68E-18.005. Transfer of Certificates

(1) Trap certificates shall only be transferred from the trap certificate account of one person to the account of another between May 1 and the end of February. Requests received by the Commission before May 1 or postmarked after the end of February of the current license year will not be processed. However, requests to transfer trap certificates received after February 15 may not be completed during the current season if all required information and fees are not also received at that time.

(2) Payment of all outstanding license fees, trap tag fees, surcharges and any other charges owed to the Commission by either party in the transfer transaction must be completed within the transfer period. All fees and charges shall be resolved and current before any transfers shall be made by the Commission and before trap certificates and tags are issued to the receiving holder.

(3) No surcharge will be assessed for any transfer within an individual’s immediate family.

(4) All transfers must be submitted on a notorized copy of either Commission form FWC 20-173a (10-16) (Spiny Lobster Trap Certificate Transfer Application – Standard, found online at: http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-07703), or Commission form FWC 20-173b (10-16) (Spiny Lobster Trap Certificate Transfer Application – Immediate Family, found online at: http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-07704, and which are hereby incorporated by reference. No other form will be accepted. Both parties to the transfer must state the value paid and received for the certificates and list the tag audit numbers included in the transfer. Fraudulent statements of value paid or received for certificates by either the transferor or transferee will result in the denial of the transfer, and refer the matter to the appropriate authorities for other disposition.

(5) The transferor shall designate in detail which certificates (A1, A2 or B) are being transferred, and in what combination thereof.

(6) The transferee shall have a valid SPL and a current C-number before any transfer will be authorized. A certificate holder who intends to close their trap certificate account by transfer of all certificates to another person’s account, and who is not eligible for the restricted species endorsement, shall be exempt from the requirements of Rule 68B-24.0055, F.A.C., for purposes of completing the transfer. However, the transferor shall not be issued a crawfish endorsement on an actual saltwater products license without the restricted species endorsement. The transferee is responsible for ensuring that all transfer/surcharge fees are paid to the Commission. Transfer fees and surcharges will be assessed only on those trap certificates actually received from the transferor by the transferee.

(7) If the certificate holder is deceased, the estate of the certificate holder may distribute the certificates by transferring possession of the certificates to a current SPL and C-number holder. The transfer of certificates shall be made upon lawful order of the probate court, or other lawful notice and designation pursuant to Chapter 732 or 733, F.S., by the personal representative or other person authorized by law to settle the estate. Transfers from an estate of a deceased certificate holder are subject to the ordinary fees and processing requirements of these rules and the Lobster Trap Certificate Program.

(8) Only active certificates may be transferred.

(9) Upon transfer, the transferred certificate becomes part of the receiving certificate holder’s allocation of certificates.

Rulemaking Authority Art IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const., 379.3671 FS. History–New 5-16-95, Amended 4-7-99, Formerly 62R-18.005, Amended 7-1-01, 7-15-04, 5-1-11, 12-28-16.