§ 20-7-1. License required for taking of lobsters. No person, either as principal, agent, or servant, shall, at any time, catch or take any lobster from any of the waters in the jurisdiction of this state, or place, set, keep, maintain, supervise, lift, raise, or draw in or from any of those waters, or cause […]
§ 20-7-10. Minimum size of lobsters taken — Egg-bearing females. (a)(1) Unless otherwise specified by regulations adopted by the marine fisheries council, no person shall catch or take from any of the waters within the jurisdiction of this state, or have in his or her possession within this state, any lobster, or parts of lobsters, […]
§ 20-7-11. Buoying of pots — Escape vents. (a) Each and every lobster pot, set, kept, or maintained, or caused to be set, kept, or maintained, in any of the waters in the jurisdiction of this state by any person licensed under this chapter, shall contain an escape vent in accordance with the following specifications: […]
§ 20-7-11.1. Lobster pots — Tagging — Advisory committee. (a) Each and every pot, trap, or other device used for the taking of lobsters or crabs in any of the waters of this state shall bear a color scheme on the attached buoy. Each applicant for a lobster license shall state the color scheme that […]
§ 20-7-12. Removal of branded numbers from lobster pots. No person shall set, maintain, or have in his or her possession any lobster pots from which the branded numbers have been altered, obliterated, or removed with the intent to defraud or deprive the owner. Every person convicted of violating the provision of this section shall […]
§ 20-7-12.1. Unauthorized possession and/or transfer of pots and traps. (a) No person except the director of environmental management, enforcement officers, and authorized technical personnel of the department of environmental management shall place, set, keep, maintain, sell, transfer, or have in his or her possession, any pot, trap, car, or any other device used in […]
§ 20-7-13. Raising pots at night. No person shall raise or unduly disturb any lobster pot or trap within the territorial waters of this state between the hours of one hour after sundown and one hour before sunrise. Every person violating this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) […]
§ 20-7-14. Mutilation of uncooked lobsters. (a)(1) No person shall mutilate any uncooked lobster by severing its tail from its body, or have in his or her possession any part, or parts, of any uncooked lobster so mutilated. In any and all prosecutions under this section, the possession of any part, or parts, of any […]
§ 20-7-15. Methods of taking blue crabs — Nonresidents. Unless otherwise specified by regulation of the marine fisheries council, no person shall take, or attempt to take, any blue crabs from any of the waters in this state except by a scoop or crab net, trot, or land line. Taking of blue crabs shall be […]
§ 20-7-16. Egg-bearing blue crabs — Minimum size. No person shall take, offer for sale, or possess at any time any female blue crab bearing eggs visible thereon, or from which the egg pouch or bunion has been removed. Unless otherwise specified by regulation of the marine fisheries council, no person shall take, buy, sell, […]
§ 20-7-17. Violations as to blue crabs. Any person violating any of the provisions of §§ 20-7-15 and 20-7-16 shall be fined up to fifty dollars ($50.00) and costs for each offense. History of Section.P.L. 1981, ch. 197, § 3.
§ 20-7-2. Taking of lobsters by commercial fishing vessels. No operator of a Rhode Island-registered boat engaged in trawling for finfish in Rhode Island territorial waters may retain and sell any lobsters taken, unless that operator has a commercial lobster license. History of Section.P.L. 1981, ch. 197, § 3.
§ 20-7-3. Noncommercial lobster licenses. A holder of a noncommercial lobster license may set, place, or maintain in the water at any one time not more than five (5) lobster pots or traps. A noncommercial lobster licensee shall not offer for sale or sell lobsters. History of Section.P.L. 1981, ch. 197, § 3.
§ 20-7-4. Diver’s lobster license. A holder of a diver’s license shall take no more than eight (8) lobsters in any one day. It shall be unlawful for any diver to use a spear, gig, gaff, or other penetrating device to harvest lobsters or, while diving, to set, open, or tend lobster pots. It shall […]
§ 20-7-5. Seller’s license. Any person having charge of a vessel carrying lobsters who lands in the state of Rhode Island and who is not licensed under any of the provisions of this chapter shall be required to have a seller’s license. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be fined not less […]
§ 20-7-5.1. [Repealed.] History of Section.P.L. 1992, ch. 133, art. 17, § 5; repealed by P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 7, § 8, effective July 6, 2021.
§ 20-7-6. Use of license by agent or employee. If any person to whom a seller’s or a commercial lobster license is granted becomes incapacitated for any reason from using that license, that person may permit his or her agent or employee, if a citizen or legal resident of the United States, to perform those […]
§ 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 […]
§ 20-7-7.1. Administrative suspension/revocation of licenses — Penalties — Appeal. (a) If a person licensed under this chapter is found, pursuant to § 42-17.1-2, to have violated 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 […]
§ 20-7-8. Exhibition of certificate. Each person or agent, as defined in § 20-7-1, licensed under the provisions of this chapter shall, upon demand of the director of the department of environmental management or any of the director’s deputies, exhibit the license issued to him or her as provided in § 20-7-1. Every person violating […]
