§ 11-0305. General powers and duties of the department.\n In addition to the powers and duties provided in other sections of the\nFish and Wildlife Law, the department shall have the following powers\nand duties:\n 1. To sell or furnish trees, shrubs and other plants to owners or\nlessees of private lands situated in the state on such terms as it deems\nto be for the public benefit;\n 2. To issue the licenses and permits provided for by law, to fix their\nterms, and the fees therefor, when no statutory provision is made, to\ndesignate agents to sell and promote the sale of licenses, to adopt\nprocedures for the issuance of licenses, to establish the design and\nformat of licenses and the information to be contained thereon, to\nprovide where it deems appropriate for tags and buttons, to
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§ 11-0305. General powers and duties of the department.\n In addition to the powers and duties provided in other sections of the\nFish and Wildlife Law, the department shall have the following powers\nand duties:\n 1. To sell or furnish trees, shrubs and other plants to owners or\nlessees of private lands situated in the state on such terms as it deems\nto be for the public benefit;\n 2. To issue the licenses and permits provided for by law, to fix their\nterms, and the fees therefor, when no statutory provision is made, to\ndesignate agents to sell and promote the sale of licenses, to adopt\nprocedures for the issuance of licenses, to establish the design and\nformat of licenses and the information to be contained thereon, to\nprovide where it deems appropriate for tags and buttons, to adopt\nlicense conditions respecting tagging or identifying fish and wildlife\nbeing possessed or transported, to establish procedures and requirements\nfor reporting license sales and handling and remittance of license\nrevenues by persons or entities issuing such licenses, to provide for\nacceptable methods of payment of license fees, and to revoke licenses\nand permits as provided by law;\n 3. To regulate the taking of fish in any manner other than angling,\nexcept as to migratory fish of the sea within the marine district;\n 4. To increase by regulation the size, as established by statute, of\nmesh of nets that may be used for taking fish;\n 5. To declare by regulation that waters, specified in the regulation,\nare not inhabited by trout, whenever it shall determine that the waters\nspecified in the regulation, previously inhabited by trout, are no\nlonger so inhabited, or shall determine that the waters specified in the\nregulation are unsuitable for trout;\n 6. To control, manage, propagate and distribute, and to regulate the\ntransportation, importation and exportation of shellfish, cephalopoda\nand crustacea;\n 7. To regulate the examination and inspection of shellfish grounds,\nboats used in taking and buildings used for storage of shellfish, the\nhandling and shipment of shellfish, the floating of shellfish, the\nremoval of shellfish from unsanitary beds and their deposit on\nunpolluted grounds;\n 8. To enforce all laws relating to lands under water which have been\nor shall be designated, surveyed and mapped out pursuant to law as\noyster beds or shellfish grounds and to grant leases of such lands,\nbelonging to the state, for shellfish culture, according to law;\n 9. To conduct, manage and control all hatching and biological\nstations, game farms, game refuges, rearing stations and public hunting\nand fishing grounds owned or operated by the state;\n 10. To enforce all provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Law and\nregulations pursuant thereto, and all laws relating to fish, wildlife,\nprotected insects, shellfish, crustacea and game;\n 11. To settle or compromise in its discretion any action or cause of\naction to recover a penalty under the provisions of this chapter as it\nmay deem advantageous to the state;\n 12. To grant refunds of moneys erroneously received by the department,\nwithin two years of receipt thereof and upon satisfactory proof of\nentitlement, which refunds, upon approval of the commissioner and audit\nby the State Comptroller, shall be paid from any moneys available to the\ndepartment in the Conservation fund.\n 13. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to regulate the\npossession, transportation, sale, barter and purchase of Pacific salmon\nand parts thereof; and to require permits or otherwise regulate the\nsale, barter and purchase of raw or unprocessed Pacific salmon eggs.\n 14. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the\ncommissioner may designate no more than eight days in each year that\nshall be effective in every administrative region of the department, as\nfree sport fishing days during which any person may, without having a\nsport fishing license and without the payment of any fee, exercise the\nprivileges of a holder of a sport fishing license, subject to all of the\nlimitations, restrictions, conditions, laws, rules and regulations\napplicable to the holder of a sport fishing license. Free sport fishing\ndays shall be designated in a manner determined by the department to\nbest provide public notice thereof and to maximize public participation\ntherein, so as to promote the recreational opportunities afforded by\nsport fishing.\n 15. To identify, manage and conserve plants, animals and ecological\ncommunities that are rare in New York state, located on state-owned\nlands under the jurisdiction of the department.\n 16. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, to authorize\nfree sport fishing clinics. A free sport fishing clinic shall include,\nbut not be limited to, instruction provided by employees of the\ndepartment or its designee in recreational angling, including its\nbenefits and values, and may also include instruction and other\ninformation relevant to an understanding of fisheries management, ethics\nand aquatic ecology and habitat. No license or recreational marine\nfishing registration is required to take fish by angling while\nparticipating in a fishing clinic conducted by the department or its\ndesignee that has been designated by the commissioner as a free sport\nfishing clinic. Such clinics shall be implemented consistent with\ndepartment standards and in a manner determined by the department to\nbest provide public notice thereof and to maximize public participation\ntherein, so as to promote the recreational opportunities afforded by\nsport fishing. Further, the commissioner may designate additional\nfishing events organized through the department that provide physical or\nemotional rehabilitation for veterans, as defined in subdivision three\nof section one of the veterans' services law, or active duty members of\nthe armed forces of the United States. No license or recreational marine\nfishing registration shall be required for such veterans or active duty\nmembers to take fish by angling while participating in these events.\n 17. To prepare or cause to be prepared voluntary habitat stamps and\nfurnish such stamps annually to license issuing agents and officers for\nsale and issuance in the same manner as licenses and other types of\nstamps. The department shall, by rule, establish the fee for the habitat\nstamp which shall be no less than five dollars plus an additional amount\nfor the issuing agent or officer. The purchase of a stamp is voluntary\nand a stamp need not be possessed in order to take fish or wildlife.\n 18. To provide a mechanism for a one dollar voluntary contribution to\nthe venison donation account on all hunting and fishing license\napplications administered by the department. The option to utilize the\nmechanism shall be voluntary and the mechanism need not be utilized in\norder to process hunting or fishing license applications.\n