Sec. 47.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Commercial fisherman" means a person who for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange or any other commercial purpose:

(A) catches aquatic products from the water of this state except finfish from the tidal waters of this state; or

(B) unloads in this state aquatic products that:

(i) were taken from water outside this state; and

(ii) have not been previously unloaded in another state or a foreign country.

(2) "Commercial finfish fisherman" means a person who catches finfish from the tidal waters of this state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, exchange, or any other commercial purpose. The term does not include a person who:

(A) holds an individual bait dealer's license issued under this chapter;

(B) is in a vessel licensed under this chapter as a menhaden boat and who takes menhaden; or

(C) takes minnows for bait only.

(3) "Wholesale fish dealer" means a person who operates a place of business for selling, offering for sale, canning, preserving, processing, or handling for shipments or sale aquatic products to retail fish dealers, hotels, restaurants, cafes, consumers, or other wholesale fish dealers. The term does not include the holder of a bait-shrimp dealer's license.

(4) "Retail fish dealer" means a person who operates a place of business for selling or offering for sale to a consumer aquatic products, other than aquatic products that are sold by restaurants for and ready for immediate consumption in individual portion servings and that are subject to the limited sales or use tax. For purposes of this subsection, "consumer" does not include a wholesale fish dealer or a hotel, restaurant, cafe, or other retail fish dealer.

(5) "Bait dealer" means a person who catches and sells minnows, fish, shrimp, or other aquatic products for bait or a place of business where minnows, fish, shrimp, or other aquatic products are sold, offered for sale, handled, or transported for sale for bait.

(6) "Fishing guide" means a person who, for compensation, accompanies, assists, or transports a person or persons engaged in fishing in the water of this state.

(7) "Tidal water" means all the salt water of this state, including that portion of the state's territorial water in the Gulf of Mexico within three marine leagues from shore.

(8) "Nontidal water" means all the water of this state excluding tidal water.

(9) "Place of business" means a permanent structure on land or a motor vehicle required to be registered under Section 502.040, Transportation Code, where aquatic products or orders for aquatic products are received or where aquatic products are sold or purchased but does not include a boat or any type of floating device, a public cold storage vault, the portion of a structure that is used as a residence, or a vehicle from which no orders are taken or no shipments or deliveries are made other than to the place of business of a licensee in this state.

(10) "Menhaden fish plant" means a fixed installation on land designed, equipped, and used to process fish and the by-products of fish by the application of pressure, heat, or chemicals or a combination of pressure, heat, and chemicals to raw fish to convert the raw fish into fish oil, fish solubles, fish scraps, or other products.

(11) "Red drum" means the species Sciaenops ocellata, commonly called "redfish."

(12) "Resident" means an individual who has resided continuously in this state for more than six months immediately before applying for a license required by this chapter from the department.

(13) "Nonresident" means an individual who is not a resident.

(14) "Finfish" means those living natural resources having either cartilaginous or bony skeletons (Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes).

(15) "Permanent structure" means a building designed, planned, and constructed so as to remain at one location.

(16) "Aquatic product" means any live or dead, uncooked, fresh or frozen aquatic animal life.

Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975. Amended by Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 214, ch. 105, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 720, ch. 270, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 550, ch. 260, art. 4, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1979; Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 1398, ch. 623, Sec. 5, 6, eff. Aug. 27, 1979; Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 924, ch. 339, Sec. 1, eff. June 10, 1981; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 29, Sec. 1, 2, eff. April 22, 1987; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 255, Sec. 14, eff. July 31, 1989; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 301, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 723, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 365, Sec. 5, 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 862, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 30.233, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 54, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 455, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 859, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 161 (S.B. 1093), Sec. 15.001, eff. September 1, 2013.