Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol.31,No.43, October 28, 2005 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announces additional changes to the above-referenced proposed rules, as a result of comments provided by the staff of the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee of the Florida Legislature. The changes make permission to allow another person to work blue crab traps mandatory on the agency once criteria are met and specify the title of forms being incorporated by reference in the two rules. The two rules as changed will now read as follows:

68B-45.004 Regulation and Prohibition of Certain Harvesting Gear.

(1) through (9) No Change.

(10) During any time of the year when it is legal to transport blue crab traps, a harvester may seek permission from the Division of Law Enforcement to allow another person to transport, deploy, pull, or retrieve his or her traps. Permission will be granted upon receipt of a written statement signed by both the commercial harvester seeking to have his or her traps pulled and the person designated to pull the traps, which statement also shall contain the following:

(a) The reason the harvester needs to have his or her traps pulled;

(b) The numbers of the saltwater products license and blue crab endorsement of both the harvester seeking to have the traps pulled and the person who will be pulling the traps;

(d) The name and number of the vessel to be used by the person who will be pulling the traps;

(e) The general locations of the pulling activity of the vessel to be engaged in pulling the traps; and

(f) The dates the other person will be transporting, deploying, pulling or retrieving the traps. Permission to pull traps in this manner shall be obtained daily by telephone from the Division of Law Enforcement for a maximum of 5 days without renewal or extension of the request. Permission to have traps pulled by another person for a longer period of time must be based on extraordinary circumstances such as severe personal or family illness or accident or major equipment problem, and shall be obtained through petition to the Division of Law Enforcement on Commission Form DMF-SL4590 (01-06) (Blue Crab Trap Pulling Petition), herein incorporated by reference, and will be granted upon such conditions as the Division deems appropriate for the protection of the resource. It shall be the responsibility of the commercial harvester, or a member of the harvester’s immediate family, to petition the Division. The petition shall include a complete description of the extraordinary circumstances with corroborating documentation, the amount of additional time requested, the number of traps to be pulled, and a signed statement from the other person, attesting to his/her willingness and ability to pull these traps during this time period as well as an awareness of all rules governing the blue crab fishery. If the person designated to pull the petitioner’s traps does not possess a saltwater products license with restricted species and a blue crab endorsement, the petitioner, as the license holder of record must possess a vessel saltwater products license and shall be held accountable for the designee’s compliance with all regulations governing the blue crab fishery.

Specific Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 12-14-93, Amended 6-1-94, 1-1-95,10-4-95, 9-30-96, 1-1-98, 6-1-99, Formerly 46-45.004, Amended 2-28-02, 10-21-04, 3-1-05,_______.

68B-45.007 Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement Program.

(1) No change.

(2) The Commission shall notify all holders of a 2004/2005 commercial saltwater products license with a restricted species endorsement and an existing blue crab endorsement of their initial eligibility or denial of a blue crab limited entry endorsement. Those notified will indicate either their acceptance of the initial award of a blue crab limited entry endorsement number by completion of an acceptance application (Form DMF-SL4500, Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement Application (01-06 ~~05-05~~), incorporated herein by reference) or submit an application to appeal (Form DMF-SL4510, Application for Appeal of Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement (05-05), incorporated herein by reference), as specified in paragraph (11)(b) ~~(10)(b)~~.

(3) Except for those qualifying for a non-transferable blue crab limited entry endorsement as specified in subsection (6), the Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement Application ~~The acceptance application~~ must be received by the Commission no later than September 30, 2006. An applicant may be a person, firm, or corporation.

(a) No change.

(b) Except as specified in subsection (6), qualification for a blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall be determined by landings of blue crab reported on a valid saltwater products license with a valid restricted species endorsement and a blue crab endorsement, and as specified in paragraph (c).

(4) through (5) No Change.

(6) Non-transferable blue crab limited entry endorsement (V-N). Persons will qualify for the V-N endorsement if they meet the criteria set forth in paragraph 3(a), have had no convictions for violations associated with gears defined in Rule Chapter 68B-4.002(3) or (4), F.A.C., since July 1, 1995, and have documented landings using such gears pursuant to Commission trip tickets generated for the Marine Information System under Rule Chapter 68E-5, F.A.C, prior to July 1, 1995, or, 2) sold nets to the state according to the provisions of the net buy back program, Chapter 95-414, Laws of Florida. Qualifying landings must have been received by the Marine Information System no later than August 1, 1995.

(a) The non-transferable blue crab limited entry endorsement cannot be sold or otherwise transferred to any other person as described in subsections (15) or (16).

(b) The holder of a non-transferable blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall be entitled to purchase up to 100 hard shell blue crab trap tags that will allow them to deploy a like number of hard shell blue crab traps in any state waters.

(c) Applicants qualifying for a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number pursuant to this subsection may apply for the endorsement by completing and submitting application Form DMF-SL4570, Non-Transferable Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement (01-06), incorporated herein by reference.

(d) Applicants must submit their application to the Commission no later than September 30, 2006. An applicant may be a person, firm, or corporation.

(e) Applicants qualifying pursuant to subsection (6) will only be eligible for one V-N endorsement.

(f) Applicants initially denied a V-N endorsement number may appeal their denial by submitting a completed appeals application form (DMF-4580, Application for Appeal of the Non-Transferable Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement (01-06), hereby incorporated by reference), to the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries Management by March 31, 2006.

(g) The Executive Director of the Commission or his designee shall consider disputes or problems of applicants appealing their initial denial of a V-N award.

(h) The burden of proof shall be on the appellant to demonstrate through either: 1) copies of trip tickets or other proof of landings described in paragraph (a) legitimate sales to a licensed wholesale dealer that were not reported by the wholesale dealer or included in the agencies database, or 2) proof of sales to the state according to the provisions of the net buy back program, Chapter 95-414, Laws of Florida.

(i) The holder of a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall be subject to the same trap tag requirements described in subsection (7).

(j) The holder of a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall be subject to the same renewal criteria described in subsection (9).

(k) The holder of a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall be subject to the renewal criteria described in paragraph (10)(a).

(l) The holder of a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number shall not be eligible to serve either on the blue crab limited entry appeals board described in subsection (11) or the advisory board described in subsection (12).

(m) The holder of a V-N endorsement number shall be subject to the requirements of subsections (13) and (14).

(n) If the holder of a V-N blue crab limited entry endorsement number purchases a V-H endorsement described in subsection (4) or a V-S endorsement described in subsection (5), the non-transferable endorsement shall be forfeited.

(7)~~(6)~~ No change.

(8)~~(7)~~ Effective September 30, 2006, no additional blue crab limited entry endorsements will be issued except to applicants qualifying as specified in subsection (18), and no blue crab limited entry ~~such~~ endorsement will be renewed or replaced except those that were issued pursuant to subsection (4), (5), (6), or (11)~~(10)~~.

(9)(8) No change.

(10)~~(9)~~ Requalification. Beginning with license year 2009/2010, the holder of a blue crab limited entry endorsement number, except those qualifying as specified in subsection (18), must requalify for the endorsement number by documenting landings on such endorsement as specified in paragraph (a) or (b) in at least one of the previous three license years. Each endorsement number will then be valid for three years from the date of requalification, but must still be renewed annually as required by subsection (8). Except for the V-I endorsement specified in subsection (18), aAny blue crab limited entry endorsement number not meeting the requalification criteria as specified in paragraph (a) or (b) will not be renewed.

(a) In order to requalify a V-H or a V-N endorsement number, an applicant for requalification must document landings equal to or exceeding 500 pounds of hard shell blue crabs. Persons wishing to also requalify V-H endorsement numbers on additional saltwater products licenses must document landings equal to or exceeding 7,500 pounds of hard shell blue crabs on each of those licenses.

(b) No Change.

(10) through (16) renumbered (11) through (17) No change.

(18) Blue crab incidental take endorsement. Persons possessing a valid stone crab endorsement or can demonstrate landings of blue crabs caught as bycatch by shrimp gears that were used to lawfully harvest shrimp pursuant to Commission trip tickets generated for the Marine Information System under Rule Chapter 68E-5, F.A.C., will qualify for a blue crab incidental take endorsement (V-I). The holder of an V-I number shall be entitled to harvest and sell blue crab as bycatch, provided the amount does not exceed 200 pounds of blue crabs per vessel per trip.

Specific Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 5-26-05, Amended________.