§ 4-205. General powers, duties, and responsibilities of Department

   (a) Authority to acquire and maintain equipment and vessels to perform functions. -- The Department may operate, sell, buy, lease, exchange, rent, or repair any vehicle, vessel, boat, net, or other equipment necessary for its work. It may equip a vehicle, vessel, or boat, which it owns or operates, with any required arms, ammunition, or equipment. The Department's authority under this subsection is subject to the provisions of law concerning budget and procurement.

(b) Contracts for research or scientific investigation. -- The Department may contract for research or scientific investigation with the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, or any other appropriate research organization.

(c) Conduct of demonstrations to improve fisheries and import fish and other organisms for experimental purpose. -- The Department, in accordance with the provisions of this title, may conduct demonstrations of extended duration to improve fisheries and for any other purpose necessary to carry out its duties. The Department also may import fish or any other organism of any variety for experimental purposes.

(d) Inspection of fish and enforcement of cull laws. -- The Department shall inspect fish caught or sold in the State and enforce the cull laws and other protective measures. This subsection may not be construed to interfere with any inspections made by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

(e) Inspection of waters of State to stock with fish. -- The Department shall inspect the waters of the State in order to stock them with food fish which in its judgment are most advantageous.

(f) Negotiation of certain fish agreements with other states. -- The Department may negotiate any agreement with any other state concerning catching fish, the size of fish, and opening and closing fishing seasons.

(g) Use of federal funds and gifts to rehabilitate seafood industry. -- The Department may use any funds the federal government makes available, and any gift, for any purpose necessary to rehabilitate the seafood industry, subject to budgetary limitations.

(h) Department extension service for persons engaged in seafood production. -- The Department may establish and conduct an extension service for persons engaged in seafood production to apprise them of the Department's objectives and programs, the principles of natural resources conservation and management, current problems affecting seafood production, and any other matter considered significant in development of full potential of the State's seafood resources.

(i) Issuance of new commercial fishing license when license forfeited. -- The Department may issue a new commercial fishing license when the license is forfeited.

(j) Authority to establish boundaries for tidal and nontidal waters by rules and regulations. -- The Department may define the boundaries of tidal and nontidal waters within the jurisdiction of the State, and promulgate them by rule or regulation.

(k) Separate fisheries resource management program for certain waters. -- The Department shall propose a separate fisheries resource management program and shall make recommendations to the General Assembly for legislation for implementation of the program for the following bodies of water and their tributaries:

   (1) Assawoman Bay and the Isle of Wight;

   (2) Chincoteague Bay;

   (3) Sinepuxent Bay;

   (4) St. Martin River; and

   (5) Atlantic Ocean adjacent to Worcester County.

(l) Social Security numbers in license applications; privacy. --

   (1) The Department shall require an applicant for any recreational license under this title to provide the applicant's Social Security number, if the applicant has a Social Security number.

   (2) Except as provided in § 10-617 of the State Government Article, the Social Security number of an applicant may not be disclosed as part of the public record of the application.

(m) Allocation of appropriation for fishery management purposes. -- Except for any appropriation made for aquaculture, an appropriation from the General Fund made for fishery management purposes shall be allocated fairly and reasonably between the recreational and commercial fisheries.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 66C, § 12-13A, 13E, 236; art. 96A, § 8; 1973, 1st Sp. Sess., ch. 4, § 1; 1978, ch. 87; 2003, ch. 120; 2004, ch. 25, § 6; 2012, ch. 435, § 2.