§ 71-0907 — Powers and duties of enforcement officers

§ 71-0907. Powers and duties of enforcement officers.\n 1. All officers and employees, designated by the commissioner, and all\npeace officers, when acting pursuant to their special duties and all\npolice officers, shall enforce all laws of the state relating to fish,\nwildlife, shellfish, crustacea, protected insects and game. Such\nofficers may include conservation officers, regional and assistant\nregional conservation officers, special game protectors, inspectors of\nthe office of parks and recreation, bay constables, and forest rangers.\n 2. All police officers, and all peace officers, when acting pursuant\nto their special duties, and all officers and employees of the\ndepartment, as may be designated by the commissioner, shall enforce the\nprovisions of title 21 of article 11 of the Fish and Wildlife Law, and\nthe provisions of article 71 applicable thereto, except that the\ndepartment and its enforcement officers are not obligated to enforce the\nprovisions of section 11-2113 prohibiting trespass upon lands privately\nowned, other than licensed game preserves and shooting preserves, unless\nthe trespass committed consists of (a) hunting, fishing or trapping or\ndisturbing wildlife; or (b) cutting, pulling or digging of trees; or (c)\nthe removal of trees.\n 3. The officers named in subdivision 1 shall enforce the provisions of\nthis chapter listed in section 71-0501 or under titles 5 through 15\ninclusive and title 33 of this article or of judgments obtained for\nviolation thereof, and shall have, particularly, the powers stated in\nsubdivision 4. Peace officers shall have the same powers as conservation\nofficers, and state police under the Fish and Wildlife Law, except the\npower to search without warrant.\n 4. Officers named in subdivision 1 shall have power:\n a. To execute all warrants and search warrants issued for violation of\nthe Fish and Wildlife Law and to serve subpoenas issued for examination,\ninvestigation or trial of offenses against any of its provisions;\n b. To search without search warrant any boat or vehicle of any kind,\nany box, locker, basket, creel, crate, game bag, package or any\ncontainer of any nature and the contents of any building other than a\ndwelling whenever they have cause to believe that any provision of this\narticle or of any law for the protection of fish, shellfish, crustacea,\nwildlife, game or protected insects has been or is being violated, and\nto use such force as may be necessary for the purpose of examination and\nsearch;\n c. To search any dwelling and its contents, provided they have a\nsearch warrant to do so;\n d. To arrest without warrant any person committing in their presence a\nmisdemeanor under the provisions of this chapter listed in section\n71-0501 or under titles 5 through 15 inclusive and title 33 of this\narticle and to take such person immediately before a magistrate having\njurisdiction for trial;\n e. To seize as evidence without warrant any fish, shellfish,\ncrustacea, wildlife, game, or parts thereof, protected insects or\nplumage as defined in section 11-1729, whenever they have cause to\nbelieve it is possessed or transported in violation of law, or it bears\nevidence of illegal taking, or it is possessed or transported under\ncircumstances making the possession or transportation presumptive\nevidence of illegal taking;\n f. To seize as evidence without warrant\n (1) Any net, trap or other device constituting a nuisance as defined\nin section 71-0915;\n (2) Any net, trap or device other than a boat, a vehicle, or aircraft\nor a firearm when they have cause to believe that its possession or use\nis in violation of any provision of the Fish and Wildlife Law or\nregulation pursuant thereto;\n (3) Any firearm, when they have cause to believe that it has been used\nin a violation of the Fish and Wildlife Law constituting a misdemeanor\ninvolving the illegal taking or attempting to take wild deer;\n (4) Any rakes, tongs, dredges, or device other than a boat or vehicle\nused, or in possession for purpose of use, for the taking of shellfish\nin violation of subdivisions 1 or 2 of section 13-0309. For the\npurposes of this paragraph "device" includes a bird, dog, or other\nanimal used in or as an aid in taking fish or wildlife, any jack light,\nspot light or other artificial light other than a headlight attached in\nproper position to a motor vehicle, any hunting appliance or apparatus\nand any fishing or netting gear or tackle. This paragraph does not\nlimit any power of seizure pursuant to warrant.\n (5) Any boat or vehicle, when they have probable cause to believe it\nhas been used for the taking of shellfish in violation of subdivision 2\nor 3 of section 13-0309 of this chapter by a person possessing, at the\ntime of such use, commercial shellfish harvesting gear or shellfish in\nexcess of two pecks. For the purposes of this subparagraph "commercial\nshellfish harvesting gear" shall mean rakes, tongs, dredges and other\ndevices commonly used to harvest shellfish for commercial purposes.\n 5. To retain custody of and provide for the safekeeping of any thing\nseized as provided in paragraph e or f of subdivision 4 of this section,\nor deposit it for safekeeping with any police officer, as he deems\nappropriate, subject to regulations of the department, or of the\nSuperintendent of State Police in the case of a member of the state\npolice, and subject to order of any court having jurisdiction, until\ndetermination of any prosecution, civil or criminal, arising from the\nviolation or alleged violation with respect to which they are evidence.\n 6. No officer named in subdivision 1 shall compromise or settle out of\ncourt any civil liability for any violation of the Fish and Wildlife\nLaw.\n 7. No person shall fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or\ndirective of any conservation officer or other person duly empowered to\nenforce all laws of the state relating to fish, wildlife, shellfish,\ncrustacea, protected insects and game.\n 8. Notwithstanding section 13-0334 of this chapter to the contrary, a.\nwhere a commercial fishing vessel, lawfully operating under the fishing\npermits of another state: (1) encounters or is forecasted to encounter\nunsafe weather conditions defined as high winds thirty-five knots or\ngreater or waves ten feet or higher or ice or other adverse condition\nthat make the continuation of the voyage unsafe and poses a risk to life\nand property, or (2) experiences a mechanical problem, that makes the\ncontinuation of the voyage unsafe and poses a risk to life and property\nincluding compromised hull integrity or pump failures or (3) experiences\na significant medical emergency which requires immediate medical\nattention necessary to protect the health of any person on board, or (4)\nexperiences loss of essential gear such as support systems that renders\nthe vessel unable to remain at sea said commercial fishing vessel may\ndock at a New York port. A sinking vessel or a vessel leaking oil or\nfuel may be otherwise directed when the safety of persons is maintained\nand the vessel poses a significant threat to the waters of New York. The\ncommercial fishing vessel may be required by the department to\nindependently verify the reason for the unscheduled dockage with a\nmechanic deemed qualified by New York state, the National Weather\nService or a medical professional, as appropriate. b. The fishing vessel\nshall immediately notify the department and the permitting state as soon\nas the danger is known and communication signals allow. The commercial\nfishing vessel shall provide the department with: (1) details on the\nvessel including the vessel captain's name; (2) identity of the\npermitting state; (3) the nature of the problem; (4) identity of the\nintended docking location, estimated time of arrival, and quantities and\ntypes of fish on board and, (5) a call back phone number or other method\nof contact. c. The commercial fishing vessel shall not offload cargo\nwithout the express authorization of and supervision by department\npersonnel. Authorization to offload fish may be granted where the fish\non board the vessel will become unmarketable due to the duration of the\nunscheduled dockage. Authorization may be limited according to the\nwillingness of the permitting state to accept the fish under that\nstate's fish allocation.\n