LCO No. 3236 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 929
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3236
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING PE NALTIES FOR THE TAKING OF STRIPED
BASS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 26-159a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
To establish and manage populations of marine and anadromous 3
finfish and marine arthropods and to facilitate the establishment of 4
unified coast-wide regulations in accordance with the provisions of 5
fishery management plans developed pursuant to the Fishery 6
Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-265, as 7
amended) or other regional fishery management authorities, the 8
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may adopt 9
regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 governing 10
possession of such species, sport fishing and commercial fishing by 11
persons fishing for such species in the waters of this state or landing 12
such species in this state, regardless of where such species were taken. 13
Such regulations may: (1) Establish the open and closed seasons; (2) 14
establish hours, days or periods during the open season when fishing 15 Raised Bill No. 929
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shall not be permitted in designated waters or areas for all or limited 16
species by all or limited methods; (3) establish legal lengths; (4) prescribe 17
the legal methods of sport fishing for all or limited species; (5) establish 18
for sport fishing the daily creel limit, the season creel limit and the 19
possession limit; (6) restrict sport fishing from boats and other floating 20
devices and sport fishing from designated areas; (7) determine the 21
species which may be taken by commercial fishing methods, provided 22
striped bass, Atlantic salmon, other anadromous salmon, brown trout, 23
rainbow trout and brook trout may only be taken by angling and, if 24
taken in the waters of this state, shall not be sold, bartered, exchanged 25
or offered for sale, barter or exchange; (8) prescribe the legal methods of 26
commercial fishing; (9) determine the specifications, materials and 27
dimensions of nets, seines, fykes, traps, pounds, trawls, trolling gear, 28
long lines, set lines and other commercial fishing gear used in the waters 29
of this state; (10) regulate the use and marking of commercial fishing 30
gear, including boats used to conduct activities authorized pursuant to 31
section 26-142a; (11) determine the number and size of finfish and 32
marine arthropods which may be taken by commercial fishermen; (12) 33
determine the total number and pounds of finfish and marine 34
arthropods, by species, which may be taken by commercial fishing 35
methods or for commercial purposes during a calendar year or lesser 36
period; (13) prohibit the landing of protected species; (14) for a fishing 37
derby or tournament, require that such activity be registered and that 38
an accurate report of all fish tagged, marked and taken, time spent on 39
an area and any other data required by the commissioner for 40
management purposes be returned within a specified period of time. 41
Any person who violates any regulation concerning sport fishing 42
adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 and this section 43
shall have committed an infraction and may pay the fine by mail or 44
plead not guilty under the provisions of section 51-164n. [, except that 45
any person who violates any regulation adopted in accordance with the 46
provisions of chapter 54 and this section pertaining to the taking of 47
striped bass shall be fined one hundred dollars for each fish taken or 48
possessed for the first violation, be fined two hundred dollars for each 49
fish taken or possessed for the second violation and be fined five 50 Raised Bill No. 929
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hundred dollars for each fish taken or possessed or imprisoned not more 51
than thirty days, or both for each subsequent violation. No part of any 52
fine imposed for the taking or possession of any striped bass in violation 53
of any such regulation shall be remitted.] 54
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 26-159a
Statement of Purpose:
To make the enforcement of striped bass fishing regulations more
effective.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]