Rhode Island § 20-7-7 - Lobsters and Other Crustaceans

§ 20-7-7. Suspension and revocation of licenses.

(a) If a person licensed under this chapter is convicted of any of the following offenses, his or her license shall be suspended for the following periods:

(1) Possession of ten (10) or more undersize lobsters, but not more than nineteen (19), in violation of § 20-7-10, one month;

(2) Possession of twenty (20) or more undersize lobsters, in violation of § 20-7-10, one year;

(3) Possession of mutilated lobsters or lobster meat, in violation of § 20-7-14, one year;

(4) Possession of one or more brushed female berried lobsters, in violation of § 20-7-10, one year;

(5) Possession of ten (10) or more egg-bearing female lobsters, in violation of § 20-7-10, one year;

(6) Unauthorized raising of another’s lobster pots, in violation of § 20-4-8, one year;

(7) Use or possession of a lobster pot from which the markings or branded numbers have been removed, altered, or obliterated, in violation of § 20-7-12, one year; and

(8) Failure to file reports of lobsters taken, as required by § 20-7-9, one year.

(b) Any person whose license is so suspended shall not engage in the lobster fishery of this state during the specified period of suspension. Any person who is convicted of engaging in the lobster fishery during the specified period of suspension shall be fined five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisoned for thirty (30) days, or both. The license of any person convicted a second time of any of the offenses set forth in subsection (a) shall be revoked for three (3) years and the person whose license is revoked shall not engage in the lobster fishery of this state in any way while the revocation is in force, under a penalty of sixty (60) days’ imprisonment or a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, for each offense.