Connecticut General Statutes Title 22. Agriculture. Domestic Animals § 22-11j. Planting and cultivating seaweed. License. Requirements. Renewal. Prohibition on interference with right of fishing or shellfishing. Interference with seaweed license. Penalties. Regulations

(a) The Commissioner of Agriculture may issue a nontransferable license, in the name of the state, under such policies as the commissioner may prescribe and for a period of not greater than five years and an annual license fee of twenty-five dollars per acre, for the planting and cultivating of seaweed in any area within Connecticut's coastal waters. Any person who has a shellfishing ground lease authorized pursuant to section 26-194 or 26-257a shall not be required to remit such annual license fee. Any person licensed pursuant to this section may buy, possess, ship, transport or sell seaweed that meets the applicable requirements of sections 22-11h and 22-11i and any regulation adopted pursuant to said sections 22-11h and 22-11i. For the purpose of this section, “seaweed” means seaweed, as defined in section 22-11i.

(b) The General Joint Aquaculture Programmatic Permit Process Review of the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Office of Long Island Sound Programs, and the Army Corps of Engineers may subject any such licensee to the requirements of sections 22a-359 to 22a-363f, inclusive.

(c) Any such license or license renewal, issued pursuant to this section, shall require the licensee to make a good faith effort to cultivate and harvest seaweed from the licensed area. Any licensee who fulfills all of his or her obligations pursuant to said license, upon the expiration of said license, shall be given preference by the commissioner in the relicensing of such ground for a like term and purpose as that granted in the original license. The commissioner shall not renew the license of any licensee who fails to remit the license fee required pursuant to this section. No application for the renewal of a license pursuant to this section shall be granted without notice or advertisement of the pendency thereof by the commissioner. No renewal of a license for grounds previously leased pursuant to this section shall be granted when the commissioner, for cause, determines to cease licensure of such grounds for seaweed culture.

(d) In no instance shall the Commissioner of Agriculture grant a license to cultivate seaweed pursuant to this section such that the grant of such license interferes with an established right of fishing or an established right of shellfishing. Any license issued pursuant to this section that interferes with an established right of fishing or an established right of shellfishing shall be void.

(e) Any person who interferes with, annoys or molests another in the enjoyment of any license issued pursuant to this section shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both.

(f) The Commissioner of Agriculture may adopt regulations, pursuant to chapter 54,  1 to implement the provisions of this section.