(a) The Department may operate, sell, buy, lease, exchange, rent, or repair any vehicle, vessel, boat, net, or other equipment necessary for its work. It may equip a vehicle, vessel, or boat, which it owns or operates, with any required arms, ammunition, or equipment. The Department’s authority under this subsection is subject to the provisions of law concerning budget and procurement.
(b) The Department may contract for research or scientific investigation with the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, or any other appropriate research organization.
(c) The Department, in accordance with the provisions of this title, may conduct demonstrations of extended duration to improve fisheries and for any other purpose necessary to carry out its duties. The Department also may import fish or any other organism of any variety for experimental purposes.
(d) The Department shall inspect fish caught or sold in the State and enforce the cull laws and other protective measures. This subsection may not be construed to interfere with any inspections made by the Maryland Department of Health.
(e) The Department shall inspect the waters of the State in order to stock them with food fish which in its judgment are most advantageous.
(f) The Department may negotiate any agreement with any other state concerning catching fish, the size of fish, and opening and closing fishing seasons.
(g) The Department may use any funds the federal government makes available, and any gift, for any purpose necessary to rehabilitate the seafood industry, subject to budgetary limitations.
(h) The Department may establish and conduct an extension service for persons engaged in seafood production to apprise them of the Department’s objectives and programs, the principles of natural resources conservation and management, current problems affecting seafood production, and any other matter considered significant in development of full potential of the State’s seafood resources.
(i) The Department may issue a new commercial fishing license when the license is forfeited.
(j) The Department may define the boundaries of tidal and nontidal waters within the jurisdiction of the State, and promulgate them by rule or regulation.
(k) The Department shall propose a separate fisheries resource management program and shall make recommendations to the General Assembly for legislation for implementation of the program for the following bodies of water and their tributaries:
(1) Assawoman Bay and the Isle of Wight;
(2) Chincoteague Bay;
(3) Sinepuxent Bay;
(4) St. Martin River; and
(5) Atlantic Ocean adjacent to Worcester County.
(l) (1) The Department shall require an applicant for any recreational license under this title to provide the last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number, if the applicant has a Social Security number.
(2) Except as provided in § 4–334 of the General Provisions Article, the partial Social Security number of an applicant may not be disclosed as part of the public record of the application.
(m) Except for any appropriation made for aquaculture, an appropriation from the General Fund made for fishery management purposes shall be allocated fairly and reasonably between the recreational and commercial fisheries.