C. Possessed an elver fishing license in the previous calendar year; or.

D. Becomes eligible to obtain an elver fishing license pursuant to a lottery under subsection 2-A.

The department may not issue more than 827 elver fishing licenses each elver fishing season.

Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6505-A, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 534, §2, is repealed.

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6575-B, sub-§2-B, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 534, §5, is amended to read:

2-B. Type and amount of gear. It is unlawful for a person to immerse elver fishing gear other than the types and amounts authorized pursuant to this subsection. In determining the number of traps or nets that may be immersed, the following limits apply.

A. A person who is issued an elver fishing license pursuant to section 6505-A, subsection 2, paragraph C may not immerse elver fishing gear other than the types and amounts of gear the person was authorized to immerse during the previous elver fishing season, except that a person may surrender the authority to use an elver fyke net in order to use an elver dip net.

B. In the 2000 elver fishing season, a person who is issued an elver fishing license pursuant to section 6505-A, subsection 2, paragraph D may not immerse at any one time a total of more than 2 elver dip nets, elver fyke nets and Sheldon eel traps. In determining the number of traps or nets that may be immersed, the following formula must be used, except that if the number arrived at using the formula is greater than 2 nets or traps, the maximum number of traps and nets that may be immersed is 2. A person may not immerse:

(1) A number of elver dip nets that is greater than the average number, rounded down, of elver dip nets that person was authorized to use during any of the elver fishing seasons in 1996, 1997 and 1998 for which that person held a license;