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House Bill 4593 |
House Author: Eiland |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Lucio |
Previous law defined Texas-produced shrimp to mean shrimp harvested from coastal waters and produced within the borders of Texas. House Bill 4593 amends the Agriculture Code to redefine Texas-produced shrimp to mean wild-caught shrimp commercially harvested from coastal waters by a shrimp boat licensed by the Parks and Wildlife Department. The bill reduces the number of members on the shrimp advisory committee from 10 to 9, removing the member of the Texas shrimp aquaculture industry. Other advisory committee changes replace the retail fish dealer with a wild-caught shrimp dealer and replace the wholesale fish dealer with a wholesale wild-caught shrimp dealer. The bill removes a requirement that the Department of Agriculture assess and collect a surcharge on the annual license fee for shrimp aquaculture facilities to fund the Texas shrimp marketing assistance program. It makes a conforming change to the Parks and Wildlife Code to reflect the elimination of that surcharge.