Florida Senate - 2006                      COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
    Bill No. SJR 1918
                        Barcode 731446
                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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       04/20/2006 03:44 PM         .                    
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11  The Committee on Judiciary (Clary) recommended the following
12  amendment to amendment (773348):
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14         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 
15         On page 106, line 26, through
16            page 109, line 10, delete those lines
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18  and insert:  
19         SECTION 16.  Limiting marine net fishing.--
20         (a)  The marine resources of the State of Florida
21  belong to all of the people of the state and should be
22  conserved and managed for the benefit of the state, its
23  people, and future generations. To this end the people hereby
24  enact limitations on marine net fishing in Florida waters to
25  protect saltwater finfish, shellfish, and other marine animals
26  from unnecessary killing, overfishing and waste.
27         (b)  For the purpose of catching or taking any
28  saltwater finfish, shellfish or other marine animals in
29  Florida waters:
30         (1)  No gill nets or other entangling nets shall be
31  used in any Florida waters; and
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    7:03 PM   04/19/06                             s1918c-ju04-j05

Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SJR 1918 Barcode 731446 1 (2) In addition to the prohibition set forth in (1), 2 no other type of net containing more than 500 square feet of 3 mesh area shall be used in nearshore and inshore Florida 4 waters. Additionally, no more than two such nets, which shall 5 not be connected, shall be used from any vessel, and no person 6 not on a vessel shall use more than one such net in nearshore 7 and inshore Florida waters. 8 (c) For purposes of this section: 9 (1) "Gill net" means one or more walls of netting 10 which captures saltwater finfish by ensnaring or entangling 11 them in the meshes of the net by the gills, and "entangling 12 net" means a drift net, trammell net, stab net, or any other 13 net which captures saltwater finfish, shellfish, or other 14 marine animals by causing all or part of heads, fins, legs, or 15 other body parts to become entangled or ensnared in the meshes 16 of the net, but a hand thrown cast net is not a gill net or an 17 entangling net; 18 (2) "Mesh area" of a net means the total area of 19 netting with the meshes open to comprise the maximum square 20 footage. The square footage shall be calculated using standard 21 mathematical formulas for geometric shapes. Seines and other 22 rectangular nets shall be calculated using the maximum length 23 and maximum width of the netting. Trawls and other bag type 24 nets shall be calculated as a cone using the maximum 25 circumference of the net mouth to derive the radius, and the 26 maximum length from the net mouth to the tail end of the net 27 to derive the slant height. Calculations for any other nets or 28 combination type nets shall be based on the shapes of the 29 individual components; 30 (3) "Coastline" means the territorial sea base line 31 for the State of Florida established pursuant to the laws of 2 7:03 PM 04/19/06 s1918c-ju04-j05
Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SJR 1918 Barcode 731446 1 the United States of America; 2 (4) "Florida waters" means the waters of the Atlantic 3 Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, and any 4 other bodies of water under the jurisdiction of the State of 5 Florida, whether coastal, intracoastal or inland, and any part 6 thereof; and 7 (5) "Nearshore and inshore Florida waters" means all 8 Florida waters inside a line three miles seaward of the 9 coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and inside a line one mile 10 seaward of the coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. 11 (d) This section shall not apply to the use of nets 12 for scientific research or governmental purposes. 13 (e) Persons violating this section shall be prosecuted 14 and punished pursuant to the penalties provided in section 15 370.021(2)(a),(b),(c)6. and 7., and (e), Florida Statutes 16 (1991), unless and until the legislature enacts more stringent 17 penalties for violations hereof. On and after the effective 18 date of this section, law enforcement officers in the state 19 are authorized to enforce the provisions of this section in 20 the same manner and authority as if a violation of this 21 section constituted a violation of chapter 370, Florida 22 Statutes (1991). 23 (f) It is the intent of this section that implementing 24 legislation is not required for enforcing any violations 25 hereof, but nothing in this section prohibits the 26 establishment by law or pursuant to law of more restrictions 27 on the use of nets for the purpose of catching or taking any 28 saltwater finfish, shellfish, or other marine animals. 29 (g) If any portion of this section is held invalid for 30 any reason, the remaining portion of this section, to the 31 fullest extent possible, shall be severed from the void 3 7:03 PM 04/19/06 s1918c-ju04-j05
Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SJR 1918 Barcode 731446 1 portion and given the fullest possible force and application. 2 (h) This section shall take effect on the July 1 next 3 occurring after approval hereof by vote of the electors. 4 5 (Redesignate subsequent sections.) 6 7 8 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T =============== 9 And the title is amended as follows: 10 On page 151, line 18, after the semicolon, 11 12 insert: 13 to repeal Section 16 of Article X, which 14 imposes limitations on marine netfishing in 15 Florida waters; 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4 7:03 PM 04/19/06 s1918c-ju04-j05