AN ACT CONCERNING NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 26-143a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

All fyke, trap or pound nets shall be buoyed, and the buoy shall bear the registration or license number issued to the owner in figures at least six inches long and each stroke thereof not less than one-half inch wide. The figures shall be painted in black on a light background. The buoy bearing the identification of the owner shall be maintained in a conspicuous place at or near the bowl or heart of the fyke, trap or pound net. [All] The terminal float at both ends of gill nets, seines or similar devices shall [have attached thereto a metal tag, furnished by the commissioner, bearing] be legibly and durably marked or branded with the license number of the owner in characters not less than three- quarters of an inch in height. All boats used to set or tend lobster pots, gill nets, seines, traps, fykes, pounds, eel pots, otter trawls, beam trawls, balloon trawls, or similar devices licensed or registered under the provisions of section 26-142a, shall display in a conspicuous position a license or registration flag furnished by the commissioner.

Sec. 2. Section 26-159c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

Prior to the adoption of any regulation under subsection (d) of section 26-142a or section 26-159a, the commissioner or his designated representative shall conduct a public hearing or hearings in those coastal areas where persons substantially affected by such regulation and having an interest therein may be heard. [The commissioner shall cause notice of such hearing or hearings to be published at least once not more than thirty days and not fewer than ten days before the date set for such hearing or hearings in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in those areas which may be affected by such regulation.]

Sec. 3. Section 26-27 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), (c), (e), [or] (f) or (g) of this section and other provisions of this chapter providing specific license exemption, no person shall take, hunt or trap, or shall attempt to take, hunt or trap, or assist in taking, hunting or trapping, any wild bird or mammal and no person more than sixteen years of age shall take, attempt to take, or assist in taking any fish or bait species in the inland waters or marine district by any method or land marine species in the state regardless of where taken, without first having obtained a license as provided in this chapter. No person under sixteen years of age shall hunt or trap, except as provided in section 26-38.

(b) Any landowner who has a domiciliary residence in this state, his spouse or lineal descendants may hunt, trap or fish on land owned by him or on land leased by him and on which he is actually domiciled, which land is not used for club, fishing or hunting purposes, without a license, subject to the provisions of this chapter.

(c) No fishing license shall be required for any person who is rowing a boat or operating the motor of a boat from which other persons are taking or attempting to take fish.

(d) The taking of fish and bait species as herein provided shall be regarded as sport fishing and the taking or landing of such species in the inland waters or marine district by commercial methods for commercial purposes shall be governed by other provisions of this chapter.

(e) No fishing license shall be required for any resident of the state who is participating in a fishing derby authorized in writing by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection provided (1) no fees are charged for such derby, (2) such derby has a duration of one day or less and (3) such derby is sponsored by a nonprofit civic service organization. Such organization shall be limited to one derby in any calendar year.

(f) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection may designate one day in each calendar year when no license shall be required for sport fishing.

(g) No fishing license shall be required for any person who is fishing as a passenger on a party boat, charter boat or head boat registered under section 26-142a and operating solely in the marine district.

Sec. 4. Section 26-28 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the fees for firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping and sport fishing licenses or for the combination thereof shall be as follows: (1) Resident firearms hunting license, fourteen dollars; (2) resident inland waters fishing license, twenty dollars; (3) resident marine waters fishing license, fifteen dollars; (4) resident all-waters fishing license, twenty-five dollars; [(3)] (5) resident combination license to [firearms hunt and] fish in inland waters and firearms hunt, twenty-eight dollars; (6) resident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, thirty dollars; (7) resident combination license to fish in all waters and bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game, issued pursuant to section 26-86c, forty-two dollars; (8) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun/rifle deer permit issued pursuant to section 26-86a and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land, issued pursuant to section 26-48a, fifty-eight dollars; (9) resident archery super sport license to fish in all waters, bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game, issued pursuant to section 26-86c and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land, issued pursuant to section 26-48a, fifty-two dollars; [(4)] (10) resident trapping license, twenty-five dollars; [(5)] (11) resident junior trapping license for persons under sixteen years of age, three dollars; [(6)] (12) junior firearms hunting license, three dollars; [(7)] (13) nonresident firearms hunting license, sixty-seven dollars; [(8)] (14) nonresident inland waters fishing license, forty dollars; [(9)] (15) nonresident inland waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, sixteen dollars; (16) nonresident marine waters fishing license, thirty dollars; (17) nonresident marine waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, twelve dollars; (18) nonresident all-waters fishing license, fifty dollars; [(10)] (19) nonresident combination license to [firearms hunt and] fish in inland waters and firearms hunt, eighty-eight dollars; [and (11)] (20) nonresident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, ninety-five dollars; and (21) nonresident trapping license, two hundred dollars. Persons sixty-five years of age and over who have been residents of this state for not less than one year and who meet the requirements of subsection (b) of section 26-31 may be issued [a lifetime] an annual license to firearms hunt or to fish or combination license to fish and firearms hunt or a license to trap. [without fee.] Persons issued a lifetime license or licenses prior to January 1, 2008, must obtain an annual license or licenses to retain firearms hunting, fishing or trapping privileges. There shall be no fee for annual licenses issued to persons having reached sixty-five years of age or older as of December 31, 2007. The annual fees for licenses issued to persons reaching age sixty-five after December 31, 2007, shall be as follows: (A) To firearms hunt, ten dollars; (B) to fish in all waters, ten dollars; (C) combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, fifteen dollars; and (D) to trap, ten dollars. The issuing agency shall indicate on a combination license the specific purpose for which such license is issued. The town clerk shall retain a recording fee of one dollar for each license issued by him.

(b) Any nonresident residing in one of the New England states or the state of New York may procure a license to hunt or to fish or to hunt and fish for the same fee or fees as a resident of this state if he is a resident of a state the laws of which allow the same privilege to residents of this state.

Sec. 5. Section 26-35 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

Each firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping or sport fishing license or the combination firearms hunting and fishing license, except licenses issued pursuant to subdivisions [(7)] (11) and [(10)] (17) of subsection (a) of section 26-28, as amended by this act, shall expire December thirty-first next following the date of issue and shall not be transferable. No person shall change or alter such a license or loan to another or permit another to have or use such license issued to himself or use any license issued to another. All licenses shall be carried as designated by the commissioner at all times when such licensee is hunting, trapping or sport fishing and shall be produced for examination upon demand of any conservation officer or other employee of the department designated by the commissioner or any other officer authorized to make arrests or the owner or lessee or the agent of any owner or lessee of any land or water upon which such licensed person may be found. Whenever the commissioner has designated any land or water area a wildlife management study area, he may require such licensee to surrender his license upon entering such area and issue to the licensee an arm band, back tag or other identification. The license shall be returned to the licensee upon leaving such area. Each person receiving a license to hunt or to trap shall make an annual report to the commissioner in such form and at such time as may be required by him showing the numbers and kinds of birds and quadrupeds killed or trapped. A firearms hunting or a combination firearms hunting and fishing license shall not authorize the carrying or possession of a pistol or revolver.

Sec. 6. Section 26-46 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

(a) If and when the state of New York, the state of Massachusetts or the state of Rhode Island enacts a similar law granting reciprocal privileges to residents of this state, any person who holds a license to fish in the state of New York, the state of Massachusetts or the state of Rhode Island may fish in waters lying partly in this state and partly in such adjoining state, or in such waters as negotiated by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection of this state and any similar authority in such adjoining state, without a nonresident license to fish as required by this chapter; provided such nonresidents shall be subject to all other provisions of the statutes and the regulations of the commissioner relating to fishing in lakes and ponds.

(b) If and when the state of New York, the state of Massachusetts, the state of New Hampshire, the state of Maine or the state of Rhode Island enacts a similar law granting reciprocal privileges to residents of this state, any nonresident who holds a marine or all-waters fishing license issued by one of the aforementioned states may fish in the marine district or land marine species in Connecticut and is not required to purchase a Connecticut nonresident marine or all-waters license. Such nonresidents shall be subject to all other provisions of the statutes and the regulations of the commissioner relating to fishing in the marine district.

Sec. 7. Subsection (a) of section 26-142a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2008):

(a) For the purposes of this section, an environmental tourism cruise vessel is one which is operated for a fee for the purpose of education and observation and retention of marine and estuarine resources collected under the conditions of the permit issued under this section, except that holders of a permit issued under section 26-60 shall not be required to obtain a permit under this section. No person shall operate, use or attempt to operate or use a vessel for commercial fishing or landing activities authorized by this section unless the commissioner has issued a vessel permit for such vessel to the owner of the vessel. No person shall operate, use or attempt to operate or use a vessel or commercial fishing gear for environmental tourism cruises authorized by this section unless the commissioner has issued an environmental tourism cruise permit for such vessel, including conditions for the use of such fishing gear, to the owner of the vessel. No person shall use or assist in using commercial fishing gear in any water of the state or land in this state any species taken by commercial fishing gear or for commercial purposes, regardless of where such species was taken, unless such person has been licensed by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to use such commercial fishing gear or land such species; except that any person who holds a license to use gill nets, lobster pots, trawl nets, sea scallop dredges, seines, traps, fish pots, fykes, hook and line, long lines or eel pots may, when using such gear, be accompanied and assisted by persons not so licensed. A resident of a state which does not issue commercial licenses to take eels to residents of Connecticut shall not be eligible to obtain a commercial license to take eels in the waters of this state or to land eels in this state. No vessel shall be used to land any finfish, lobsters, crabs, including blue crabs and horseshoe crabs, sea scallops, squid or bait species for sale, barter, exchange, consignment or transportation to any point of sale unless an operator of the vessel is licensed for such purpose, except that any person who holds a commercial fishing license issued by the commissioner to fish by the method used to take such species, regardless of where such species were taken, shall not be required to obtain a landing license. No person shall take or attempt to take lobsters or horseshoe crabs for personal use by hand or by scuba diving or skin diving unless such person has been licensed by the commissioner to take lobsters or horseshoe crabs by such methods. No person shall take or attempt to take finfish for commercial purposes by the use of hook and line, including, but not limited to, rod and reel, hand line, set line, long line, or similar device unless such person has been licensed by the commissioner to use such gear for commercial purposes, except that notwithstanding the issuance of such a license, no person shall take finfish for commercial purposes in the inland district by the use of hook and line. The use of a purse seine or similar device is prohibited. No pound net shall be used to take finfish unless such pound net is registered with the commissioner. Lobsters and blue crabs taken in pound nets shall be released unharmed. No person shall buy for resale finfish, lobsters, crabs, including blue crabs and horseshoe crabs, sea scallops or squid landed in Connecticut from any commercial fisherman unless such buyer and commercial fisherman have been licensed by the commissioner. A licensed commercial fisherman who acts as a seafood dealer may, without holding a seafood dealer license, sell, ship, consign, transfer or barter his or her own catch of finfish, lobsters, crabs, including blue crabs and horseshoe crabs, sea scallops or squid landed in this state. No person shall take blue crabs for commercial purposes except by scoop net, hand line or manually operated and personally attended devices approved by the commissioner and unless such person has been licensed by the commissioner. No person shall operate a charter boat, party boat or head boat for the purpose of fishing unless such boat has been registered for such purpose with the commissioner and such person holds a current passenger-for-hire license issued by the United States Coast Guard. The owner, operator or captain of any such boat may sell the boat's or crew's share of any tuna species if such sale is not prohibited on the basis of species, size or closed season. For the purposes of this chapter, a charter boat, party boat or head boat is a vessel operated for a fee for the purpose of transporting and providing a fishing platform for sport fishermen taking marine species in Connecticut waters or landing marine species at Connecticut ports regardless of where such species are taken. The commissioner may by regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 exempt certain minnow seines, cast nets, scoop nets, traps, eel pots, seines less than thirty feet in length or any similar device used to take bait species and other species for personal use under a sport fishing license. [in the inland district and without a license in the marine district.] No vessel used to take bait species may employ a fish pump. Persons licensed, registered or issued a permit to engage in activities authorized by this subsection shall carry on their persons or in the vessel being used to engage in such activity the permit, license or registration covering such activity.

Statement of Purpose:

To change the method of marking fishing nets, to eliminate newspaper notification of fishing regulations, to establish a marine sport fishing license and impose a license fee for recreational anglers fishing in the marine district, to change fishing license expiration dates, to provide reciprocity with New York and New England states and to change references to the taking of bait species to conform to the new marine sport fishing license requirements.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]