fishing, New Oxford American Dictionary (3d ed. 2010), and “the catching of fish for sport or as a living,” Fishing, Webster’s New World College Dictionary (5th ed. 2016). 8 Commerce, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed. 2016). Alternatively, “commercial” may be understood as “making or intended to make a profit,” Commercial, New Oxford American Dictionary (3d ed. 2010), or “having profit as a chief aim,” Commercial, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed. 2016). [¶12] Because the meaning of “commercial” is “reasonably susceptible to different interpretations,” Scamman, 2017 ME 41, ¶ 14, 157 A.3d 223, the term is ambiguous. Therefore, we must “examine other indicia of legislative intent, such as legislative history,” id., and determine whether the Legislature intended to define “commercial” as relating to “the buying or selling of goods, especially on a large scale,” Commerce, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed. 2016), or as “having profit as a chief aim,” Commercial, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed. 2016).