Connecticut HB 5333: AN ACT CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF STRIPED BASS FISHING IN THE STATE, A WORKING GROUP CONCERNING THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAM AND PROCEDURES CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH PASSAGES.

Bill Text

Substitute House Bill No. 5333 
 
Public Act No. 26-101 
 
 
AN  ACT  CONCERNING  THE  REGULATION  OF  STRIPED  BASS 
FISHING IN THE STATE, A WORKING GROUP CONCERNING THE 
WILDLIFE    CONSERVATION    PROGRAM    AND    PROCEDURES 
CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH PASSAGES. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section   1.   (NEW)   (Effective   from   passage)   Notwithstanding   any 
provision of title 26 of the general statutes, any person who violates any 
regulation concerning the taking of striped bass, whether in the marine 
or  inland  waters  of  the  state,  shall  have  committed  an  infraction  and 
shall  pay  a  fine of  one  hundred  fifty  dollars  for  a  first  offense,  three 
hundred fifty dollars for a second offense and five hundred dollars for 
a third or any such subsequent offense, by mail, or plead not guilty in 
accordance with the provisions of section 51-164n of the general statutes, 
provided for any infraction imposed pursuant to this section that occurs 
in the towns of Derby, Shelton, Orange, Milford or Stratford, the amount 
of  such  fine  shall  be  paid  to  the  respective  municipality  where  the 
infraction occurred if a municipal law enforcement officer issued such 
infraction. 
Sec.   2.   (NEW)   (Effective   October   1,   2026)   Notwithstanding   any 
provision of title 26 of the general statutes, for the period commencing 
December  first  of  each  year  and  ending  March  thirty-first  of  the 

Substitute House Bill No. 5333 
 
Public Act No. 26-101 2 of 8 
 
following year, all fishing for striped bass shall be catch and release. For 
the  purposes  of  this  section,  "catch  and  release"  means  the  immediate 
return  of  a  caught  fish,  without  avoidable  injury,  to  the  waters  from 
which such fish was taken. 
Sec.  3.  Subsection  (b)  of  section  26-107f  of  the  general  statutes  is 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 
1, 2026): 
(b) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 
establish a conservation program for species not traditionally harvested, 
which shall include, but not be limited to, provisions for the following: 
[Resource] Facilitation   of   the   implementation   of   the   most   recent 
federally  approved  state  of  Connecticut  wildlife  action  plan,  resource 
inventory,    habitat    conservation, wildlife    health, monitoring    of 
environmental and climate change impacts, conservation of endangered 
and threatened species, conservation of biodiversity, wildlife recreation 
management,   wildlife   conservation   education,   private   landowner 
assistance,  urban  wildlife  conservation,  problem  animal  management 
and scientific research, planning, administration and development. 
Sec.  4.  Section  26-107h  of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 
[On or before February first, annually, the Commissioner of Energy 
and   Environmental   Protection   shall   submit   to   the   joint   standing 
committee  of  the  General  Assembly  having  cognizance  of  matters 
relating  to  the  environment  a  report  on  the  progress  of  the  program 
established  under  section  26-107f,  the  purposes  for  which  any  funds 
allocated   to   said   program   were   expended   and   the   future   of   the 
program.] 
(a) There  is  established  a  working  group  within  the  legislature  to 
identify how the conservation program established in section 26-107f, as 

Substitute House Bill No. 5333 
 
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amended by this act, should be funded and implemented. 
(b)  Not  later  than  thirty  days  after  the  effective  date  of  this  section, 
the  cochairpersons  of  the  joint  standing  committee  of  the  General 
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment, in 
consultation  with  the  ranking  members  of  said  committee,  and  the 
Commissioner  of  Energy  and  Environmental  Protection  shall  jointly 
select two cochairpersons for such working group. Not later than forty-
five  days  after  the  effective  date  of  this  section,  the  cochairpersons  of 
such  working  group  shall  select  the  membership  of  such  working 
group, which shall include, but not be limited to: (1) One representative 
of   the   Department   of   Energy   and   Environmental   Protection,   the 
Department    of    Transportation    and    the    Office    of    Policy    and 
Management,   (2)   three   representatives   of   conservation   advocacy 
organizations  that  work  on  wildlife-related  issues,  one  of  whom  shall 
have  fisheries  aquatic  expertise  and  one  of  whom  shall  have  avian 
expertise, (3) one representative of a land conservation organization, (4) 
two   members   of   the   faculty   of   a   state   college   or   university,   as