By: Lozano (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 2218

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 15, 2019; April 17, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Water & Rural Affairs; May 20, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 20, 2019, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2218 By: Creighton

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to creating a Class C menhaden boat license; imposing a fee; requiring a license.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 47.008, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) A boat may not be used for the purpose of catching, storing, and transporting menhaden in tidal water unless the owner of the boat has acquired:

(1) a Class A menhaden boat license; or

(2) a Class C menhaden boat license.

(a-1) The holder of a Class C menhaden boat license may not take or harvest from the public water of the state more than 300 pounds a day of menhaden or an amount set by the department.

(d) The commission shall set the license fee for each [Class B] menhaden boat for each yearly period:

(1) in an amount not less than $2,000 for a Class A menhaden boat license;

(2) in an amount not to exceed $50 for a Class B menhaden boat license; and

(3) at $420 for a Class C menhaden boat license.

SECTION 2. Section 47.038, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), nets [Nets] or purse seines used for catching menhaden may not be:

(1) less than one and one-half inch stretched mesh, excluding the bag;

(2) used in any bay, river, pass, or tributary, nor within one mile of any barrier, jetty, island, or pass, nor within one-half mile offshore in the Gulf of Mexico; or

(3) used for the purpose of taking edible aquatic products for the purpose of barter, sale, or exchange.

(a-1) The holder of a Class C menhaden boat license issued under Section 47.008 may use a cast net, as defined by the commission, to catch menhaden in any coastal bay, river, or tributary landward from the shoreline of the state along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

SECTION 3. Section 47.008(c), Parks and Wildlife Code, is repealed.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.

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