CHAPTER 56
HB 1425 – FINAL VERSION
2010 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 1425
AN ACT relative to the regulation of the processing of lobster tails.
SPONSORS: Rep. Henson, Rock 13; Rep. Abbott, Rock 12
COMMITTEE: Fish and Game and Marine Resources
This bill requires persons to acquire a lobster tail permit issued by the fish and game department to engage in the processing of cooked lobster tail meat.
This bill is a request of the fish and game department.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2664
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to the regulation of the processing of lobster tails.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
56:1 New Section; Fish and Shellfish; Lobster Tail Permit. Amend RSA 211 by inserting after section 38 the following new section:
211:38-a Lobster Tail Permit.
I. Any person who is licensed to engage in the wholesale trade of marine species in accordance with RSA 211:49-c may engage in the processing of lobster tails after procuring from the executive director a lobster tail permit. The lobster tail permit authorizes the licensee to remove a lobster tail from a legal sized lobster, as defined in RSA 211:27, I and II, and process that whole and intact lobster tail. No lobster greater than the maximum legal length as described in RSA 211:27, III shall be used for lobster tail processing. Processing shall only be conducted at the one location or place of business which is listed on the lobster tail permit. All containers in which lobster tails are packed to be sold, shipped, or transported must be clearly labeled with the name, address, and permit number of the packer along with a description of the product.
II. The executive director may adopt rules relative to the taking, inspection, and processing of lobster necessary for implementation and enforcement of this section in accordance with RSA 211:62 and which may also include rules for determining that lobster tails processed under this section were removed from legal-sized lobsters and other provisions as may be necessary.
III. Measurements for the purpose of inspection shall consist of removal of the cooked meat intact from the lobster tail section and measured to ascertain conformity with size restrictions as specified in RSA 211:27, II.
56:2 Lobster; Legal Length; Lobster Meat. Amend RSA 211:27 to read as follows:
211:27 Legal Length; Rulemaking.
I. No person may transport, buy, sell, give away, or expose for sale, or possess for any purpose, any lobster less than the minimum legal length alive or dead, cooked or uncooked, measuring from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center line of the body shell to the rear end of the body shell. The minimum legal length shall be determined in rules adopted by the executive director under RSA 211:62.
II.(a) Whoever ships, transports, carries, buys, gives away, sells, or exposes for sale, or possesses for any purpose, lobster meat, which has been cooked, before or after the meat has been taken from the shell, without the tail meat being whole and intact, and of a length determined in rules adopted by the executive director under RSA 211:62, shall be guilty of a violation of this section.
(b) All lobster meat shall be delivered in containers marked as prescribed by rules adopted by the executive director.
(c) For the purpose of this paragraph cooked lobster meat taken from the shell shall be laid out straight and measured from end to end and it shall not include the small part that is on the body end of the tail meat. [Lobster meat within the shell shall be laid out straight and measured from the proximal end of the first abdominal section to the distal end of the telson.]
III.(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs I and II, no person licensed pursuant to RSA 211:18 shall take, possess, or land any lobster greater than the maximum legal length from or on the waters under the jurisdiction of the state.
(b) A person not licensed to take lobster in accordance with RSA 211:18 may possess, transport, [and] or land in accordance with RSA 211:49-a, RSA 211:49-aa, [and] RSA 211:49-b, RSA 211:49-c, and RSA 211:49-d lobster greater than the maximum legal length if the lobster was legally taken from waters outside the jurisdiction of the state.
(c) The maximum length shall be measured from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center line of the body shell to the rear end of the body shell. The maximum legal length shall be determined by rules adopted by the executive director under RSA 211:62.
(d) All lobster possessed in accordance with this paragraph shall be whole and intact.
56:3 Mutilated Lobsters. Amend RSA 211:30 to read as follows:
211:30 Mutilated Lobsters. The possession of lobsters, or parts thereof, alive or dead, cooked or uncooked, mutilated in such manner as to make accurate measurements as prescribed in this chapter impossible, shall be prima facie evidence that they are not of required legal length. Provided that this section shall not apply to hotels, restaurants, or individuals having in possession chopped lobster meat as provided in RSA 211:28 or lobster processed under a lobster tail permit in accordance with RSA 211:38-a.
56:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
Approved: May 18, 2010
Effective Date: July 1, 2010