Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1333 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 1333
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the sale and purchase of certain fish.
6	6	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	7	SECTION 1. Sections 66.020(b) and (c), Parks and Wildlife
8	8	Code, are amended to read as follows:
9	9	(b) This section applies to the possession, transportation,
10	10	sale, or purchase of any fish described by Subsection (a) without
11	11	regard to where the fish was taken, caught, or raised, but does not
12	12	apply to:
13	13	(1) the transportation or possession of fish taken,
14	14	caught, or raised outside this state and transported by common
15	15	carrier without being unloaded from outside this state to a point of
16	16	delivery outside this state;
17	17	(2) fish raised by being continuously fed a prepared
18	18	feed and sold by an operator of a Texas commercial aquaculture
19	19	facility, as defined by Section 134.001, Agriculture Code; [or]
20	20	(3) the sale of fish described by Subdivision (2) by:
21	21	(A) a licensed wholesale fish dealer;
22	22	(B) a licensed retail fish dealer; or
23	23	(C) a restaurant;
24	24	(4) bass of the genus Micropterus and crappie if the
25	25	fish are:
26	26	(A) reared in private water; and
27	27	(B) sold by an operator of a Texas commercial
28	28	aquaculture facility for the purpose of stocking:
29	29	(i) water of the state under a permit
30	30	required under Section 66.015(b); or
31	31	(ii) private water with the documentation
32	32	required under Section 134.018, Agriculture Code; or
33	33	(5) the lawful importation by the holder of a Texas
34	34	finfish import license into this state from another state or
35	35	foreign country or the exclusive economic zone of farm-raised red
36	36	drum, bass of the genus Micropterus, crappie, flathead catfish,
37	37	striped bass, white bass, or a hybrid of any of those fish that have
38	38	been continuously fed a prepared feed as a primary food source or
39	39	lawfully taken, caught, or raised blue marlin, jewfish, longbill
40	40	spearfish, muskellunge, northern pike, sailfish, sauger, snook,
41	41	spotted sea trout, tarpon, walleye, white marlin, yellow bass, or a
42	42	hybrid of any of those fish, if the fish are [transported or sold
43	43	when not alive and are] tagged, invoiced, packaged, and labeled
44	44	under regulations of the commission and if the license holder
45	45	complies with any requirements the commission may establish by
46	46	proclamation that the fish enter the stream of commerce for sale in
47	47	this state in a condition allowing ready identification of the
48	48	species, including a requirement that the fish come into the state
49	49	with the head and tail intact and tagged and a requirement that an
50	50	invoice accompany all imported fish regulated by this section
51	51	through each sales transaction, including transactions at the place
52	52	of the final sale to the consumer.
53	53	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(5) [(b)(3) of this
54	54	section], the commission may allow subsequent sale of lawfully
55	55	imported fish without the head and tail intact and without a tag if
56	56	the fish are labeled in a manner prescribed by the commission and
57	57	the tag when removed is destroyed. A tag, if required, must be of a
58	58	type prescribed by the commission and shall be sold to an applicant
59	59	at a cost as determined by the commission that is reasonable to
60	60	defray the administrative costs incurred in connection with the tag
61	61	requirement.
62	62	SECTION 2. Sections 66.111(a) and (b), Parks and Wildlife
63	63	Code, are amended to read as follows:
64	64	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), no person may buy
65	65	or offer to buy, sell or offer to sell, possess for the purpose of
66	66	sale, transport or ship for the purpose of sale, or barter or
67	67	exchange[:
68	68	[(1) freshwater crappie, bass of the genus
69	69	Micropterus, striped bass and hybrids of striped bass, white bass,
70	70	walleye, sauger, northern pike, muskellunge, trout of the family
71	71	Salmonidae, flathead catfish; or
72	72	[(2)] any [other] fish taken from the public fresh
73	73	water of this state.
74	74	(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to:
75	75	(1) [a fish, other than a bass of the genus
76	76	Micropterus, reared in private water by an operator of a commercial
77	77	aquaculture facility, as defined by Section 134.001, Agriculture
78	78	Code;
79	79	[(2) a fish possessed legally outside this state and
80	80	transported into this state;
81	81	[(3) bass of the genus Micropterus reared in private
82	82	water by an operator of a commercial aquaculture facility, as
83	83	defined by Section 134.001, Agriculture Code, and marketed for the
84	84	purpose of stocking the water of this state;
85	85	[(4)] nongame fish regulated under Chapter 67 [of this
86	86	code]; or
87	87	(2) [(5)] channel catfish of more than 14 inches in
88	88	length or blue catfish of more than 14 inches in length taken from
89	89	the public fresh water of Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Chambers,
90	90	Franklin, Freestone, Gregg, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Jasper,
91	91	Jefferson, Lamar, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Montgomery,
92	92	Morris, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Red
93	93	River, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Titus, Trinity,
94	94	Tyler, Upshur, or Walker County, the public fresh water of the
95	95	Neches or Trinity River in Houston County, the public fresh water of
96	96	the Colorado River in Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette, Matagorda, or
97	97	Wharton County, or the public fresh water of Falcon Lake in Starr or
98	98	Zapata County.
99	99	SECTION 3. Section 66.2012(e), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
100	100	amended to read as follows:
101	101	(e) This section does not apply to activities that are
102	102	regulated under the exceptions provided by Subdivisions (1), (2),
103	103	and (5) [(3)] of Section 66.020(b) or under Subsections (f) and (g)
104	104	of that section.
105	105	SECTION 4. Section 66.111(c), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
106	106	repealed.
107	107	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
108	108	______________________________ ______________________________
109	109	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
110	110	I certify that H.B. No. 1333 was passed by the House on April
111	111	14, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 125, Nays 18, 2 present, not
112	112	voting.
113	113	______________________________
114	114	Chief Clerk of the House
115	115	I certify that H.B. No. 1333 was passed by the Senate on May
116	116	10, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
117	117	______________________________
118	118	Secretary of the Senate
119	119	APPROVED: _____________________
120	120	Date
121	121	_____________________
122	122	Governor