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Governor signs net fishing law on Tinian
Despite his reservations, Gov. Eloy S. Inos signed into law on Monday Sen. Frank Cruz’s (R-Tinian) bill allowing the use of 1.5-inch net mesh to catch bigeye scad or “atulai” during its seasonal run on Tinian.
Inos said he signed the bill despite his reservations after receiving assurance from the Law Revision Commission that the legal flaw in the bill can be corrected through codification.
Senate Bill 18-29, House Draft 1 is now Public Law 18-48.
“My concern with the bill is that it purports to amend the language of 2 CMC 5631, as amended by Public Law 17-57. However, the language of Public Law 17-57 that this bill seeks to amend was repealed by Public Law 18-32. As a result, Senate Bill 18-29 seeks to amend language that no longer exists. Despite this flaw, the Law Revision Commission has taken the position that Senate Bill 18-29 may still be codified into law by adding new subsection to 2 CMC 5631,” the governor said in his transmittal letter.
Under the new law, the use of drag nets (chenchulun lagua), surround nets (chenchulun umesugon), or trap nets (chenchulun managam) with a net mesh size “no smaller than one and one-half inches shall be legal in the waters surrounding the Second Senatorial District when used for non-commercial purposes to catch bigeye scad (atulai) during its seasonal run.”
