Amendment #1324 to H3800

Lobster Processing

Representatives Straus of Mattapoisett, Peake of Provincetown, Ferrante of Gloucester, Provost of Somerville, Cutler of Duxbury, Howitt of Seekonk, Vieira of Falmouth, Gifford of Wareham, Schmid of Westport, Hunt of Sandwich, Whelan of Brewster, Meschino of Hull, Fernandes of Falmouth, DeCoste of Norwell and Crocker of Barnstable move to amend the bill by adding the following sections:-

SECTION XXX.  Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking section 77G in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Section 77G. Whoever cooks, buys, sells, offers or exposes for sale, gives away, or knowingly delivers, transports, ships, or receives for food purposes any lobster, or similar species of crustacea, or any part thereof, which is uncooked and dead, or which was cooked after it was dead, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than sixty days, or both; provided, however, that it shall not be a violation of this section to cook, buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, give away or knowingly deliver, transport, ship or receive any lobster or part thereof processed for food by a person who has been licensed or certified under this section, as hereinafter provided.

The department of public health may license any person to process within the commonwealth lobsters in the shell of legal length for food by a method approved by it. The department shall from time to time adopt rules and regulations governing the processing of such lobsters and the sanitary conditions required for the establishment of a person licensed hereunder.

Each container of lobsters processed by a method as herein provided shall bear a plainly marked label, which shall include the license number or name of the packer, and the date of the processing of said lobsters.

SECTION XXX.  Section 44 of Chapter 130 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by deleting the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

If the measurement of any such lobster taken from 1 or the other eye sockets is of the required length, such lobster shall be deemed to be a legal lobster. In all prosecutions under this section, any mutilation of any lobster which affects its measurement as aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence that the lobster was or is less than the required length; provided, however, that the director shall, by regulation approved by the marine fisheries advisory commission, allow the onshore processing in the commonwealth of live lobsters of legal length into shell-on lobster parts and the importation of shell-on lobster parts for processing by wholesale dealers that are licensed by the department of public health under section 77G of chapter 94. Processed shell-on lobster parts may be possessed, sold or offered for sale in the commonwealth by any wholesale dealer, retail dealer or food establishments and such food product may be possessed by a consumer. The processing, possession or sale of shell-on lobster tails pursuant to this section shall be limited to shell-on lobster tails weighing 3 ounces or more. The packaging of processed shell-on lobster parts, including tails, pursuant to this section as a food product shall be labeled in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations. This section shall not apply to common carriers having lobster in possession for the purpose of transportation.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #1324 to H3800

Lobster Processing