§ 11-0305. General powers and duties of the department.

In addition to the powers and duties provided in other sections of the
Fish and Wildlife Law, the department shall have the following powers
and duties:

1. To sell or furnish trees, shrubs and other plants to owners or
lessees of private lands situated in the state on such terms as it deems
to be for the public benefit;

2. To issue the licenses and permits provided for by law, to fix their
terms, and the fees therefor, when no statutory provision is made, to
designate agents to sell and promote the sale of licenses, to adopt
procedures for the issuance of licenses, to establish the design and
format of licenses and the information to be contained thereon, to
provide where it deems appropriate for tags and buttons, to adopt
license conditions respecting tagging or identifying fish and wildlife
being possessed or transported, to establish procedures and requirements
for reporting license sales and handling and remittance of license
revenues by persons or entities issuing such licenses, to provide for
acceptable methods of payment of license fees, and to revoke licenses
and permits as provided by law;

3. To regulate the taking of fish in any manner other than angling,
except as to migratory fish of the sea within the marine district;

4. To increase by regulation the size, as established by statute, of
mesh of nets that may be used for taking fish;

5. To declare by regulation that waters, specified in the regulation,
are not inhabited by trout, whenever it shall determine that the waters
specified in the regulation, previously inhabited by trout, are no
longer so inhabited, or shall determine that the waters specified in the
regulation are unsuitable for trout;

6. To control, manage, propagate and distribute, and to regulate the
transportation, importation and exportation of shellfish, cephalopoda
and crustacea;

7. To regulate the examination and inspection of shellfish grounds,
boats used in taking and buildings used for storage of shellfish, the
handling and shipment of shellfish, the floating of shellfish, the
removal of shellfish from unsanitary beds and their deposit on
unpolluted grounds;

8. To enforce all laws relating to lands under water which have been
or shall be designated, surveyed and mapped out pursuant to law as
oyster beds or shellfish grounds and to grant leases of such lands,
belonging to the state, for shellfish culture, according to law;

9. To conduct, manage and control all hatching and biological
stations, game farms, game refuges, rearing stations and public hunting
and fishing grounds owned or operated by the state;

10. To enforce all provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Law and
regulations pursuant thereto, and all laws relating to fish, wildlife,
protected insects, shellfish, crustacea and game;

11. To settle or compromise in its discretion any action or cause of
action to recover a penalty under the provisions of this chapter as it
may deem advantageous to the state;

12. To grant refunds of moneys erroneously received by the department,
within two years of receipt thereof and upon satisfactory proof of
entitlement, which refunds, upon approval of the commissioner and audit
by the State Comptroller, shall be paid from any moneys available to the
department in the Conservation fund.

13. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to regulate the
possession, transportation, sale, barter and purchase of Pacific salmon
and parts thereof; and to require permits or otherwise regulate the
sale, barter and purchase of raw or unprocessed Pacific salmon eggs.

14. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the
commissioner may designate no more than eight days in each year that
shall be effective in every administrative region of the department, as
free sport fishing days during which any person may, without having a
sport fishing license and without the payment of any fee, exercise the
privileges of a holder of a sport fishing license, subject to all of the
limitations, restrictions, conditions, laws, rules and regulations
applicable to the holder of a sport fishing license. Free sport fishing
days shall be designated in a manner determined by the department to
best provide public notice thereof and to maximize public participation
therein, so as to promote the recreational opportunities afforded by
sport fishing.

15. To identify, manage and conserve plants, animals and ecological
communities that are rare in New York state, located on state-owned
lands under the jurisdiction of the department.

16. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, to authorize
free sport fishing clinics. A free sport fishing clinic shall include,
but not be limited to, instruction provided by employees of the
department or its designee in recreational angling, including its
benefits and values, and may also include instruction and other
information relevant to an understanding of fisheries management, ethics
and aquatic ecology and habitat. No license or recreational marine
fishing registration is required to take fish by angling while
participating in a fishing clinic conducted by the department or its
designee that has been designated by the commissioner as a free sport
fishing clinic. Such clinics shall be implemented consistent with
department standards and in a manner determined by the department to
best provide public notice thereof and to maximize public participation
therein, so as to promote the recreational opportunities afforded by
sport fishing. Further, the commissioner may designate additional
fishing events organized through the department that provide physical or
emotional rehabilitation for veterans, as defined in subdivision three
of section one of the veterans' services law, or active duty members of
the armed forces of the United States. No license or recreational marine
fishing registration shall be required for such veterans or active duty
members to take fish by angling while participating in these events.

17. To prepare or cause to be prepared voluntary habitat stamps and
furnish such stamps annually to license issuing agents and officers for
sale and issuance in the same manner as licenses and other types of
stamps. The department shall, by rule, establish the fee for the habitat
stamp which shall be no less than five dollars plus an additional amount
for the issuing agent or officer. The purchase of a stamp is voluntary
and a stamp need not be possessed in order to take fish or wildlife.

18. To provide a mechanism for a one dollar voluntary contribution to
the venison donation account on all hunting and fishing license
applications administered by the department. The option to utilize the
mechanism shall be voluntary and the mechanism need not be utilized in
order to process hunting or fishing license applications.