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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 234 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 979
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Patrick Joseph Kearney
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to a marine special activity license program.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/7/2025 1 of 6
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 234 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 979
By Representative Kearney of Scituate, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 979) of
Patrick Joseph Kearney relative to a marine special activity license program. Environment and
Natural Resources.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 841 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act relative to a marine special activity license program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 130 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
2 Section 107. (a) For purposes of this section, unless the context clearly indicates
3otherwise, the following terms shall have the following meanings:-
4 “Attract” or “attraction”, any activity that lures or may lure any marine organism to a
5person or vessel by using food, bait, chum, dyes, decoys, acoustics or any other means,
6excluding the mere presence of persons on the water including those persons conducting
7commercial or recreational fishing activity.
8 “Harvest”, the catching, taking or molesting of a marine organism by any means
9whatsoever, followed by a reduction of such organism or part thereof to possession. A marine 2 of 6
10organism that is caught and immediately returned to the water free, alive and unharmed is not
11harvested.
12 “Scientific research”, an activity that uses marine organisms to conduct 1 or more of the
13following:
14 (1) Research activity that involves the application of rigorous, systematic and objective
15procedures of observation, measurement and experiment to obtain reliable and pertinent data
16using an experimental design, controls and data analysis to test a stated hypothesis.
17 (2) Monitoring activity that involves making technical and scientific observations as a
18means of gathering data according to a predetermined study plan.
19 (3) Restoration activity that facilitates mitigation or recovery of marine organisms and
20includes subsequent monitoring to measure the success of the restoration effort
21 “Special activity license” or “license”, a permit for oceanic scientific research described
22in subsection (b).
23 (b) The division shall grant special activity licenses for oceanic scientific research,
24including but not limited to aquaculture or mariculture; scientific, environmental and biological
25collection and study, assessment or experimentation; collection and possession for education
26purposes; provided, that if conducting research, study results shall be presented in sufficient
27detail and clarity to allow for replication, or at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build
28systematically on findings; provided further, that if conducting monitoring, collected data shall
29be analyzed to detect physical or biological changes over time in marine organisms, their
30populations or communities; provided further, that if conducting restoration or mitigation, 3 of 6
31species such as oysters, corals, sponges, sea fans, sea whips and other marine organisms shall be
32repaired in the event that the species are damaged and the effectiveness of the restoration or
33mitigation activity shall be evaluated by subsequent monitoring.
34 (c) An application for a license shall be reviewed and approved by the director or a
35designated representative. The director may allow individuals outside of the division to review
36license applications; provided, that the individuals possess the biological, technical, regulatory
37and enforcement expertise necessary to appropriately evaluate a requested activity.
38 (d) The director shall review an application and grant or deny a license based on the
39following criteria:
40 (1) eligibility of the applicant;
41 (2) completeness of information submitted during the application process;
42 (3) consistency of the requested activities with the license type requested;
43 (4) degree of compliance with the terms and conditions set forth by a special activity
44license previously issued to the applicant;
45 (5) potential impacts of the type, size and method of attraction or harvest gear requested
46for use;
47 (6) biological status of the species requested, based on the best available information;
48provided, that in the absence of stock assessments, the director shall take a risk-averse approach
49and maintain minimal attraction or harvest levels until such time as the information is available
50to further evaluate the status of the species; 4 of 6
51 (7) life history strategies, genetic structure and ecology of the targeted species;
52 (8) degree of variation from division regulations;
53 (9) the extent of the requested attraction or harvest beyond the known total annual
54commercial and recreational attract or harvest of the stock;
55 (10) established attraction or harvest quotas for the species requested;
56 (11) locations of proposed attraction or harvest activities and facilities;
57 (12) intensity of localized attraction or harvest and attraction or harvest frequency;
58 (13) project specifications and methodologies;
59 (14) monitoring strategies;
60 (15) documented experience conducting successful restoration or mitigation activities;
61and
62 (16) any additional evaluation criteria specific to the applicable permit.
63 (e) A special activity license may be issued to:
64 (1) A principal investigator of a proposed or ongoing scientific research project who is on
65the faculty or is a student of a college, community college, university or secondary school.
66 (2) A principal investigator of a proposed or ongoing scientific research project who is
67affiliated with a marine research institute, laboratory, corporation or organization. 5 of 6
68 (3) A member of the scientific or technical staff of a marine research institute, laboratory,
69corporation or organization with demonstrated experience conducting successful restoration or
70mitigation activities.
71 (4) A member of the scientific or technical staff of a city, county, state or federal agency.
72 (5) A member of the scientific or technical staff of a certified aquaculture facility.
73 (f) (1) There shall be a non-refundable processing fee for a special activity license to be
74determined annually by the secretary of administration and finance pursuant to section 3B of
75chapter 7.
76 (2) An applicant for a license shall complete and submit an application in the form
77provided by the division.
78 (g) A special activity license holder shall submit the following to the division:
79 (1) An activity report detailing all license-related attraction, harvest or sampling activities
80that resulted in the permanent retention of marine organisms. The activity report shall be a report
81in addition to any required publications or technical, monitoring or final reports. The activity
82report shall include: (i) common and scientific names of the marine organisms attracted or
83harvested, both targeted and incidental; (ii) numbers and sizes attracted or harvested; (iii)
84locations of attraction or harvest by county; and (iv) disposition of all marine organisms attracted
85or harvested. The activity report for a license involving prohibited species shall also include the
86specific attraction or harvesting gear used. If mortality of a prohibited species occurred during
87attraction, harvest or subsequent possession, the report shall indicate the cause of death if known. 6 of 6
88If license related activities did not result in the permanent retention or mortality of any marine
89organism, the license holder shall submit a statement to that effect.
90 (2) A copy of any publications, technical, monitoring or final reports that were generated
91as a result of work conducted pursuant to the license. These reports shall include the notation that
92research was conducted pursuant to a specific license.