§ 20-2.1-4 - Licenses – General provisions governing licenses issued.
SECTION 20-2.1-4
§ 20-2.1-4 Licenses – Generalprovisions governing licenses issued. – (a) Licenses and vessel declarations required. It shall be unlawful forany person in Rhode Island or the waters of the state: (1) to catch, harvest,or to hold or transport for sale in Rhode Island any marine finfish,crustacean, or shellfish without a license issued under the provisions of thistitle, provided, however, that marine finfish, crustaceans, or shellfish may betransported by a duly licensed dealer if the marine finfish, crustaceans, orshellfish has previously been sold by a duly licensed person, or (2) to engagein commercial fishing from a vessel unless the vessel has been declared acommercial fishing vessel as provided in § 20-2.1-5(2) and has a decalaffixed to it or is displaying a plate.
(b) Validation of license. No license issued underthis chapter shall be valid until signed by the licensee in his or her ownhandwriting.
(c) Transfer or loan of license. Unless otherwiseprovided for in this title, a license issued to a person under this chaptershall be good only for the person to whom it is issued; and any transfer orloan of the license shall be grounds for revocation or suspension of thatlicense pursuant to § 20-2-13.
(d) Reporting and inspections condition of license.All persons granted a license under the provisions of this chapter are deemedto have consented to the reporting requirements applicable to commercialfishing actively that are established pursuant to this title and to thereasonable inspection of any boat, vessel, net, rake, bullrake, tong, dredge,trap, pot, vehicle, structure, or other contrivance used regularly for thekeeping or storage of fish, shellfish or crustaceans, and any creel, box,locker, basket, crate, blind, fishing, or paraphernalia used in conjunctionwith the licensed activity by persons duly authorized by the director. Theprovisions of § 20-1-8(a)(7)(ii) shall apply to these inspections.
(e) Possession, inspection, and display of license.Every person holding a license issued under this chapter shall have thatlicense in his or her possession at all times while engaged in the licensedactivity and shall present the license for inspection on demand by anyauthorized person. Any person who shall refuse to present a license on demandshall be liable to the same punishment as if that person were fishing without alicense.
(f) Application for license. Every person entitled toa license under this chapter shall file an application with the director or thedirector's authorized agent, properly sworn to, stating the name, age,occupation, place of residence, mailing address, weight, height, and color ofhair and eyes of the applicant for whom the license is wanted and providing anyother information that may be required pursuant to rule in order to effectuatethe purposes of this chapter, and pay the fees as provided in this chapter. Alllicenses issued under this chapter shall be valid only for the calendar year ofissuance, unless otherwise specified in this chapter or in the rules andregulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. If the person will be either theowner or the operator as provided in § 20-2.1-5(5) of a commercial fishingvessel, the person shall declare on the application for each commercial fishingvessel, the vessel name, length, horsepower, registration number, federalpermit number if any, gear type(s), the principal fishery or fisheries, andaverage projected crew size.
(g) Application deadline, grace period for renewals, andlimitation on appeals after the deadlines. For commercial marine fishinglicenses provided for in §§ 20-2.1-5 and 20-2.1-6, the followingprovisions shall apply: (1) unless otherwise specified in this chapter, anindividual qualified to obtain a license must submit an application to thedepartment of environmental management no later than February 28 of each year;license application shall be deemed valid if submitted to the department priorto the close of regular office hours on February 28, or if postmarked byFebruary 28; (2) unless otherwise specified in this title, no new or renewedlicenses shall be issued after February 28 of each year, unless an applicanthas submitted an application by the February 28 deadline required by thissection; (3) the department shall notify all license holders, in writing,regarding the December 31 expiration and the February 28 renewal deadline nolater than November 1 of each year; (4) for renewals of existing commercialmarine fishing licenses that expire on December 31 of the immediately precedingyear, there shall be a sixty (60) day grace period from the renewal deadline ofFebruary 28; licenses issued during the grace period shall be subject to a latefee in the amount of two-hundred dollars ($200) in addition to all otherapplicable fees; (5) except as provided for in subsection (g)(4) the departmentshall not accept any applications submitted after February 28; and (6) thereshall be no right to request reconsideration by the commercial fishing licensereview board or appeal to the department of environmental management'sadministrative adjudication division (AAD) for the rejection of any new licenseapplications submitted after February 28, or any license renewal applicationssubmitted after the sixty (60) day grace period, except in the case of adocumented medical hardship as defined herein.
(h) Lost or destroyed licenses and duplicate licenses.Whoever loses or by a mistake or accident destroys his or her certificate of acommercial marine fisheries license may, upon application to the departmentaccompanied by an affidavit fully setting forth the circumstances of the loss,receive a duplicate certificate for the remainder of the year covered by theoriginal certificate, for a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for each duplicatelicense.
(1) License revocation. The license of any person whohas violated the provisions of this chapter, or rules adopted pursuant to theprovisions of this chapter or rules and regulations that pertain to commercialfishing and reporting issued pursuant to this title, may be suspended orrevoked by the director as the director shall determine by regulation. Anyperson aggrieved by an order of suspension or revocation may appeal this orderin accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter35 of title 42.
(2) False statements and violations; cancellation oflicense. Any person who willfully makes a false representation as tobirthplace or requirements of identification or of other facts required in anapplication for license under this chapter, or is otherwise directly orindirectly a party to a false representation, shall be punished by a fine ofnot more than fifty dollars ($50.00). A license obtained by any person througha false representation shall be null and void, and the license shall besurrendered immediately to the director. No license shall be issued under thistitle to this person for a period of one year from the date of imposition of apenalty under this section.
(3) False, altered, forged, or counterfeit licenses.Every person who falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits, or who causesto be made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, a license issued under thischapter or title or purporting to be a license issued under this chapter ortitle, or who shall have in his or her possession such a license knowing it tobe false, altered, forged, or counterfeit, is guilty of a misdemeanor and issubject to the penalties prescribed in § 20-1-16.
(j) Expiration. Unless otherwise specified in thistitle, all licenses issued under this chapter shall be annual and shall expireon December 31 of each year. It shall be unlawful for any person to fishcommercially in Rhode Island waters on an expired license; and the applicationand grace periods set forth in subsections (g)(1) and (g)(4) above shall notextend the validity of any expired license.
(k) Notice of change of address. Whenever any personholding any commercial fishing license shall move from the address named in hisor her last application, that person shall within ten (10) days subsequent tomoving notify the office of boat registration and licensing of his or herformer and current address.