Title 20, Title 20 and Wildlife

The license of any person who has violated the provisions of this title or the rules and regulations issued pursuant to this title may be suspended or revoked by the director in any manner and for any period as the director shall determine by regulation. Any person aggrieved by a…

Unless otherwise specified in this title, all licenses issued under this title shall be annual and shall expire on December 31 of every year.

(a)(1) Resident: twenty-one dollars ($21.00); commencing July 1, 2025, twenty-four dollars ($24.00); commencing July 1, 2028, twenty-seven dollars ($27.00). (2) Nonresident: thirty-eight dollars ($38.00); commencing July 1, 2025, forty-one dollars ($41.00); commencing July 1, 202…

(a)(1) Resident: twenty-one dollars ($21.00); commencing July 1, 2025, twenty-four dollars ($24.00); commencing July 1, 2028, twenty-seven dollars ($27.00). (2) Nonresident: fifty-five dollars ($55.00); commencing July 1, 2025, sixty-five dollars ($65.00); commencing July 1, 2028…

The annual license fee for operating a shooting preserve shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00).

The director may grant to any eligible resident applying for a combination hunting and fishing license a license that shall entitle the licensee to the privileges of both hunting and fishing licenses, for a fee of thirty-eight dollars ($38.00); commencing July 1, 2025, forty-thre…

(a)(1) Resident: thirteen dollars ($13.00); commencing July 1, 2025, fourteen dollars ($14.00); commencing July 1, 2028, fifteen dollars ($15.00). (2) Nonresident: twenty-six dollars and fifty cents ($26.50); commencing July 1, 2025, twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents ($27.50);…

(a) No person shall attempt to take any wild turkey without first obtaining a regular hunting license and a turkey permit for the current year. Permits shall be sold at the direction of the director for a fee of eight dollars ($8.00) for residents and twenty-one dollars and fifty…

No person shall attempt to take any stocked game bird without first obtaining a regular hunting license and a stocked game bird permit for the current year.

Permits shall be sold at the direction of the director for a fee of seventeen dollars ($17.00). Commencing July 1, 2025, the fee for a permit shall be eighteen dollars and fifty cents ($18.50). Commencing July 1, 2028, the fee for a permit shall be twenty-one dollars ($21.00). Th…

The fee for a commercial minnow license shall be twenty dollars ($20.00). The license is valid only during the season in which it is issued.

Any person or corporation appointed by the director as provided in § 20-2-1 shall, upon the application of any person entitled to receive a license under this chapter and upon payment of the specified license fee, register and issue to that person a license, either printed or dis…

The expiration date of any license issued pursuant to this chapter shall be stamped on the license and not handwritten.

(a) Every nonresident over the age of twelve (12) years may obtain a nonresident, noncommercial annual shellfish license for a fee of two hundred dollars ($200). (b) A nonresident may obtain one noncommercial limited license per calendar year covering fourteen (14) days, includin…

(a) Noncommercial pot: forty dollars ($40.00). The license is issued only to a legal resident of the state of Rhode Island. (b) Noncommercial divers: forty dollars ($40.00). The license is issued only to a legal resident of the state of Rhode Island.

(a) All party and charter vessels carrying recreational passengers to take or attempt to take marine species upon the navigable state and coastal waters of Rhode Island shall be required to obtain a Rhode Island party and charter vessel license. The annual fee shall be one hundre…

In any fiscal year, moneys generated from license fees and vessel fees, provided for in §§ 20-2-22 and 20-2-24 and chapter 2.1 of this title, over and above the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) through June 30, 2003, and on or after July 1, 2003, the full amount sha…

(a) Artificial propagation and sale of live game: twenty-five dollars ($25.00). (b) Raising game for liberation: five dollars ($5.00). (c) Sale of carcasses of domestic game birds: twenty-five dollars ($25.00).

Every city and town clerk or agent appointed under this chapter shall record all licenses issued under this chapter in books kept for that purpose, one coupon of which shall be retained in his or her record. The books shall be supplied by the department; shall remain the property…

(a)(1) Fur trapper — Resident: fifteen dollars ($15.00); commencing July 1, 2025, twenty dollars ($20.00); commencing July 1, 2028, twenty-five dollars ($25.00). (2) Fur trapper — Nonresident: fifty dollars ($50.00); commencing July 1, 2025, seventy-five dollars ($75.00); commenc…

(a) Every valid license to hunt or fish in this state that is held by any resident of this state upon joining the armed forces or the merchant marine of the United States is hereby extended and is in force and valid until six (6) months following the termination of his or her ser…

All persons granted a license under the provisions of this chapter are deemed to have consented to the reasonable inspection of any boat, vessel, net, rake, bullrake, tong, dredge, trap, pot, vehicle, structure, or other contrivance used regularly for the keeping or storage of fi…

Every person who falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits, or who causes to be made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, a license issued under this title, or purporting to be a license issued under this title, or who shall have in his or her possession such a false, altered…

As used in §§ 20-2-34 — 20-2-38: (1) “Migratory waterfowl” means all waterfowl species in the family anatidae, including wild ducks, geese, brant, and swans. (2) “Stamp” means the state migratory waterfowl hunting stamp furnished by the division of fish and wildlife as provided f…

No person sixteen (16) years of age or older shall take, or attempt to take, any migratory waterfowl without first obtaining a regular hunting license and a Rhode Island migratory waterfowl stamp for the current year. Each stamp shall be validated by the signature of the licensee…

The director of the department of environmental management shall be responsible for the design, production, procurement, distribution, and sale of all stamps and all marketable stamp by-products such as posters, artwork, calendars, and other items.

(a) Stamps shall be sold at the direction of the director for a fee of eight dollars ($8.00). Commencing July 1, 2025, the fee for a stamp shall be nine dollars ($9.00). Commencing July 1, 2028, the fee for a stamp shall be ten dollars ($10.00). The issuing agent may retain a fee…

All waterfowl stamp receipts, and all receipts from the sale of stamp by-products, shall be deposited in a special waterfowl fund. All stamp and by-products receipts shall be expended through the appropriations process for waterfowl habitat, acquisition, improvement, and research…

The director is authorized to accept any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift or assignment of money, bonds, or other valuable securities for deposit in the waterfowl fund, which may be accepted for specific use(s) that the grant and grantee may jointly identify within the purp…

As used in §§ 20-2-39 — 20-2-43, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Stamp” means a Rhode Island trout conservation stamp issued by the division of fish and wildlife as provided for in § 20-2-41; and (2) “Trout” means any fish species in the family salmoni…

Out of the fees paid under the provisions of this chapter for issuance of hunting, other than deer permits pursuant to § 20-2-18, fishing, combination, and nonresident shellfishing licenses, the sum of one dollar ($1.00) shall be retained by the authorized agent issuing each lice…

The director is authorized and directed to engage the contractual services of a state-approved vendor to develop and implement a web-based system that will serve as a means for obtaining licenses pursuant to this chapter. The vendor’s responsibilities shall include, but not be li…

No person fifteen (15) years of age or older shall take any trout without first obtaining a regular fishing license and a Rhode Island trout conservation stamp for the current year. Each stamp shall be validated by signature of the licensee written in ink across the face of the s…

The director of the department of environmental management shall adopt and shall be responsible for the design, production, procurement, distribution, and sale of all trout conservation stamps and all marketable stamp by-products such as posters, artwork, calendars, and other ite…

Stamps shall be sold at the direction of the director for a fee of five dollars and fifty cents ($5.50). Commencing July 1, 2025, the fee for a stamp shall be six dollars ($6.00). Commencing July 1, 2028, the fee for a stamp shall be six dollars and fifty cents ($6.50). The issui…

All trout conservation stamp receipts, and all receipts from the sale of stamp by-products, shall be deposited in a special trout conservation fund. All stamp and stamp by-products receipts shall be expended through the appropriations process for operations, trout habitat includi…

In addition to any appropriation made pursuant to § 20-2-28.2, the general assembly shall appropriate from the general fund to the division of marine fisheries the amount it deems necessary for the purpose of maintaining a shellfish transplant program for the fiscal year ending J…

(a) Findings of fact. The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following: (1) Oyster fishery has historically been important to Rhode Island for economic and ecosystem benefits; (2) The Rhode Island oyster fishery has been in deep decline and is a fraction of its histor…

(a) Any person may take the aquatic invasive species commonly known as green crabs, more specifically known as the species carcinis maenas. (b) Rhode Island residents may be granted a commercial green crab license for a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) per season. (c) The director is …

(a) Whoever loses, or by a mistake or accident destroys, his or her certificate of a commercial marine fisheries license may, upon application to the department accompanied by an affidavit fully setting forth the circumstances of the loss, receive a duplicate certificate for the …

All moneys derived from payments received from freshwater fishing, hunting, and combination licenses and permits in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be deposited with the general treasurer and are appropriated to the department for the protection and propagati…

The moneys received under § 20-2-6 are to be used for the following specific purposes: (1) Leasing and purchase of land and rights-of-way to streams and ponds to be stocked with fish by the department and to be opened to public fishing; (2) For stream improvement; (3) For the enf…

Any person who willfully makes a false representation as to birthplace or requirements of identification or of other facts required in an application for license under this chapter, or is any way directly or indirectly a party to such a false representation, shall be punished by …

Every person holding a license issued under this chapter shall have that license in his or her possession at all times while engaged in the licensed activity and shall present the license for inspection on demand by any authorized person. In the case of freshwater fishing, the li…