S.L. 2012-190 (S.B. 821) Summary

• Directs the Division of Marine Fisheries, Wildlife Resources Commission, and Department of Transportation to jointly study coastal fishing license fees and vessel numbering/titling fees by September 1, 2012, with goal of funding coastal inlet dredging and maintenance.

• Requires the Wildlife Resources Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries, and Commissioner of Agriculture to study reorganization of state fisheries management agencies by October 1, 2012, including potential consolidation with the Department of Agriculture.

• Makes it unlawful to take menhaden or Atlantic thread herring using a purse seine net deployed by a mother ship and runner boats in coastal fishing waters, classified as a Class A1 misdemeanor effective January 1, 2013.

• Consolidates the Crustacean and Shellfish advisory committees into a single Shellfish/Crustacean Advisory Committee and reduces four regional advisory committees to two (Northern and Southern) effective July 1, 2012.

• Requires a supermajority (six of nine members) of the Marine Fisheries Commission to override Division of Marine Fisheries recommendations regarding measures to end overfishing or rebuild overfished fish stocks.