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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3175 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 911 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | William M. Straus |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act authorizing permitting by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:William M. Straus10th Bristol1/20/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3175 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 911 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Straus of Mattapoisett, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 911) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | William M. Straus relative to capturing and trapping furbearing mammals. Environment and |
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| 20 | 20 | | Natural Resources. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1016 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act authorizing permitting by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 Chapter 131 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2amended by striking section 80A in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3section:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4 Section 80A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a person shall not use, |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5set, place, maintain, manufacture or possess any trap for the purpose of capturing furbearing |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6mammals, except nets, box or cage type traps, or quick kill traps as otherwise permitted by law. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7A box or cage type trap is one that confines the whole animal without grasping any part of the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8animal, including Hancock or Bailey’s type live trap for beavers. Traps designed to capture and |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9hold a furbearing mammal by gripping the mammal’s body, or body part are prohibited, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10including steel jaw leghold traps, padded leghold traps, and snares. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 No person shall, after September 1, 2024, use, set, or place a trap unless such person has |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12received training in their proper use, as prescribed by the director in regulation, unless such |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13person has completed a trapper training course and been issued a certificate of completion of |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14such training, or unless such person has been issued a resident or non-resident Massachusetts |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15trapping license or trap registration certificate and shall prove the same to the satisfaction of the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16Director. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17 The Director shall establish regulations on the size, placement, and use of traps as |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18described in the Best Management Practices established by the Association of Fish and Wildlife. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19 The division shall provide a report annually to the joint committee on natural resources |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20and agriculture on the creation, implementation and efficiency of such animal problem plans. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21 Whoever violates any provisions of this section, or any rule or regulation made under the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22authority thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $1,000, or by |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each trap |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24possessed, used, set, placed, maintained, or manufactured. Each day of violation shall constitute |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25a separate offense. A person found guilty of, or convicted of, or assessed in any manner after a |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26plea of nolo contendere, or penalized for, a second violation of this section shall surrender to an |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27officer authorized to enforce this chapter any trapping license and problem animal control permit |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28issued to such person and shall be barred forever from obtaining a trapping license and a problem |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29animal control permit. |
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