Title XVIII, Fish and Game

No person shall use, have in his possession for use, or furnish for another's use, for taking fish in the fresh waters of this state, except as specifically permitted in this title, a net of any kind or description, set line, fishing otter, trawl, grapple, spear, jack, jack light…

I. No person shall use any lead sinker or lead jig for the taking of fish in any fresh water, except as otherwise specifically permitted in this title. II. A person using any such lead sinker or jig shall be guilty of a violation. Notwithstanding RSA 651:2, the penalty for a viol…

No person shall buy, sell, offer for sale, carry beyond the limits of the state, or place in private waters, any fish or fry entrusted to his care by the executive director for distribution in the waters of this state.

No person shall take or use any species of fish except suckers for fertilizer.

No person shall use carp or goldfish as live bait when fishing in any waters of this state. Possession of live carp or goldfish while fishing shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section. No person shall use shad or whitefish for bait for cusk.

I. No person shall promote or operate any fishing tournament in the waters under the jurisdiction of this state without first procuring a special permit from the executive director to do so. II. The executive director shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to definiti…

A person who violates the provisions of this title relative to fishing shall be guilty of a violation unless a greater penalty is specified, and in addition shall be guilty of a violation for each fish taken in violation of this title; provided, however, that if all violations on…

I. Any person owning or placing a smelt shanty or bob-house on the ice for the purpose of ice fishing shall mark clearly on the outside of the door of said structure the owner's name and address. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of a v…

No person shall drive a motor vehicle, snowmobile, or OHRV on the ice on Great Bay, except that any person who holds a New Hampshire recreational saltwater license under RSA 214:9, XVI may do so, provided that he or she does not drive or park his or her vehicle any closer than 30…

Whoever by himself or others cuts a fishing hole larger than 112 square inches in area in the ice on Great Bay and leaves the same unattended, unless covered by a bob-house, without first marking the same with a stake extending at least 18 inches above the ice shall be guilty of …

I. No person shall take lobsters and crabs from any water under the jurisdiction of this state without first procuring a valid and proper license to do so as provided in paragraph III. No such taking shall occur during the time from sunset to one hour before sunrise. The executiv…

In addition to any other penalty any lobster license holder convicted of assaulting an enforcement officer or wilfully damaging any boat or motor used by an enforcement officer shall lose his lobster license for one year.

Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter to the contrary any person may take 12 crabs a day by angling, diving, or by hand without a license.

Any person who furnishes to another person or permits another person to have or use a lobster and crab license issued to himself or any other person or changes or alters such license or uses a license issued to another person or makes a false statement in application to obtain sa…

I. The taking of lobsters and crabs in Rye Harbor by any person is forbidden. No lobster or crab trap buoys may be placed in the harbor or the approach channel to the harbor. A fisherman has 24 hours to remove his or her gear from restricted areas after an authorized enforcement …

Carp may be taken and possessed from Mascoma lake by the use of long bow and arrow with cord attached.

I. Notwithstanding any other law or rule to the contrary, no person shall take smelt (Osmerus mordax) from the fresh waters of this state by any method other than by angling, unless the executive director determines that other methods of taking smelt would not be detrimental to t…

Any person licensed under the provisions of RSA 211:18 may get a helper's license which entitles the person to have the help of a person in the taking of lobsters or crabs. The helper's license may be transferred to any one helper employed by the licensee, but may not be transfer…

The executive director may revoke or suspend the lobster and crab license of any person who has been found guilty in any court of a violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter by the executive director. If an appeal is taken the license shall…

Any person whose license has been suspended shall within 5 days remove from the waters all lobster traps, pots, cars, or any device used in taking or storing of lobsters and crabs. Said lobster traps, pots, cars or devices shall be taken to a place of storage on the shore and sha…

No person shall at any time take from any waters under the jurisdiction of this state any lobsters by diving, spearing or dipping.

No person shall remove spawn from any female lobster and no person shall take, serve, have in his possession, sell, or offer for sale any female lobster carrying spawn or any lobster spawn.

Whoever takes, buys, sells, or has in his possession any female lobster bearing eggs shall be guilty of a violation and, in addition, shall be guilty of a violation for each additional oviparous female lobster involved. However, a person who takes any such female lobster and imme…

I. No person may transport, buy, sell, give away, or expose for sale, or possess for any purpose, any lobster less than the minimum legal length alive or dead, cooked or uncooked, measuring from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center line of the body shell…

Nothing in the provisions of RSA 211:27 shall be construed to prevent hotels or restaurants serving cooked lobster to guests for immediate consumption as food from chopping meat taken from lobster of legal length in reasonable quantities for current use; nor shall RSA 211:27 prev…

No person, firm or corporation shall transport, possess or offer for sale lobster meat from sources outside the jurisdiction of this state unless such meat shall comply with RSA 211:27. The inclusion of any such meat of less than the prescribed legal length within any container, …

The possession of lobsters, or parts thereof, alive or dead, cooked or uncooked, mutilated in such manner as to make accurate measurements as prescribed in this chapter impossible, shall be prima facie evidence that they are not of required legal length. Provided that this sectio…

I. No person, except the owner or a conservation officer, shall take up, lift, molest, have in his possession, or transfer any pot, trap, car or other contrivance that is set for the taking or holding of lobsters or crabs, nor take, remove or carry away from the beach or shore, a…

No person shall set any pot or trap for any lobster or crab without having the pot or trap and buoy attached, plainly carved or branded with his last name and initials. No person shall use or set in any tidal water any car or other contrivance for holding or keeping lobsters or c…

Each applicant for a lobster and crab license shall state the color scheme or other special markings of the buoys desired to be used by him. These colors, if approved by the executive director, shall be set forth in his license, and all buoys used by the licensee shall be marked …

No pot, trap or other contrivance for taking or holding lobsters or crabs shall be set or buoyed other than plainly and separately except as hereinbefore provided. When pots, traps, or other contrivances are set on trawls, buoys plainly marked as provided in RSA 211:32 and 33 sha…

If a conservation officer informs a person that his boat, automobile, truck, or any motor vehicle, wharf, dock or landing or contents thereof are about to be inspected, it is unlawful for the person to throw or dump or cause to be thrown or dumped from any boat, automobile, truck…

No person shall sell lobster meat which has not been processed and sealed within containers which do not require refrigeration without first procuring a license to do so. Such license shall not be required for food service establishments licensed under RSA 143-A which purchase an…

I. Any person who is licensed to engage in the wholesale trade of marine species in accordance with RSA 211:49-c may engage in the processing of lobster tails after procuring from the executive director a lobster tail permit. The lobster tail permit authorizes the licensee to rem…

I. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in a retail trade in lobsters or crabs, without first having procured from the executive director a license therefor. Such license shall entitle the holder, as a retail dealer, to buy, sell, ship and transport lobsters and crabs in r…

If, in the case of a lake or pond situated partly in this state and partly in another state, the laws of such other state permit fishing in that part thereof lying within such other state by persons licensed or otherwise entitled under the laws of this state to fish in that part …

Any person holding a license under RSA 211:38 or 39 who is convicted of a violation of the laws relating to lobsters and crabs shall forfeit such license for not more than one year from the date of conviction in the discretion of the executive director.

The provisions of this subdivision relative to taking marine species shall not apply to transportation of marine species in interstate commerce where shipment originated outside the state and is consigned outside the state.

The word "resident" as used in this subdivision when applied to a corporation shall mean a corporation organized under the laws of this state. The word "nonresident" as used in this subdivision when applied to a corporation shall mean a corporation organized under the laws of ano…

Any person who violates a provision of this subdivision shall be penalized as follows: I. For each offense under RSA 211:22, 23, 23-a, 32, 34, 38 or 39 shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person. II. For an offense under RSA…

I. No person shall use a seine or net or weir for the taking of salt water smelt in Great Bay, Little Bay, Piscataqua River, Squamscot River, Oyster River, Bellamy River, Lamprey River and their tributaries, except that salt water smelt may be taken by the use of a bow net in the…

A resident of this state or a nonresident who is licensed under RSA 211:49-a may use a seine, net, or weir for the taking of river herring from the waters of New Hampshire.

I. No person shall use any type of net or weir for the taking of fin fish from the downstream side of the McCallen Dam to a line perpendicular with the 2 riverbanks from the north side of the Newmarket boat launch ramp except that the executive director of the New Hampshire fish …

I. No person shall use mobile gear, including but not limited to, otter trawls, mid-water trawls, beam trawls, pair trawls, purse seines, Scottish seines or drag seines in any form for the taking of any finfish or crustaceans in the waters under the jurisdiction of the state. The…

I. Any person who does not qualify as a resident under RSA 207:1, who takes, possesses, lands, or transports by any method, from or on the waters of this state, regardless of where the catch was taken, any marine species by any method for the purpose of selling the same, shall fi…