By Brown S.B. No. 733
74R5986 PAM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to regulating the taking, purchase, and sale of certain
1-3 fish.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 66.001, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 66.001. DEFINITIONS <SALT AND FRESH WATER DEFINED>. In
1-8 this chapter:
1-9 (1) "Fresh water" means all lakes, lagoons, rivers,
1-10 and streams to their mouths, but does not include coastal or tidal
1-11 water.
1-12 (2) "Prepared feed" means a pelleted ration, 20
1-13 percent or more of which consists of plant protein or grain
1-14 by-products.
1-15 (3) "Salt water" means all coastal or tidal water.
1-16 SECTION 2. Sections 66.020(a), (b), and (d), Parks and
1-17 Wildlife Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-18 (a) It is unlawful for any person to buy or offer to buy,
1-19 sell or offer to sell, possess for the purpose of sale, transport
1-20 or ship for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange bass of the
1-21 genus Micropterus, blue marlin, <cobia,> crappie, flathead catfish,
1-22 jewfish, <king mackerel,> longbill spearfish, muskellunge, northern
1-23 pike, red drum, sailfish, sauger, snook, <Spanish mackerel,>
1-24 spotted sea trout, striped bass, tarpon, <wahoo,> walleye, white
2-1 bass, white marlin, yellow bass, or hybrids of any of those fish.
2-2 (b) This section applies to the possession, transportation,
2-3 sale, or purchase of any fish described by Subsection (a) of this
2-4 section without regard to where the fish was taken, caught, or
2-5 raised, but does not apply to:
2-6 (1) the transportation or possession of fish taken,
2-7 caught, or raised outside this state and transported by common
2-8 carrier without being unloaded from outside this state to a point
2-9 of delivery outside this state;
2-10 (2) fish raised and sold by a licensed Texas fish
2-11 farmer if <in a private pond in this state and> marked and
2-12 identified as required under Chapter 134, Agriculture Code; or
2-13 (3) the lawful importation by the holder of a Texas
2-14 finfish import license into this state from another state or
2-15 foreign country of farm <lawfully> raised red drum, bass of the
2-16 genus Micropterus, crappie, flathead catfish, striped bass, white
2-17 bass, or a hybrid of any of those fish that have been continuously
2-18 fed a prepared feed as a primary food source or lawfully taken,
2-19 caught, or raised <bass of the genus Micropterus,> blue marlin,
2-20 <cobia, crappie, flathead catfish,> jewfish, <king mackerel,>
2-21 longbill spearfish, muskellunge, northern pike, sailfish, sauger,
2-22 snook <Spanish mackerel>, spotted sea trout, <striped bass,>
2-23 tarpon, <wahoo,> walleye, <white bass,> white marlin, yellow bass,
2-24 or a hybrid of any of those fish, if the fish are transported or
2-25 sold when not alive and are tagged, invoiced, packaged, and labeled
2-26 under regulations of the commission and if the license holder
2-27 complies with any requirements the commission may establish by
3-1 proclamation that the fish enter the stream of commerce for sale in
3-2 this state in a condition allowing ready identification of the
3-3 species, including a requirement that the fish come into the state
3-4 with the head and tail intact and tagged and a requirement that an
3-5 invoice accompany all imported fish regulated by this section
3-6 through each sales transaction, including transactions at the place
3-7 of the final sale to the consumer.
3-8 (d) It is unlawful for any person to receive directly from
3-9 another state or foreign country, import, transport, or sell bass
3-10 of the genus Micropterus, blue marlin, <cobia,> crappie, flathead
3-11 catfish, jewfish, <king mackerel,> longbill spearfish, muskellunge,
3-12 northern pike, red drum, sailfish, sauger, snook, <Spanish
3-13 mackerel,> spotted sea trout, striped bass, tarpon, <wahoo,>
3-14 walleye, white bass, white marlin, yellow bass, or a hybrid of any
3-15 of those fish unless the person holds a Texas finfish import
3-16 license issued by the department.
3-17 SECTION 3. Section 79.002, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
3-18 amended to read as follows:
3-19 Sec. 79.002. Authority. The <New regulatory authority by
3-20 the department may occur only if federal regulation in state waters
3-21 is proposed and under no other circumstances. When necessary to
3-22 retain jurisdiction of resources in the state, and only then, the>
3-23 department may follow procedures outlined in Section 12.027 or
3-24 Chapter 61 of this code in promulgating rules for harvest of any
3-25 and all species of marine life subject to the Fishery Conservation
3-26 and Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C.A. Section 1801 et seq.). The
3-27 commission may delegate to the director the duties,
4-1 responsibilities, and authority provided by this chapter for taking
4-2 immediate action as necessary to modify state coastal fisheries
4-3 regulations in order to provide for consistency with federal
4-4 regulations in the exclusive economic zone.
4-5 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-6 SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
4-7 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
4-8 An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
4-9 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
4-10 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
4-11 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
4-12 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
4-13 before that date.
4-14 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.