2014 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 56 - Wildlife and Fisheries
RS 56:431 - Unlawful removal of oysters or signs from leased propagating grounds; instructions to captain and crew of vessels; penalty
§431. Unlawful removal of oysters or signs from leased propagating grounds; instructions to captain and crew of vessels; penalty
A. No person shall knowingly or willfully take, carry away, or attempt to take or carry away, without permission of the lessee, any oysters, shell, or cultch from the water bottoms of the Gulf of Mexico or the lakes, bays, inlets, lagoons, rivers, bayous, or other waters tributary thereto or connecting therewith, within the jurisdiction of the state where the bottoms are, at the time of such taking, let or leased to any person under the laws of Louisiana, for the purpose of bedding, planting, propagating, or cultivating oysters.
B. No person shall knowingly or willfully remove, break off, destroy, or otherwise injure or alter any stake, monument, bounds, buoy, sign, or other designation of bedding or propagating ground placed thereon by the lessee, or knowingly or willfully move from any bedding ground any stake, monument, bounds, buoy, sign, mark, or other designation placed thereon by the department or in accordance with its regulations or any Sections in this Subpart.
C. All owners or employers of vessels engaged in the oyster industry in this state shall issue typewritten instructions to the captains and crews in charge of the vessels, calling attention to the provisions of this Section. These instructions shall be duly executed before a competent notary by the parties interested, the original to be kept by the department and duplicate to be had in possession at all times by the captain of the vessel. This duplicate shall be shown on demand of any officer or agent of the department. Lack of possession of such document on a vessel, or a refusal to show the same, is prima facie evidence that the paper does not exist.
D. Violation of any of the provisions of this Section constitutes a class six violation. The imposition of these penalties does not bar the prosecution and conviction of the wrongdoer under the criminal statutes of this state.
Acts 1981, No. 925, §1; Acts 1992, No. 528, §1, eff. June 29, 1992; Acts 1999, No. 120, §1.
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