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An Act To Bring Equity to the Sea Urchin License Fees
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6748, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. WW, §19, is further amended to read:
 
4. Fee. The fee for a handfishing sea urchin license is $111$2.50 multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6748-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. WW, §20, is further amended to read:
 
4. Fee. The fee for a sea urchin dragging license is $111$2.50 multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone.
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §6748-D, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. WW, §21, is further amended to read:
 
4. Fee. The fee for a sea urchin hand-raking and trapping license is $111$2.50 multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone.
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §6749-Q, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1995, c. 392, §8, is further amended to read:
 
1. Handfishing sea urchin license. One hundred and sixty dollarsThree dollars and sixty cents multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone on a sea urchin handharvesting license;
Sec. 5. 12 MRSA §6749-Q, sub-§1-A, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 392, §8, is amended to read:
 
1-A. Sea urchin hand-raking and trapping license. One hundred and sixty dollarsThree dollars and sixty cents multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone on a sea urchin hand-raking and trapping license;
Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §6749-Q, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 740, §3, is amended to read:
 
2. Sea urchin dragging license. One hundred and sixty dollarsThree dollars and sixty cents multiplied by the total number of open fishing days in the applicable zone on a sea urchin dragging license;
 
SUMMARY
Under current law, the holder of a sea urchin fishing license pays the same license fee to fish for sea urchins in either Zone 1 or Zone 2 despite a significant difference between the zones in the number of days open to sea urchin fishing. This bill restructures the current annual fee for sea urchin fishing licenses to a fee based on the number of days available for the license holder to fish for sea urchins.