CHAPTER 170
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 278
AN ACT AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO ISSUE A COMMERCIAL GILL NET FOODFISHING PERMIT TO GLENN ROSCOE DAVIS OF LAUREL, DELAWARE, WHO IS PRESENTLY PROHIBITED FROM OBTAINING A PERMIT UNDER DELAWARE FINFISHING STATUTES.
WHEREAS, Mr. Glenn Roscoe Davis of 8th Street, Laurel, Delaware, has engaged in commercial gill net fishing for ten years, and was so engaged in the five-year period prior to the enactment of the present Delaware Finfishing Statute in 1984, which requires a person to have a commercial Gill Net Foodfishing Permit to fish a drifting gill net; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Davis did not apply for a commercial gill net permit immediately after passage of the new law in 1984 because the Department represented that only gill net fishermen who had obtained more than 50 per cent of their income from gill net fishing were qualified under the statute to obtain a permit, and such restriction was not in fact authorized by the statute; and
WHEREAS, it would thus appear that Mr. Davis was qualified to apply for and receive a commercial gill net permit under the provisions of §915, Chapter 9, Title 7 of the Delaware Code and could have done so but for the incorrect interpretation of the statute by the Department; and
WHEREAS, restricting Mr. Davis from engaging in gill net fishing creates a hardship when economic and biological factors dictate that gill net fishing is the most effective method of engaging in the profession of commercial fishing; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to make exception to the closure of the gill net fishery when the prohibitions of §915, Title 7, Delaware Code, have created hardships for persons who should have been permitted to apply for and obtain a gill net permit at the time of enactment; and
WHEREAS, the Department may not issue any new commercial gill net foodfishing permits until the number issued annually falls below 30; and
WHEREAS, the number of commercial gill net foodfishing permits renewed in 1988 was 135; and
WHEREAS, the Department may, if directed to do so by legislation, avoid the prohibitions of §915, Title 7, Delaware Code, and issue a permit to the individual specified in the legislation.
NOW,THEREFORE:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is hereby authorized and directed to issue a commercial gill net foodfishing permit to Mr. Glenn Roscoe Davis of P.O. Box 85, Laurel, Delaware, notwithstanding the provisions of §915(f), Charter 9, Title 7, Delaware Code.
Approved February 8, 1990.