N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25A-1.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:25A-1.4 - Licenses; residence of vessel owners; tonnage determination; consolidation of licenses and annual harvest quotas; license fees

(a) No licenses authorized by N.J.S.A. 50:3-1 shall be issued except as a renewal for those vessels validly licensed during the year prior to that of the license to be issued.

(b) The owner of a licensed oyster dredge vessel shall be legally domiciled or incorporated in the State of New Jersey.

(c) No vessel owned wholly or in part by a nonresident and licensed in any other state to catch oysters on natural beds or grounds in such other state shall be licensed in this State within the same year in which such license to catch oysters in such other state shall have been or shall be issued.

(d) For the purposes of licensing, gross tonnage shall be determined based on one of the following:

1. For vessels five gross tons or less that are not eligible for a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation and were built in the United States, the applicant shall provide a current New Jersey Motor Vehicle Registration for the vessel and shall certify that the vessel is not eligible for a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation.

2. For vessels greater than five gross tons that were built in the United States, the applicant shall provide a current copy of the United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation for the vessel. The Certificate of Documentation shall include the owner's name and address as well as the dimensions and gross tonnage of the vessel.

3. For any vessel built outside of the United States, the applicant shall provide gross tonnage documentation in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:25A-1.5(k).

(e) A person who wholly owns more than one licensed oyster dredge vessel may consolidate up to six licenses and the remaining amount of each vessel's assigned annual harvest quota to a single designated harvest vessel and obtain a consolidated license, provided the following conditions are met:

1. All licensed oyster dredge vessels proposed for consolidation under a single license, including the designated harvest vessel, are wholly owned by that person.

2. The person seeking to consolidate licenses shall file with the Department a notarized Statement of Intent indicating that the person wishes to consolidate the license(s) and the entire unharvested amount of the annual harvest quota for a maximum of six licensed oyster dredge vessels to a designated harvest vessel. The license of the designated harvest vessel shall be included as one of the maximum of six licenses that may be consolidated. The Statement of Intent shall identify the vessel or vessels from which the annual harvest quota(s) is requested to be consolidated as well as the designated harvest vessel to receive the annual harvest quota(s) and the amount of the annual harvest quota(s) to be transferred from each vessel to the designated harvest vessel. A new notarized Statement of Intent is not required to be filed with an application to renew a consolidated license if there is no change in the licenses to be consolidated.

3. Upon issuance by the Department of a consolidated license approving the consolidation of licenses and annual harvest quotas, with associated annual tags, of multiple vessels to a designated harvest vessel, the license holder of the consolidated license shall harvest the annual tag allotment assigned to each licensed oyster dredge vessel one allotment at a time. Only upon exhaustion of one vessel's tag allotment may the license holder of the consolidated license begin to harvest the annual tag allotment of another licensed oyster dredge vessel included under the consolidated license. The tags for each allotment shall be used sequentially in the order issued for the specific oyster harvest license.

4. Once a license and annual harvest quota have been consolidated on a designated harvest vessel in accordance with (e)1 through 3 above, that license and any remaining annual harvest quota attributable to that license may be consolidated on to a different designated harvest vessel only one time during the term of the license. A person who wishes to consolidate a license and the associated annual harvest quota from the original designated harvest vessel to a different designated harvest vessel shall provide the documentation and information specified in (e)2 above, for the vessels involved in the requested consolidation. The second transfer shall comply with all requirements specified in this subsection.

5. Notwithstanding the limitation on transfer of a consolidated license to a different designated harvest vessel specified in (e)4 above, a consolidated license may be unconsolidated for the purpose of transferring ownership of a vessel and license in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:25A-1.5(c)2.

6. A consolidated license shall not be issued if it would result in an annual harvest quota to a single designated harvest vessel greater than that allowed under six individual annual harvest quotas.

(f) For vessels five gross tons or less qualifying under (d)1 above, the minimum annual license fee of $ 10.00 established at N.J.S.A. 50:3-2 applies. For vessels qualifying under (d)2 or 3 above, the annual license fee of $ 2.00 per gross ton established at N.J.S.A. 50:3-2 applies.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25A-1.4

Amended by 48 N.J.R. 2047(a), effective 10/3/2016