GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 974
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/24/89

Short Title:  Spotter Plane Regulation.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors:
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  
─────────────────────────────────────── 

March 31, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE USE OF SPOTTER PLANES IN COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 14 of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 113-167.  Use of spotter planes in commercial fishing operations regulated. 
(a)	License.  Before an aircraft is used as a spotter plane in a commercial fishing operation, the owner of the aircraft must obtain a license for the aircraft from the Marine Fisheries Commission.  A ‘spotter plane' is an aircraft used for aerial identification of the location of fish in coastal waters so that a vessel may be directed to the fish.  A license for a spotter plane to be used in a commercial fishing operation must be renewed annually on or before January 1 of each year.  The fee for an initial license for a spotter plane or the renewal of a license is one hundred dollars ($100.00).
In an application for a license for a spotter plane, the applicant must identify, either by boat or by company, the specific commercial fishing operations in which the spotter plane will be used during the license year.  A license application may be amended during a license year to add a commercial fishing operation not identified in the license application.  
(b)	Unlawful Activity.  The following activities involving the use of a spotter plane in a commercial fishing operation are unlawful:
(1)	To use a spotter plane directed at food fish, except in connection with a purse seine operation authorized by a rule of the Marine Fisheries Commission;
(2)	To use or permit the use of an unlicensed spotter plane or a licensed spotter plane whose license application does not identify the specific commercial fishing operation involved;
(3)	To participate knowingly in a commercial fishing operation that uses an unlicensed spotter plane or a licensed spotter plane whose license application does not identify the specific commercial fishing operation involved.
Violation of this subsection is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of the greater of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or the value of any plane, vessel, or catch seized in accordance with G.S. 113-137, by imprisonment for up to two years, or both."
Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1989, and shall apply to offenses occurring on or after that date.