§9-12-93. License for boat used for taking or carrying shrimp.

It shall be unlawful for any person to use any boat for the purpose of drawing a seine or trawl used in catching shrimp or hauling or carrying shrimp without first having secured an annual license due and payable on or before the opening date of the season as set by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources in each and every year as follows: For each and every boat owned by a resident of this state, there shall be an annual license fee of fifty dollars ($50) for commercial boats under 30 feet in length, seventy-five dollars ($75) for commercial boats from 30 to 45 feet in length, one hundred dollars ($100) on commercial boats over 45 feet in length, and fifteen dollars ($15) on all recreational boats regardless of length. Recreational boats can use trawls of 16 feet or less as measured at the cork line or main top line to catch, or attempt to catch, shrimp for bait or noncommercial purposes, not to exceed five gallons per person aboard per day only at the same time and in waters open to commercial shrimping. Nonresidents shall pay a license fee equal to that paid by Alabama residents or boats to shrimp in their state but no less than double the amount provided for above, except where a nonresident is a resident of a state which has a reciprocal fishing agreement with the State of Alabama where the state does not itself charge residents of Alabama license fees in excess of those charged residents of that state. All proceeds from licenses under this section shall be placed to the credit of the Marine Resources Fund.

(Acts 1936-37, Ex. Sess., No. 169, p. 192; Code 1940, T. 8, §155; Acts 1961, Ex. Sess., No. 106, p. 2026, §1; Acts 1988, No. 88-577, p. 897, §4; Acts 1994, No. 94-618, p. 1150, §1.)