OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
.‘ionorable 3, D. Dodgen
Exeoutive Seoretary-
Gaae , Z’leh and Oyster Co,~ission
Austin, Texaa
opinion KO. o-7457
Authority of th
Zish and Oyater
ertain c_uestions
fishermn and
9, 46 Leg., p. 238,
, ch. 55, and oodi-
fied as Art101 d Ienal Code, The
question you s
he above mentioned
nnd Oyster Con&s-
fuse to issue a i,on-
emah’s iicensa or a
Fishing 3oat License
ate Of Louisiana viheh
is mde for either or both. of such
mGuired fee offered in paynent’?W
ion calls for a ooinpariaon of the provisions
with the oorresponding provisions of the
s, es shown by the newspaper copies of Acts
1946, i:OE. 78 and 210, of the Louisiana Legislature, furnished
to you by Iion. Isaac Chapman of the Louisiana Departmnt of
h~ildlife and Fisheries, which copies we assuL:e to be correct.
Hon. E. D. Dodgen, page 2
Our Artiole 934b-1 prohlbits (Sea. 3) any non-resident
coinmtilal risherman rrom taking or aesisting in taking any
fish or shrbap or oysterr or any other edible aquatio life
from the tidal salt waters of this State without first pro-
curihg a Non-Resident Comeroial Piehermnls License, and
prohibits (Sea, 4) the, use of a non-resident .oomneroial
fishing boat for the same purpoaea, or any of them, without
firat proourlng a Ron-Resident Cosmeroial Biehiug Boat License.
Sea. 5 of said Article provides:
“The &use, Fish and Oyster Comnlssion of T6Xam,
or its authorized agent or agents, shall have the
right and authority to refuse to sell or grant any
suoh Ron-resident Comaroial Fishernsn*e Lioense or
Non-resident Comeroial Fishing Boat License to the
residents of any State that nay now or hereafter
refuse to sell or grant equal privileges or lioensss
to the oitizens of this~ State.”
The olted acts of Louisiana, whioh relate to the taking of
shrimp and oysterm, oontain substantielly similar provieions.
But an important differehoe between the regulations of the two
states appears when we oonsider the territory in whldh eaoh
permits non-residents to engage in oomaarolnl fishing for
shrimp and ‘oysters.
Sea, 6 of our Article 934b-1 provideat
“The licensed comneroial fiahermn, resident or
non-resident, uiay fish ooamercially in the ooestal
wate’r6 bounded on the east by a Line drawn from the
center of Sablne Pass, outting aorosa the li;ast Sabine
Jetty at a point two thousand (2,000) feet north of
the present fishing pier known aa the Jaycee pier, and
extending three (3) marine leagues into the Gulf of
Xsxioo, following along the coast line of T6xaa to the
present acknowledged boundary between the State of
Texas aad the Republlo of Mexloo.”
Thus It is seen that in Texas a non-resident, rhen licensed,
has the sam privileges, aa to the territory in which he nay en-
gage in ooameroial fishing, aa the resident oommerolel fishernan.
Not so in Louisiana, Act No. 78 of 1946 (Sec. 4, amending Sea. 10
of Aot lie. 143 of 1942) restriots the shrimping operations of non-
resident oomeroial f iehermen, and non-resident oomeroial f ishihg
Aonorable EL D. Dod@n, paga 3
boats, to a relatively mall area F,rst or the 3Jissiraippi Rlwr,
lesviug the Whole or the tidal waters from the Xisaisrippi afvsr
Tieat to the Texas border (ah air-lina diatahce of som 300 miles)
aa *restricted tidal watars of the Stat6 of Louisiana,* in which
only bona fide residents of Louislana rta’ fish for ehrlxp far
oomercial gurpoaes. Aot No. 210 of 1946 oonta.iha the aamv
territorial restriotion :aa to the taking of both shrFap and
oystera by lioenaed non-resident oo;llaeroial 9ieheraen and fishing
boatr.
Thus the State of Louisiana refuses to sell or grant privi-
lseoa or lloenaea to the aitlzens of this bfate equal to those
granted to non-residenta by tha State of ilsxas radar our ijon-
Zesfdent Oomarcial ~ishamants aEd lion-im8ideut CorPmsroia~
Fishing 9oat Lioenaea.
It is therefore our opinion that the Gam, Plah and Oyster
Comisrlon or Texas has the right and authority to rsfuee to iseue
either a &oh-kesideat iomeroial Slishar.mhls iiaehs,d, or 6 KM-
iIe side& Commroial Fishihg Joa t iioeme , or both, ta a resident
of Loulsiaha wheu agplioc,tion is DDE therrsfor ahd tkm reqJircd
fee offered in payment.
The clippings froa the Saton 20uza state-TIma, containing
the oited Louisiana s~tatutes, aTa returned herewith.
N-7