An Act To Ensure Apportionment of Scallop Licenses
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6706, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 607, Pt. A, §4, is amended to read:
3. Scallop license limited entry system. Notwithstanding subsection 2, the commissioner shall establish by rule a limited entry system under which a person who did not hold a hand fishing scallop license or a scallop dragging license in the previous calendar year may become eligible to obtain that license. The rules for a limited entry system must include provisions for the method and administration of the program , including a process to ensure that hand fishing scallop licenses and scallop dragging licenses are available in regions where these licenses were previously issued. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
summary
This bill requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to adopt rules for the limited entry scallop system that contain a process to ensure that hand fishing scallop licenses and scallop dragging licenses are available in regions where those licenses were previously issued.