N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 71-0915: Abatement of nuisances

§ 71-0915. Abatement of nuisances.

1. The following are declared to be nuisances which may be abated as

provided in this section:

a. Any trap, snare or net, set or used without permit from the

Department for taking a wild bird;

b. Any trap set or used in violation of section 11-1101;

c. Any net, bait-line, set line, eel weir or pot, tip-up, baitfish

trap, or other device for taking fish or crustacea, and any device for

taking insects, set or used in violation of any law or regulation under

which use of the device is prohibited, or its use is prohibited at the

time or place, or in the manner or circumstances in which it is used,

except where the violation consists only in the fact that the device was

set or used without first obtaining a license and, under laws and

regulations in effect at the time the device is set or used, such

license is issuable upon application therefor and payment of the fee, if

any, applicable thereto.

2. Nuisances defined in paragraph a of subdivision 1 may be abated

summarily by any person. Nuisances defined in paragraph a, b or c of

subdivision 1 may be abated by any conservation officer.

3. Upon abatement of such nuisance, the conservation officer shall

take into custody the net or device so used in any case where the person

guilty of the violation is not present or cannot be identified at the

time the nuisance is abated. If the net or device is thereafter

forfeited as provided in section 71-0909, or, not being so forfeited,

shall remain unclaimed by the owner for thirty days, it shall be

disposed of as the department shall direct.

4. In any case where the person guilty of the violation is arrested or

served with a summons at the time of the abatement of the nuisance, the

conservation officer may seize the net or other device as evidence.

5. Upon abatement of any nuisance defined in this section, any fish,

crustacea, wildlife or protected insect trapped, confined, hooked or

caught shall be:

a. Released, permitted to escape, or returned to the water or other

habitat; or

b. Destroyed; or

c. Seized as evidence; or

d. Taken into custody for future disposition pursuant to section

11-0519, as may be appropriate to the circumstances, the kind of animal

involved and its condition.

6. Action taken by an enforcement officer as provided in this section

or pursuant to this section and section 11-0519 shall not subject him or

the state to liability, even though it is subsequently determined that

the trap, net or other device involved was not in violation of law, if

it is established that the enforcement officer had reasonable grounds to

believe that it constituted a nuisance as provided in this section.