12 §6575-B. Method of elver fishing; limits on gear - Maine Statutes

Title 12: CONSERVATION

Part 9: MARINE RESOURCES

Subpart 2: LICENSING

Chapter 621: FINFISH LICENSES

Subchapter 2: LIMITS ON FISHING AND PROHIBITED ACTS

Article 5: ELVER AND EEL LIMITATIONS HEADING: PL 1995, C. 536, PT. A, §9 (NEW)

§6575-B. Method of elver fishing; limits on gear

1. Gear. It is unlawful for a person to fish for or take elvers by any method other than by dip net, elver fyke net or Sheldon eel trap.

[ 1995, c. 536, Pt. A, §9 (NEW) .]

2. Number of elver fyke nets and Sheldon eel traps.

[ 1999, c. 7, §9 (RP) .]

2-A. Number of nets and Sheldon eel traps.

[ 1999, c. 534, §4 (RP) .]

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.

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. [1999, c. 534, §5 (NEW).]

B. [2005, c. 533, §3 (RP).]

C. [2005, c. 533, §3 (RP).]

[ 2005, c. 533, §3 (AMD) .]

3. Rebuttable presumption. It is a rebuttable presumption that an elver fyke net, Sheldon eel trap or elver dip net immersed in any waters of the State at any time of the year is immersed for the purpose of fishing for or taking elvers.

[ 1999, c. 7, §11 (AMD) .]

4. Prohibition on fishing from boats. It is unlawful for a person to set or tend an elver fyke net or a Sheldon eel trap from a boat or to fish for or take elvers from a boat. A person may transport an elver fyke net, a Sheldon eel trap or a dip net by boat.

[ 1995, c. 536, Pt. A, §9 (NEW) .]

5. Use of dip nets. It is unlawful for a person to use a dip net to fish for or take elvers while standing in the coastal waters of the State.

[ 1997, c. 575, §4 (AMD) .]

6. Prohibition on fishing from artificial platforms. A person may not build or use an artificial platform to fish for elvers. This subsection does not prohibit fishing for elvers from piers or floats established for purposes other than elver fishing.

[ 1999, c. 7, §12 (NEW) .]

7. Bycatch release. A person immediately shall return alive into the waters of the State any species other than elver that is caught in an elver fyke net.

[ 1999, c. 7, §12 (NEW) .]

SECTION HISTORY

1995, c. 536, §A9 (NEW). 1997, c. 91, §5 (AMD). 1997, c. 575, §4 (AMD). 1999, c. 7, §§9-12 (AMD). 1999, c. 534, §§4,5 (AMD). 2005, c. 533, §3 (AMD).