HARRY HUGHES, Governor                                  2745

There is a Fisheries Research and Development Fund in
the Department. Any money the State Comptroller receives
under the provisions of this title from commercial licenses,
permits, and service fees, taxes, and royalties paid to the
State for oyster shells and clam shells removed from the
bottom beneath the tidal waters of the State, or any source,
together with any fine or forfeiture collected under §
4-1202 of this title, shall be credited to the Fisheries
Research and Development Fund. SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATIONS
DESCRIBED IN § 4-1020, [The] THE Fund shall be used for
replenishing fisheries resources, related research, and to
match federal funds available for research and development
of fisheries resources.

4-1020.

[(a) An inspection tax of 1 cent per bushel shall be
levied upon oysters caught outside the waters of the State
and imported into the State. The oyster buyer shall pay this
tax at the point where the oysters are to be shipped no
further in bulk.]

[(b)] (A) A separate permit shall be obtained for
shipping each cargo, truckload, or other consignment of
oysters in the shell out of the State. An inspection tax of
15 cents per bushel shall be levied upon marketable oysters
shipped in the shell to any place outside the State and
shall be paid by the shipper. The tax imposed by this
subsection shall be levied in addition to every other tax
imposed on oysters.

[(c)] (B) A severance tax of [35] 45 cents per bushel
shall be levied upon every bushel of oysters caught within
the limits of the natural oyster bars of the State exclusive
of the Potomac River. The oyster buyer or receiver shall pay
the tax to the Department for deposit to the credit of the
Fisheries Research and Development Fund. This section does
not prevent any person licensed to catch oysters in the
State from selling his oysters in the shell directly to a
consumer in the State. If the consumer is a licensed buyer
of oysters, he shall assume the obligations placed by this
subsection on the first buyer of the oysters to remit the
tax to the Department. However, if the consumer is not a
licensed buyer of oysters, the seller of oysters shall
assume this obligation.

[(d)] (C) All taxes collected under this section shall
be credited to the Fisheries Research and Development Fund
and used only for the repletion of the natural oyster bars
of the State. THE TAX INCREASE EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 1982,
SHALL BE USED SOLELY FOR THE OYSTER SEED PROGRAM, WITH A
MINIMUM OF 5 PERCENT OF THE INCREASE BEING USED IN EACH OF
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

ANNE ARUNDEL;