Title 9 — Title 9

Residence. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall be considered a resident of this state, within the meaning of the term used in this chapter, who does not at the time reside in and who shall not have resided in this state for 12 months next preceding the t…

Fish, Baits, Etc. It shall be unlawful to have in possession or use for the taking of saltwater fish or other seafoods seines, nets or trawls with a mesh of a size other than that prescribed by the rules and regulations of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources of t…

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to have in possession on board a boat in the waters of Alabama or in use, any seine, trammel net, gill net or other device for the taking or catching of saltwater fish or other seafoods having in length on the cork or main …

Repealed by Act 2015-70 effective April 21, 2015. History: (Acts 1943, No. 587, p. 590, §3.)

(a) Each license or permit issued by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources or his or her authorized agent shall state the name of the applicant. (1) If the applicant is a resident of the State of Alabama, the applicant shall pay the following fees: a. One hundred…

Prohibited. No person shall do, or attempt to do, any of the following: sell, trade, or barter, or buy, trade for, or barter for, any saltwater game fish specified in Section 9-12-113 or by regulation of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The first offense of t…

Each and every person, firm, or corporation holding a seafood dealer’s license issued by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources or his or her authorized agent shall under oath make a monthly report to the Director of the Marine Resources Division of the Department…

Other Seafood Products. All saltwater finfish commercially harvested in the State of Alabama, except those lawfully taken by purse seine, shall be landed in this state and reported through a properly licensed Alabama seafood dealer. Other seafood products commercially harvested i…

Conspiracy, Etc., to Evade Provisions of Article, Etc. It shall be unlawful for any packer, commissionman, dealer, shipper or boatman to refuse to open his place of business or boat where fish, oysters or other seafoods may be dumped, kept or stored, except his actual residence, …

or Unlicensed Boats or Vessels. Possession or operation of any illegal tackle or any illegal fishing devices or use of any boat or vessel that is not licensed as required by this article shall be considered prima facie evidence that it is kept or used for unlawful purposes, and s…

The judge of probate, the commissioner of licenses or such person not residing at the county seat in which the county courthouse is located and duly appointed by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources and so authorized by him shall have authority to issue all lice…

Judges of probate and other persons authorized and designated to issue licenses shall charge for each license issued under the provisions of this article $1.00 in addition to the prescribed cost for each license issued, which amount shall cover services required by the provisions…

The proceeds from the sale of all licenses and all fees required by any of the provisions of this article shall go to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and shall be used by such department for the administration of its Division of Marine Resources, except as ma…

Unless otherwise provided specifically in this article, a violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be a Class C misdemeanor, punishable as provided by law, except that the minimum fine shall not be less than one hundred dollars ($100). History: (Acts 1943, No. 587…

Commercial Shrimping by Law or Regulation; Confiscation and Forfeiture of Trawls. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to take shrimp by commercial shrimp trawling in waters closed to commercial shrimping by law or regulation. “Commercial shrimp trawling” …

A recreational gill net license may be issued to anyone wishing to utilize a 300-foot or less gill net for noncommercial purposes for a fee of $50.00. Persons taking fish from Alabama waters under the auspices of the recreational gill net license may not sell, barter, or offer fo…

(a) The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall immediately approve the hardship licenses selected on November 17, 1995, pursuant to Executive Order No. 12. (b) An individual approved pursuant to subsection (a) shall be subject to the same renewal qualifications as…

and Regulations. (a) Any person taking crabs for commercial purposes or using more than five crab traps for personal, noncommercial purposes must first obtain and have in possession a “crab catcher’s” license. The fee for said license shall be $50.00 and shall be paid to the Depa…

Seafood. (a)(1)a. Any person who engages in the selling, brokering, trading, bartering, or processing of any fresh or frozen seafood, whether on a consignment basis or otherwise, is a seafood dealer and shall purchase a seafood dealer license for a fee of four hundred sixty-five …

Closed Areas; Promulgation of Rules; Penalty; Enforcement. (a) The State Board of Health is authorized to inspect the waters of the state where oysters are grown and harvested. When the State Health Officer shall determine that the waters surrounding the oyster beds are unsafe fo…

Establishment of Artificial Fishing Reefs - Authorized; Disposition of Proceeds. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Division of Marine Resources, acting through the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, may undertake and provide for such condition…

Establishment of Artificial Fishing Reefs - Form and Approval of Transactions; Informal Solicitation of Bids. All sale or barter transactions that may be consummated for the purposes of this article by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources shall be reduced to wri…

REPEALED IN THE 2018 REGULAR SESSION BY ACT 2018-152 EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2018. THIS IS NOT IN THE CURRENT CODE SUPPLEMENT. History: (Acts 1973, No. 437, p. 629, §3.)

Reef Materials; Bond; Penalties. (a) Before any person, firm, corporation, or association constructs or attempts to construct an artificial fishing reef in the coastal waters of the State of Alabama as defined by Section 9-7-10, or waters approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engine…

The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources shall have authority to enter into agreements of reciprocity with conservation commissioners or directors and other proper officials of other states who have jurisdiction over the seafood laws and regulations of such states w…

Upon the entering of such reciprocal agreement, the license fees imposed upon nonresident fishermen and upon the owners of catching boats, freight boats or ice boats owned in whole or in part by such nonresidents shall be the same as for residents of the State of Alabama. History…

Alabama Laws, Etc. The fishing rights and privileges which may be granted by or through such reciprocal agreements shall be exercised in accordance with the laws of Alabama and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources of the …

The Governor of this state is hereby authorized and directed to execute a compact on behalf of the State of Alabama with any one or more of the states of Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and with such other states as may enter into the compact legally therein in the for…

In pursuance of Article III of said compact there shall be three representatives from Alabama to the commission created therein to be selected as follows: The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources shall, ex officio, be a representative of the State of Alabama on said…

Any powers granted in this article to the commission shall be regarded as in aid of and supplemental to and in no case a limitation upon any of the powers vested in said commission by other laws of the State of Alabama or by the laws of the States of Florida, Texas, Mississippi, …

All necessary expenses incident to the membership of the State of Alabama in the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission shall be payable out of the Seafoods Fund upon the requisition of the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources. Such expenses shall include travel co…

There is hereby appropriated annually out of the Seafood Fund of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources the sum of $3,500.00 to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission as the State of Alabama’s prorated share of said commission’s annual operating expenses as pro…

Resistance. Repealed by Act 2015-70 effective April 21, 2015. History: (Code 1852, §1128; Code 1867, §1308; Code 1876, §1616; Code 1886, §4721; Code 1896, §5576; Code 1907, §7497; Code 1923, §5105; Code 1940, T. 8, §166.)

All seafoods existing or living in the waters of Alabama not held in private ownership legally acquired and all beds and bottoms of rivers, streams, bayous, lagoons, lakes, bays, sounds and inlets bordering on or connecting with the Gulf of Mexico or Mississippi Sound within the …

For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings described herein, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) ALLIGATOR FARM. An enclosed area not located on public lands or waters, constructed so as to prevent the ingress and egress of alligators fro…

Any person, firm, or corporation may engage in the business of propagating alligators on an alligator farm for restocking, propagation, and other commercial purposes by complying with the provisions of this article, and may thereafter sell either live alligators to other licensed…

Whoever desires to engage in the business of raising, exhibiting, and selling alligators on alligator farms shall apply to the department for a license to do so. If it appears that the application is made in good faith, upon payment of $1,000.00, an alligator farmer license may b…

Alligator farmer licenses shall expire on the thirtieth day of September of each year. On or before the first day of October of the following year, every licensee shall apply for a renewal of his license. In conjunction with this application, the licensee shall provide a report i…

Affidavit; Transportation of Carcass. Alligators raised on such licensed breeding farms may be sold alive to other licensed alligator farmers only, or taken for their skins or for food, according to such rules and regulations as the department may promulgate. All skins shall be t…

Whoever under the authority of this article has in his lawful possession any such alligators or parts thereof on such posted or fenced alligator farm shall have a property right therein and shall be the owner thereof. Whoever enters the alligator farm and catches, takes, or attem…

(a) Each alligator parts dealer shall secure an alligator parts dealer license from the department before commencing business. The license shall be secured annually and shall be furnished upon the payment of $100.00. (b) Each retailer selling canned alligator parts or purchasing …

(a) Any licensed alligator farmer may sell alligator carcasses or parts, provided he completes an official alligator parts transaction form, furnished by the department, for every alligator parts transaction. These forms shall be submitted to the department at 30-day intervals un…

Each alligator farmer shall tag with an official alligator parts tag, furnished by the department, all carcasses, meat, or nonedible alligator parts prior to sale and upon dissection from the carcass. This tag shall be completed in full and remain attached to the carcass or part …

All raw alligator skins shipped within this state shall be tagged so as to show the number and kinds of skins in the shipment, the consignor, shipping point, consignee, and destination. The department shall supply suitable tags to all shippers requiring them for actual shipments.…

A natural oyster reef is declared and defined as not less than one acre in continuous area of any bottoms of any bay, sound, bayou, creek, inlet or any other body of salt or brackish water on which oysters grow naturally, or have grown naturally, in quantity sufficient to warrant…

There is hereby levied a severance tax on each alligator skin taken from any alligator within this state, payable to the state through the department by the alligator farmer selling or shipping his skins within or without the state or taking his own catch out of state, at the rat…

Except as Provided; Applicability of Section; Penalty. No person shall take or possess the eggs of alligators, alligators, or their parts or skins in any county of this state except as provided for in this article, and the provisions of this section shall not apply to legal finis…

All license fees and taxes resulting from the provisions of this article shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Game and Fish Fund of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. History: (Acts 1989, No. 89-874, p. 1749, §13.)

Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event the federal government places the alligator in an endangered species status, all licenses issued pursuant to this article shall be null and void upon the earlier of the following dates: (1) the expiration date of said …

License. Any person licensed as an alligator farmer under Section 9-12-202 convicted of violating any of the provisions of this article shall have his license cancelled and all alligators, alligator parts, and alligator skins in his possession shall be forfeited to the Department…