ENROLLED
ACT No. 416
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 668
BY REPRESENTATIVE HILL
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 56:492.1 and to repeal R.S. 56:57.2 as enacted by Act 283 of the 1987 Regular
3 Session of the Louisiana Legislature, R.S. 56:57.2 as enacted by Act 891 of the 1987
4 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, as amended, and R.S. 56:57.4, relative
5 to enforcement of the federal requirement for the use of excluder devices in shrimp
6 trawls; to repeal the prohibition on such enforcement; to require the Louisiana
7 Shrimp Task Force to report to the legislature recommendations for legislation
8 applicable to enforcement of the federal requirements for the use of turtle excluder
9 devices in shrimp trawls used in state waters; to require wildlife agents to wear body
10 cameras; to authorize the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to promulgate rules
11 relative to the use of excluder devices; and to provide for related matters.
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
13 Section 1. R.S. 56:492.1 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
14 ยง492.1. Excluder devices
15 The commission may promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with
16 the Administrative Procedure Act relative to the use, possession, and configuration
17 of devices designed to exclude the take of certain fish and other aquatic life from
18 fishing gear within the territorial waters of the state and in the federal exclusive
19 economic zone.
20 Section 2. R.S. 56:57.2 as enacted by Act 283 of the 1987 Regular Session of the
21 Louisiana Legislature and R.S. 56:57.2 as enacted by Act 891 of the 1987 Regular Session
22 of the Louisiana Legislature, as amended, are hereby repealed in their entirety.
23 Section 3. R.S. 56:57.4 is hereby repealed in its entirety.
24 Section 4. During the time period from June 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018,
25 at all times while enforcing turtle excluder device requirements, a wildlife agent shall wear
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1 an electronic device capable of recording video and audio data or capable of transmitting
2 video and audio data to be recorded remotely. In the event that the electronic device is
3 broken, malfunctioning, powered off, absent, or otherwise unavailable, this Section shall not
4 act as a defense to a violation of law nor shall it prohibit a wildlife agent from making a case,
5 a district attorney or federal prosecutor from prosecuting a violation, or a court from
6 considering all applicable evidence when adjudicating such an offense.
7 Section 5. No later than February 1, 2018, the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force shall
8 submit a written report to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and
9 the Senate Committee on Natural Resources with recommendations for whether or not the
10 use of turtle excluder devices should be enforced in state waters and proposed rules and
11 regulations under which such devices should be enforced in state waters.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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