§ 113-169.3. Licenses for fish dealers.
§ 113‑169.3. Licenses for fish dealers.
(a) Eligibility. A fish dealer license shall be issued to aNorth Carolina resident upon receipt of a proper application at any office ofthe Division together with all license fees including the total number of dealercategories set forth in this section. The license shall be issued in the nameof the applicant and shall include all dealer categories on the license.
(b) Application for License. Applications shall not beaccepted from persons ineligible to hold a license issued by the Division,including any applicant whose license is suspended or revoked on the date ofthe application. The applicant shall be provided with a copy of the applicationmarked received. The copy shall serve as the fish dealer's license until thelicense issued by the Division is received, or the Division determines that theapplicant is ineligible to hold a license. Where an applicant does not have anestablished location for transacting the fisheries business within the State,the license application shall be denied unless the applicant satisfies theSecretary that his residence, or some other office or address within the State,is a suitable substitute for an established location and that records kept inconnection with licensing, sale, and purchase requirements will be availablefor inspection when necessary. Fish dealers' licenses are issued on a fiscalyear basis upon payment of a fee as set forth herein upon proof, satisfactoryto the Secretary, that the license applicant is a North Carolina resident.
(c) License Requirement. Any person subject to the licensingrequirements of this section is a fish dealer. Any person subject to thelicensing requirements of this section shall obtain a separate license for eachphysical location conducting activities required to be licensed under thissection. Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for anyperson not licensed pursuant to this Article:
(1) To buy fish for resale from any person involved in acommercial fishing operation that takes any species of fish from coastalfishing waters. For purposes of this subdivision, a retailer who purchases fishfrom a fish dealer shall not be liable if the fish dealer has not complied withthe licensing requirements of this section;
(2) To sell fish to the public; or
(3) To sell to the public any species of fish under theauthority of the Commission taken from coastal fishing waters.
(d) Exceptions to License Requirements. The Commission mayadopt rules to implement this subsection including rules to clarify the statusof the listed classes of exempted persons, require submission of statisticaldata, and require that records be kept in order to establish compliance withthis section. Any person not licensed pursuant to this section is exempt fromthe licensing requirements of this section if all fish handled within anyparticular licensing category meet one or more of the following requirements:
(1) The fish are sold by persons whose dealings in fish areprimarily educational, scientific, or official, and who have been issued apermit by the Division that authorizes the educational, scientific, or officialagency to sell fish taken or processed in connection with research ordemonstration projects;
(2) The fish are sold by individual employees of fish dealerswhen transacting the business of their duly licensed employer;
(3) The fish are shipped to a person by a dealer from withoutthe State;
(4) The fish are of a kind the sale of which is regulatedexclusively by the Wildlife Resources Commission; or
(5) The fish are purchased from a licensed dealer.
(e) Application Fee for New Fish Dealers. An applicant for anew fish dealer license shall pay a nonrefundable application fee of fiftydollars ($50.00) in addition to the license category fees set forth in thissection.
(f) License Category Fees. Every fish dealer subject tolicensing requirements shall secure an annual license at each establishedlocation for each of the following activities transacted there, upon payment ofthe fee set out:
(1) Dealing in oysters: $50.00;
(2) Dealing in scallops: $50.00;
(3) Dealing in clams: $50.00;
(4) Dealing in hard or soft crabs: $50.00;
(5) Dealing in shrimp, including bait: $50.00;
(6) Dealing in finfish, including bait: $50.00;
(7) Operating menhaden or other fish‑dehydrating or oil‑extractingprocessing plants: $50.00; or
(8) Consolidated license (all categories): $300.00.
(f1) Other License Categories. Any person subject to fishdealer licensing requirements who deals in fish not included in the categorieslisted in subsection (f) of this section shall secure a finfish dealer license.The Commission may adopt rules implementing and clarifying the dealercategories of this section. Bait operations shall be licensed under either thefinfish or shrimp dealer license categories.
(g) Repealed by Session Laws 1998‑225, s. 4.18.
(h) Replacement License. If the licensee fails to comply withthe requirements of G.S. 113‑168.1(h), the license is revoked.
(i) Unlawful Purchase and Sale of Fish. It is unlawful for afish dealer to purchase, possess, or sell fish taken from coastal fishingwaters in violation of this Subchapter or the rules adopted by the Commissionimplementing this Subchapter. It is unlawful for a fish dealer to buy or acceptfish unless, at the time of the transaction:
(1) The seller or donor presents a current and valid license tosell the type of fish being offered;
(2) The seller or donor presents the commercial fishing vesselregistration of the vessel that was used to take the fish being offered; and
(3) The dealer records the transaction consistent with therecord‑keeping requirements of G.S. 113‑168.2(i).
(j) Transfer Prohibited. Any fish dealer license issued underthis section is nontransferable. It is unlawful to use a fish dealer licenseissued to another person in the sale or attempted sale of fish or for alicensee to lend or transfer a fish dealer license for the purpose ofcircumventing the requirements of this section. (1997‑400, s. 5.1; 1998‑225, s. 4.18; 2001‑213, s.2.)