Title 9 — Title 9

Military Veterans. (a) Effective beginning with the license year commencing on September 1, 2021, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall issue resident lifetime hunting and fishing licenses to disabled U.S. military veterans subject to the fees, qualifications…

Any person who is a citizen of the State of Alabama and over 65 years of age shall be entitled to fish in the Pike County public fishing lake operated by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, without the requirement of payment of any admission fee. History: (Acts …

Repealed by Act 2007-418, p. 874, §6, effective September 1, 2007. History: (Act 2000-742, p. 1647, §2.)

Beginning with the license year October 1, 2010, and each license year thereafter, those license fees and issuance fees specified in Act 2007-418 shall be subject to a possible cost adjustment based on the following procedure: By the end of November of 2009, and each November the…

Beginning with the license year October 1, 2010, and each license year thereafter, those license fees and issuance fees specified in Sections 9-11-53.1, 9-11-53.5, and 9-11-55.2, shall be subject to a cost adjustment based on the following procedure: By the end of November of 200…

District Attorney’s Fee. The district attorney of any county in which any violation of the provisions of the game and fish laws or the rules and regulations set out therein occurs, or his or her assistant, shall appear on behalf of the state and prosecute the offender. The distri…

Licenses Not Transferable; Penalties. (a) No person shall hunt, fish, or trap in areas or under any conditions that a hunting, fishing, or trapping license is required by law, during any period that the person’s hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges pursuant to the license ha…

(a) There is established a wildlife heritage license. This license shall have a fee of nine dollars ($9), plus an issuance fee of one dollar ($1), which fees shall be subject to adjustment as provided for in Section 9-11-68, if purchased separately from one of the other licenses.…

Swine. A violation of any rule of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources prohibiting the transportation and release of live feral swine shall be a Class B misdemeanor punishable as provided by law, except the defendant shall be subject to a mandatory minimum fine of…

(a) For purposes of this section, the following words have the following meanings: (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. An institution of higher education located in this state which meets the requirements of and conforms to the definitions contained in the federal Higher Educati…

Etc., Generally; Arrest Without Warrant. All enforcement officers and inspectors employed by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources are clothed with the power and authority of deputy sheriffs and shall arrest without warrant and carry before the district court of …

(a) All waters of this state are hereby declared to be public waters if such waters are natural bodies of water such as rivers, creeks, brooks, lakes, bayous, bays, channels, canals or lagoons or are dug, dredged or blasted canals and if these waters traverse, bound, flow upon or…

The title ownership to all fish in the public fresh waters of the State of Alabama is vested in the state for the purpose of regulating the use and disposition of the same in accordance with the provisions of the laws of this state and regulations based thereon. History: (Acts 19…

For the purposes of this title the following shall be considered game fish: largemouth and smallmouth black bass, commonly called trout or green trout; bream, crappie or perch and all other members of the sunfish family, including rock bass or goggle eye, calico bass, warmouth, r…

The following shall be considered commercial fish or nongame fish: drum, buffalo, channel catfish and all members of the catfish family and the spotted sucker and all members of the sucker family, including the species known as red horse and black horse. History: (Acts 1933, Ex. …

Waters. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or offer for sale within this state, or ship or transport for sale within or without this state, or to ship into this state any game fish caught or taken in any of the fresh waters, whether public or private, of this state o…

River. (a) The Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall issue a permit to a municipality or private entity associated with fishing or conservation that allows the introduction and placement of black bass into the Coosa River if all of the followi…

Taken or Transported Illegally. All game fish taken in this state must at all times be carried or transported openly, and failure to do so shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $25.00. All game fish carried or transported in an …

State. No person, firm, or corporation shall carry, ship, or transport beyond the boundaries of this state more than one day’s creel limit of any species of game fish and then only for his or her personal use. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and…

It shall be unlawful for any person to take, catch, or kill or attempt to take, catch, or kill any game fish by any other means than ordinary hook and line, artificial lure, troll, or spinner in any of the public waters of this state. Any person who violates this section shall be…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to take, catch, capture, or kill any game or nongame fish by use of a gill, trammel, or similar type net in the waters impounded by Jordan Dam, Lay Dam, Mitchell Dam, and Martin Dam. Whoever violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemean…

It shall be unlawful for any person in the State of Alabama to use any game fish for fish bait at any time. History: (Acts 1933, Ex. Sess., No. 72, p. 67, §11; Code 1940, T. 8, §67.)

to Firms or Corporations. In cases of violation of any of the provisions of the game and fish laws or the rules and regulations based thereunder by any person, firm or corporation, the warrant of arrest may be read to the president, secretary or manager of such firm or corporatio…

It shall be lawful to use the following species of the sunfish family for bait in the streams and waters of Alabama: bluegill, redear sunfish, green sunfish and/or any other species of bream; provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to allow any person to h…

(a) It is unlawful for any person to take, catch, or kill or attempt to take, catch, or kill fish or aid in the taking, catching, or killing of fish of any species by the means or use of a seine, net, trap, or any similar or other device which may be used for taking, catching, ki…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to fish or take fish from any fish farm except with the consent of the owner thereof. Any person possessing fishing tackle on the premises of a fish farm shall be rebuttably presumed to be fishing. (b) Any motor vehicle, or fishing tackle, …

Any person who by means of traps or other obstructions other than dams prevents the passage of fish up the waters of any river or creek in this state must, on conviction, be fined not more than $100.00, but it shall not be unlawful to erect or maintain a dam on a nonnavigable str…

Any person who takes, catches, kills, or attempts to take, catch, or kill fish by depositing in any public stream or public body of water in Alabama any poison, poisonous substance, fishberries, lime, or other deleterious or poisonous matter, or any person who takes, catches, kil…

Expressly Allowed. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to take, catch, stun, or kill or attempt to take, catch, stun, or kill any game or nongame fish by any means other than those which are expressly allowed by law or regulation of the Department of Conservation and Natural …

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or kill or harvest from the public waters of this state the fish commonly known as the tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus), and has been designated as the official state saltwater fish of the State of Alabama, pursuant to Section 1-2-8,…

All money arising under the provisions of this article from fines, forfeitures, etc., and not otherwise provided for shall be forwarded to the Treasurer on the first day of each month and covered into the Game and Fish Fund. History: (Code 1907, §6903; Code 1923, §4064; Code 1940…

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 …