| 1 | 1 | | |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW. |
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| 4 | 4 | | [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law. |
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| 5 | 5 | | *sb0711* |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | SENATE BILL 711 |
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| 8 | 8 | | M2 4lr2986 |
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| 9 | 9 | | CF 4lr2981 |
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| 10 | 10 | | By: Senator Bailey |
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| 11 | 11 | | Introduced and read first time: January 31, 2024 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL ENTITLED |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | AN ACT concerning 1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | Fisheries – Striped Bass or Rockfish – Juvenile Survey 2 |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | FOR the purpose of expanding the scope of the annual young–of–the–year juvenile survey 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | of striped bass or rockfish by requiring the Department of Natural Resources to 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | conduct the survey at sampling sites in the central region of the Maryland waters of 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | the Chesapeake Bay in addition to sampling sites in the northern and southern 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | regions of the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay; establishing certain 7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | requirements for the central region sampling sites; and generally relating to striped 8 |
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| 26 | 26 | | bass or rockfish. 9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 10 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Article – Natural Resources 11 |
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| 30 | 30 | | Section 4–746 12 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Annotated Code of Maryland 13 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (2023 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 14 |
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| 33 | 33 | | |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 15 |
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| 35 | 35 | | That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 16 |
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| 36 | 36 | | |
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| 37 | 37 | | Article – Natural Resources 17 |
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| 38 | 38 | | |
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| 39 | 39 | | 4–746. 18 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | (A) (1) The Department shall conduct annually a scientific survey to determine 19 |
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| 42 | 42 | | the relative abundance of striped bass or rockfish of approximately 18 inches in length that 20 |
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| 43 | 43 | | are in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 21 |
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| 44 | 44 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) The survey shall be conducted in areas that are used by the Department 22 |
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| 46 | 46 | | to determine its young–of–the–year index of striped bass or rockfish. 23 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 2 SENATE BILL 711 |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | (B) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL : 1 |
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| 51 | 51 | | |
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| 52 | 52 | | (1) CONDUCT THE ANNUAL YO UNG–OF–THE–YEAR JUVENILE SURVEY 2 |
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| 53 | 53 | | OF STRIPED BASS OR R OCKFISH AT BETWEEN 12 AND 20, INCLUSIVE, SAMPLING 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | SITES LOCATED IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF TH E MARYLAND WATERS OF TH E 4 |
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| 55 | 55 | | CHESAPEAKE BAY IN ADDITION TO SA MPLING SITES IN THE NORTHERN AND 5 |
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| 56 | 56 | | SOUTHERN REGIONS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY; AND 6 |
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| 57 | 57 | | |
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| 58 | 58 | | (2) LOCATE THE CENTRAL RE GION SAMPLING SITES IN ANY OF THE 7 |
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| 59 | 59 | | FOLLOWING WATERS OF THE STATE: 8 |
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| 60 | 60 | | |
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| 61 | 61 | | (I) THE MAGOTHY RIVER; 9 |
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| 62 | 62 | | |
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| 63 | 63 | | (II) THE SEVERN RIVER; 10 |
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| 64 | 64 | | |
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| 65 | 65 | | (III) THE CHESTER RIVER; 11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | |
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| 67 | 67 | | (IV) THE SOUTH RIVER; 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | |
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| 69 | 69 | | (V) THE WEST RIVER; 13 |
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| 70 | 70 | | |
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| 71 | 71 | | (VI) EASTERN BAY; OR 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | |
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| 73 | 73 | | (VII) THE MILES RIVER. 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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| 75 | 75 | | SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 16 |
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| 76 | 76 | | 1, 2024. 17 |
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| 77 | 77 | | |
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