Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1974 )

The Honorable Clayton T. Garrison Opinion No. H-285
Executive Director
Parks & Wildlife Department Re: In the event that a
John H. Reagan Building commercial bay or bait
Austin, Texas 78701 shrimp boat is transferred
from one individual or firm
to another must the license
stay with the boat of issu-
ance, or would the license be
cancelled if the boat owner
should sell his shrimp boat
Dear Mr. Garrison: to another individual?
Article 407513, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, the Texas Shrimp
Conservation Act, calls for the licensing of shrimp boats. Section 5(a)
makes it unlawful to use any commercial bay shrimp boat “without the
owner thereof having first procured a license” and 5 5(c) makes similar
provision for commercial bait-shrimp boats.
Your question to us is:
“In the event that a commercial bay or bait shrimp
boat is transferred from one individual or firm to
another, must the license stay with the boat of issu-
ance, or would the license be canceled if the boat
owner should sell his shrimp boat to another individual?”
Your question is prompted by two apparently contradictory provisions
of the Act. In determining the meaning of these statutes and the answer to
your question, it is necessary that we look to the apparent interest of the
Legislature in adopting these provisions. 53 Tex. Jur. Zd, Statutes, $125,
p. 180. One of the cardinal rules of construction is that we look to the statute
as a whole so as to give effect to the entire act. 53 Tex. Jur. Zd, Statutes,
$160, p. 229.
p. 1329
The Honorable Clayton T. Garrison, page 2 (H-285)
There are numerous provisions of the statute which weld indicate
that it is the boat that is to be licensed. Others indicate that it is the
owner and not the boat. A reading of all these provisions does not make
the answer to your question clear. The strongest indication that it is the
owner who is licensed lies in the provision of $5(b) that a Bay Shrimp
Boat License shall be issued only,to persons who have filed affidavits
that they will maintain adequate facilities to conduct such business and
that they intend to derive the major portion of their livelihood from corn-
mercial shrimp fishery. Surely this is strong evidence that the license
is personal to the applicant and should not be transferred with a transfer
of ownership of the boat.
But, $5 (d) provides :
. . . Not more than one Commercial Bay Shrimp
Boat License and not more than one Commercial
Bait-Shrimp Boat License shall be issued per licens-
ing year for each boat. ”
This language certainly could be interpreted to provide that the
license stays with the boat, even ifs ownership is transferred. However,
in order to reconcile the various provisions of the Act, we construe.§5(d)
to mean that not more than one License of each type can be issued to one
owner for one boat and that, if for some violation a license is cancel=,
no new license may be issued to that owner on that boat during that License
year. However, a new owner acquiring the boat could be issued a new
license.
With this interpretation, it seems to us that the most reasonable
construction of Article 407513, V. T. C.S . , although surely not the only
possible one, is that the licenses called for by the Article are personal
to the owner and should be canceled if the boat is transferred to a new
owner.
p. 1330
The Honorable Clayton T. Garrison, page 3 (H-285)
SUMMARY
Commercial bay or bait boat licenses issued
under the Texas Shrimp Conservation Act are per-
sonal to the owners and should be canceled upon a
transfer of ownership of the boat.
Very truly yours,
Attorney General of Texas
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 1331