§ 13-0335 — Food fish; license; prohibited acts

§ 13-0335. Food fish; license; prohibited acts.\n 1. A person who is domiciled in the state may take and land food fish\nfor commercial purposes, upon obtaining a marine commercial food fishing\nlicense, except as prohibited by this chapter, from the waters of the\nmarine and coastal district and may land food fish taken from waters\noutside New York state boundaries for commercial purposes. For purposes\nof this section "commercial purposes" shall mean the taking of food fish\nby any method for subsequent sale, trade or barter or to offer for sale,\ntrade or barter and the taking of food fish when setting, maintaining,\noperating or using nets, except cast nets, not in excess of twenty feet\nin diameter, when operated by hand for the purposes of taking only\nAtlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) and mullets (Mugil spp), for\nrecreational purposes only, seines not larger than thirty feet long or\nfour feet deep or lift nets not larger than sixteen square feet; traps,\nexcept bait traps not more than thirty inches in length; combs; pots; or\nhook and line, except by angling. The fee for such license shall be two\nhundred fifty dollars, and shall cover all persons employed by the\nlicensee while engaged in such employment of commercial fishing.\n 2. A person not domiciled in the state may take food fish, except as\nprohibited by this chapter, from the waters of the marine and coastal\ndistrict and may land food fish taken from outside New York state\nboundaries for commercial purposes upon first obtaining a commercial\nfishing license. The fee for such license shall be one thousand two\nhundred fifty dollars, and shall cover all persons employed by the\nlicensee while engaged in such employment of commercial fishing. Such\nlicenses shall be issued only to persons domiciled in states offering\nreciprocal fishing privileges to persons domiciled in New York state and\nwhich implemented the size limits and other management strategies\nrecommended in fisheries management plans or amendments thereto adopted\nby the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or the regional\nmanagement councils as provided in the Fisheries Conservation and\nManagement Act (16 USC 1800 et seq.) which have been implemented in New\nYork State. Such license shall only be issued during the month of\nJanuary of each year.\n 3. A person may land food fish, except as prohibited by this chapter\nand except blackfish or tautog (tautoga onitis), taken from waters\noutside the marine and coastal district for commercial purposes upon\nfirst obtaining a marine and coastal district food fish landing license.\nThe fee for such marine and coastal district food fish landing license\nshall be five hundred dollars and shall cover all persons employed by\nthe licensee while engaged in such employment of landing food fish.\n 4. Licenses issued under this section shall be non-transferable and\nshall expire on the last day of December of each year. Such licenses\nshall be issued annually and the department shall not limit the number\nof licenses issued. The department may, in its discretion and after an\nopportunity for a hearing, revoke any such license of any person who has\nbeen convicted of a violation of title three of this article or who\nsigns an acknowledgment of such violation for the purpose of effecting a\nsettlement by civil compromise or by stipulation. The application for\nany such license by a person under the age of sixteen shall be signed by\nhis parent or guardian who shall thereby consent to its issuance.\n 5. It shall be unlawful for any person to render food fish into\nfertilizer.\n 6. No person shall intentionally disturb or without the consent of the\nlicensee take or remove fish or crustacea from any legally set or\noperated nets or other commercial gear, or damage, take, remove or\npossess any such net or gear. Possession of any such net or gear without\nthe consent of the licensee shall be considered prima facie evidence of\na violation of this subdivision.\n 7. The holder of any license issued pursuant to this section shall\ndisplay the license and/or have the license available for inspection\naccording to such rules and regulations as the department may\npromulgate.\n 8. The provisions of sections 13-0311, 13-0329, 13-0331 and 13-0333 of\nthis title shall be applicable to lobsters, crabs, shellfish and\nmenhaden and no license therefor shall be required pursuant to this\nsection.\n 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,\na person may, upon obtaining a marine bait permit, take marine bait fish\nand sell such fish as bait at retail only, subject to the following\nrestrictions:\n a. Only Atlantic menhaden, silversides (Minidia spp.) and killifish\n(Fundulus spp.) may be taken and sold pursuant to this subdivision.\n b. Bait fish to be sold pursuant to this subdivision may be taken only\nusing cast nets not larger than twenty feet in diameter, seines not\nlarger than thirty feet in length or four feet in depth, or lift nets\nnot larger than sixteen square feet or bait traps not more than thirty\ninches in length.\n c. Marine bait permits shall be available to any person at a fee of\nfifty dollars, shall be non-transferable, and shall expire on December\nthirty-first of the year of issue and shall identify the business name\nand address of the single retail business at which the bait taken\npursuant to the permit may be sold.\n d. The holder of a marine bait fish permit must be present and have\nthe permit in possession and available for inspection at all times when\nthe bait harvesting privileges of the permit are being exercised.\n