An Act To Clarify and Correct Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Laws
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §10001, sub-§§1-A, 11-A and 28-A are enacted to read:
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §10851, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2017, c. 164, §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §10953, sub-§1-C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2017, c. 475, Pt. A, §20, is amended to read:
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §10955 is enacted to read:
§ 10955. Open seasons for hunting with airbow
Sec. 5. 12 MRSA §11212-A, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 176, §2, is amended to read:
§ 11212-A. Having a loaded firearm or crossbow in a motor vehicle or hunting or shooting from a motor vehicle or motorboat
Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §11403, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by PL 2017, c. 357, §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 7. 12 MRSA §12201, sub-§2, ¶E, as amended by PL 2017, c. 427, §17 and affected by §19, is further amended to read:
Sec. 8. 12 MRSA §12602, last ¶, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read:
A person who violates this section commits a Class E crime. The court shall also impose a fine of $20 for each fish unlawfully possessed, none of which may be suspended. In the case of smelt limits, a person who violates this section commits a Class E crime, and the court shall impose a fine of $20 for each quart over the limit.
Sec. 9. 12 MRSA §12661, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 301, §39, is further amended to read:
Sec. 10. 12 MRSA §12661, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2017, c. 164, §22, is further amended to read:
Sec. 11. 17 MRSA §2263, sub-§1-D, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 144, §3, is amended to read:
summary
This bill changes the inland fisheries and wildlife laws to:
1. Define the terms “airbow,” “crossbow” and “hand-held bow” or “bow” and establish an open season for hunting deer with an airbow during the open firearm season on deer;
2. Specify that lifetime license holders must meet eligibility requirements for hunting with bows and crossbows;
3. Make technical and grammatical corrections to the law regarding having a loaded firearm or crossbow in a motor vehicle or hunting or shooting from a motor vehicle or motorboat;
4. Repeal outdated language regarding carrying a handgun during the regular archery-only season on deer;
5. Clarify that it is only beaver, and no other species, that may be trapped by the holder of a nonresident trapping license who is not a citizen of the United States;
6. Require the court to impose a fine of $20 for each quart of smelts rather than for each fish unlawfully possessed over the limit adopted by the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife by rule; and
7. Require any shack or temporary structure used for ice fishing to be removed by March 31st and, in the laws regarding litter control, amend the definition of the term “abandoned ice-fishing shack.”
