Bill Text: CT HB05120 | 2012 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Hunting And Fishing Licenses, Improving Safe Hunting Education, Amending Definitions For The Wildlife Division Of The Department Of Energy And Environmental Protection And Establishing A Task Force To Study Whether To Transfer The Conservation Functions Of Said Department To The Department Of Agriculture.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-05-09 - Senate Calendar Number 533 [HB05120 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2012-HB05120-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 5120 | |||
February Session, 2012 |
LCO No. 969 | |||
*00969_______ENV* |
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Referred to Committee on Environment |
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Introduced by: |
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(ENV) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES, IMPROVING SAFE HUNTING EDUCATION AND AMENDING DEFINITIONS FOR THE WILDLIFE DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 26-27 of the 2012 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2013):
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), (c), (e), (f), (g) or (h) of this section and other provisions of this chapter providing specific license exemption, no person shall take, hunt or trap, or shall attempt to take, hunt or trap, or assist in taking, hunting or trapping, any wild bird or mammal and no person [more than] sixteen years of age or older shall take, attempt to take, or assist in taking any fish or bait species in the inland waters or marine district by any method or land marine fish and bait species in the state, regardless of where such marine fish or bait species are taken, without first having obtained a license as provided in this chapter. No person under sixteen years of age shall hunt or trap, except as provided in section 26-38.
Sec. 2. Section 26-28 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2013):
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), [and] (c) and (d) of this section, the fees for firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping and sport fishing licenses or for the combination thereof shall be as follows: (1) Resident firearms hunting license, nineteen dollars; (2) resident fishing license, twenty-eight dollars; (3) resident marine waters fishing license, ten dollars; (4) one-day resident marine waters fishing license, five dollars; (5) resident all-waters fishing license, thirty-two dollars; (6) resident combination license to fish in inland waters and firearms hunt, thirty-eight dollars; (7) resident combination license to fish in marine waters and firearms hunt, twenty-five dollars; (8) resident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, [thirty-eight] forty dollars; (9) resident combination license to fish in all waters and bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game issued pursuant to section 26-86c, sixty-five dollars; (10) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle deer permit issued pursuant to section 26-86a, and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, [eighty] seventy dollars; (11) resident archery super sport license to fish in all waters, bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game issued pursuant to section 26-86c and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, eighty-two dollars; (12) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle deer permit, muzzleloader private land deer permit, pursuant to section 26-86 and private land permit to hunt wild turkey during spring season pursuant to section 26-48a, eighty-four dollars; (13) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, migratory bird conservation stamp, and migratory bird harvest permit (HIP), [sixty] fifty dollars; (14) resident trapping license, thirty-four dollars; (15) resident junior trapping license for persons under sixteen years of age, eleven dollars; (16) junior firearms hunting license, eleven dollars; (17) nonresident firearms hunting license, ninety-one dollars; (18) nonresident inland waters fishing license, fifty-five dollars; (19) nonresident inland waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, twenty-two dollars; (20) nonresident marine waters fishing license, fifteen dollars; (21) nonresident marine waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, eight dollars; (22) nonresident all-waters fishing license, sixty-three dollars; (23) nonresident combination license to firearms hunt and inland waters fish, one hundred ten dollars; (24) nonresident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, one hundred twenty dollars; (25) nonresident combination license to fish in marine waters and firearms hunt, ninety-four dollars; and (26) nonresident trapping license, two hundred fifty dollars. Persons sixty-five years of age and over who have been residents of this state for not less than one year and who meet the requirements of subsection (b) of section 26-31 may be issued an annual license to firearms hunt or to fish or combination license to fish and firearms hunt or a license to trap without fee. The issuing agency shall indicate on a combination license the specific purpose for which such license is issued. The town clerk shall retain a recording fee of one dollar for each license issued by him or her.
(b) Any nonresident residing in one of the New England states or the state of New York may procure a license to hunt or to fish or to hunt and fish for the same fee or fees as a resident of this state if he or she is a resident of a state the laws of which allow the same privilege to residents of this state.
(c) The fee for a group fishing license, as described in subsection (h) of section 26-30, shall be two hundred fifty dollars.
(d) For the period beginning on January 1, 2013, and ending on December 31, 2013, the fee charged for any firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping or sport fishing license that is issued to any Connecticut resident who is sixteen or seventeen years of age shall be equal to fifty per cent of the fee provided for such license in subsection (a) of this section rounded to the next highest dollar.
(e) In addition to the calendar day designated pursuant to subsection (f) of section 26-27, as amended by this act, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may designate up to two additional days in each calendar year in which a one-day license for sport fishing may be issued free of charge. Such one-day license shall, at said commissioner's discretion, be made available to all members of the public or to all members of an age group designated by said commissioner.
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 26-31 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2013):
(a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall formulate conservation courses of instruction in safe trapping, hunting and archery practices and the handling and use of traps and hunting implements, including bow and arrow, for such persons as are applying for a license to hunt with firearms or to hunt with bow and arrow or trap for the first time and for minors who fall within the provisions of section 26-38, and shall designate one or more competent persons or organizations to give such instruction. Any person or organization so designated shall give such instruction to any person requesting the same and shall, upon the successful completion thereof, recommend to the commissioner issuance of a certificate of completion to such person. Successful completion of such instruction for hunting license applicants shall include, but not be limited to, achieving a passing grade on an examination formulated by the commissioner, which shall include correctly stating in writing, or reciting orally, the regulations for hunting in proximity to buildings occupied by persons or domestic animals or used for storage of flammable or combustible materials and the regulations for shooting towards persons, buildings or animals. [Any such person or organization may charge any person taking the course of instruction in trapping a reasonable fee, established by regulation adopted by the commissioner in accordance with chapter 54, to cover the cost of supplies, materials and equipment necessary for such course of instruction. No fee shall be charged for a course of instruction in hunting or archery.]
Sec. 4. Section 26-1 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
Words and terms used in this chapter shall be construed as follows:
(1) "Animal" includes birds, quadrupeds, reptiles and amphibians.
(2) "Bait species" means all species of fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects listed as bait in the regulations issued by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection.
(3) "Black bass" means [small mouth] smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and [large mouth] largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).
(4) Repealed.
(5) "Closed season" means that period of time during which hunting, trapping or fishing is prohibited for any species of wildlife.
(6) "Commercial fisherman" means any person, firm or corporation engaged in commercial fishing.
(7) "Commercial fishing" means taking or attempting to take any finfish, crustacea, sea scallops, squid, horseshoe crabs or bait species for commercial purposes or by the use of any commercial fishing gear.
(8) "Commercial fishing gear" means any equipment commonly used to take finfish, crustacea, sea scallops, squid, horseshoe crabs or bait species for commercial purposes including, but not limited to, lobster pots, otter trawls, beam trawls, balloon trawls, midwater trawls, sea scallop dredges, scoop nets, scap nets, seines, trap nets, fyke nets, crab traps, gill nets, trammel nets, set lines, long lines, hook and line if such fishing is conducted for commercial purposes, minnow seines, minnow traps, eel pots, fish pots, pound nets, throw nets or similar devices and any equipment listed as commercial fishing gear in regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection.
(9) "Commercial hatchery" means an institution or place where legally acquired fish are held, hatched and reared for sale or where fish so acquired or hatched are reared or held for sale in waters which are under complete control of the owner.
(10) "Daily bag, catch or creel limit" means the quantity or number of wildlife allowed to be taken during the period from 12:01 a.m. to 12:00 midnight as provided by this chapter or by regulations made by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection.
(11) "Grouse" includes ruffed grouse, partridge and spruce grouse.
(12) "Hunting" means pursuing, shooting, killing and capturing any bird, quadruped or reptile and attempting to pursue, shoot, kill and capture any bird, quadruped or reptile, whether such act results in taking or not, including any act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take any such animal.
[(13) "Quadruped" means any four-legged animal which is ferae naturae or wild by nature, although such animal may be enclosed and considered a pet or semidomesticated, but shall exclude purely domesticated animals.]
[(14)] (13) "Pickerel" means the chain pickerel (Esox niger), not the dwarf species referred to variously as the banded pickerel (Esox americanus), grass pike, grass pickerel, mud pike or brook pickerel.
[(15)] (14) "Private waters" means a natural or artificial pond or lake to which the owner, not a corporation, partnership or voluntary association, has exclusive right of access, of which water supply all sources are located substantially within the property of the owner, to which fish do not have access from waters not under the control of such owner or from water stocked at the expense of the state, except that a natural or artificial pond five acres or less in extent may be owned by an individual, a corporation, partnership or voluntary association and, when meeting the other requirements of this subsection, such pond may be registered as private waters.
(15) "Quadruped" means any four-legged animal which is ferae naturae or wild by nature, although such animal may be enclosed and considered a pet or semidomesticated, but shall exclude purely domesticated animals.
(16) "Seafood dealer" means (A) a person, firm or corporation, other than the ultimate consumer, who purchases, ships, consigns, transfers, transports, barters, accepts or packs lobsters, sea scallops, finfish, crabs, including horseshoe crabs, or squid directly from a commercial fisherman for resale, or (B) a commercial fisherman who sells, ships, consigns, transfers or barters his or her own catch of such species to anyone other than a seafood dealer.
(17) "Set line" means a line fastened between two points, to which is attached a number of smaller lines with hooks attached, but a single line not personally attended may constitute a set line.
(18) "Snare" means a device, often consisting of a noose, used to kill or injure animals by entanglement, strangulation or decapitation.
[(18)] (19) "Sport fishing" means taking or attempting to take any fish, crustacea, sea scallops, squid, horseshoe crabs or bait species whether from salt, brackish or fresh water by any method other than by commercial methods specified by law and regulations of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection for commercial purposes.
[(19)] (20) "Taking" means shooting, pursuing, hunting, fishing, killing, capturing, trapping, snaring, hooking and netting any species of wildlife and attempting to shoot, pursue, hunt, fish, kill, capture, trap, snare, hook, net or catch any species of wildlife or any act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take such wildlife whether or not such act results in the capture of any such wildlife.
[(20)] (21) "Trapping" means pursuing, killing and capturing by use of any trap, snare, net or other device any bird or wild or domestic quadruped, excluding rats, mice, moles and reptiles, whether such act results in taking or not, including any act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take any such animal by any such method.
[(21)] (22) "Trout and salmon" includes brook trout or speckled trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, Atlantic salmon, kokanee or sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon or any hybrid of any two or more of these species.
[(22)] (23) "Wildlife" means all species of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals which are ferae naturae or wild by nature.
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2012) For the period beginning on January 1, 2013, and ending on December 31, 2013, the fee charged pursuant to section 26-27b, 26-48a, 26-86a or 26-86c of the general statutes for any firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping or sport fishing permit, tag or stamp that is issued to any Connecticut resident who is less than eighteen years of age shall be fifty per cent of the fee provided under said sections rounded to the next highest dollar.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
January 1, 2013 |
26-27(a) |
Sec. 2 |
January 1, 2013 |
26-28 |
Sec. 3 |
January 1, 2013 |
26-31(a) |
Sec. 4 |
from passage |
26-1 |
Sec. 5 |
October 1, 2012 |
New section |
Statement of Purpose:
To promote participation in hunting and fishing and increase sales of licenses for said activities; to increase opportunities for prospective hunters to attend on-line education services provided by private vendors; to add the definition of "snare" to section 26-1 of the general statutes; and to make technical changes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]