This bill amends the aquaculture laws as follows.
1. It defines the operational type of and the principal aquaculture gear used by certain aquaculture operations within 3 different categories: surface operations, submerged
43 operations and bottom operations. The bill amends the aquaculture lease laws to allow a
44 lease holder, in accordance with rules to be adopted by the Department of Marine
45 Resources, to modify the operational type of the person's aquaculture operation or the
46 design of the principal aquaculture gear used by the person without the need for an
47 amendment to the person's issued lease, as long as certain conditions are met.
2. It amends the aquaculture lease laws to provide that, if the department requires a video recording or other information to be collected through a site dive of a proposed lease site and the applicant is required to pay the cost associated with the site dive, the department must allow the applicant to contract with any qualified 3rd-party entity to conduct the site dive and may not require the site dive to be conducted by a 3rd-party entity selected by the department.
3. It directs the chair and vice-chair of the Aquaculture Advisory Council established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 6080 to establish and appoint council members to a subcommittee of the council to study and address equity issues for persons seeking to enter the aquaculture industry and seeking to access aquaculture grants; issues encountered by small aquaculture facilities; and methods of ensuring the aquaculture industry is inclusive and representative of the State as a whole. The bill also directs the department to establish guidelines for the operation and administration of shellfish hatcheries that receive state funding and that are operated by nonprofit organizations, tribal governments and other nongovernmental entities. The department must make those guidelines available to those entities and to the public and must take all reasonable actions to ensure compliance with the guidelines by those entities.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1596, HP 1054: 12.6072