CHAPTER: PERTAINING TO THE LICENSING OF FIXED FISHING DEVICES

VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION
"PERTAINING TO THE LICENSING OF FIXED FISHING DEVICES"
CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-20-10 ET SEQ.

PREAMBLE

This chapter establishes the procedures associated with licensing fixed fishing devices. This chapter also establishes the procedures used to determine priority rights of fixed fishing device licensees and establishes safety measures for those persons fishing near pound nets and staked gill nets.

This chapter is promulgated pursuant to authority contained in §28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia. This chapter amends and re-adopts, as amended, previous Regulation 4 VAC 20-20-10 et seq., which was promulgated by the Marine Resources Commission on November 28, 2006 and made effective November 29, 2006. The effective date of this chapter, as amended, is November 1, 2007.

4 VAC 20-20-10. PURPOSE.

The purposes of this chapter are to set forth the procedures pertaining to the licensing of fixed fishing devices and the priority rights of holders of fixed fishing device licenses and to ensure the safety of persons fishing near pound nets and staked gill nets.

4VAC 20-20-20. DEFINITIONS.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Fixed fishing device" means any fishing device used for the purpose of catching fish and requiring the use of more than two poles or stakes which have been pushed or pumped into the bottom.

"Fyke net" means a round stationary net distended by a series of hoops or frames, covered by web netting or wire mesh and having one or more internal funnel-shaped throats whose tapered ends are directed away from the mouth of the net. The net, leader or runner is held in place by stakes or poles which have been pushed or pumped into the bottom and has one or two wings and a leader or runner to help guide the fish into the net.

"Officer" means the marine police officer in charge of the district within which the fixed fishing device is located.

"Pound net" means a stationary fishing device supported by stakes or poles that have been pushed or pumped into the bottom consisting of an enclosure identified as the head or pocket with a netting floor, a heart, and a straight wall, leader or runner to help guide the fish into the net.

“Staked gill net" means a fixed fishing device consisting of an upright fence of netting fastened to poles or stakes that have been pushed or pumped into the bottom.

4 VAC 20-20-30. Location and measurements.

A. A fixed fishing device shall be perpendicular to the shoreline insofar as possible.

B. In determining compliance with the requirements prescribing minimum distances between fixed fishing devices, measurement shall be made from the center line of each device.

The applicant shall state the desired length of the fixed fishing device, which shall not exceed the maximum limit prescribed by law. Such length shall be stated on any license issued by the officer.

A licensee may apply for a new license to include a greater length provided such additional length does not make the device exceed the maximum legal length or the legal requirement of a minimum distance between successive fishing structures in the same row. In the event a licensee fishes a length less than that stated on the license, the unfished length shall be subject to the provisions of 4 VAC 20-20-50 B of this chapter.

4 VAC 20-20-35. No-fishing zone.

A.   The prohibited fishing zone around any pound net shall consist of that area bounded by two straight lines, 125 feet from the left and right sides of the centerline of the pound net, which extend parallel with the longest axis of the net from the channelward end of the head of the net to the shoreward end of the leader of the net.

B.   It shall be unlawful for any person fishing from a boat or vessel to anchor, drift, troll, or otherwise to fish within, or to cast into the prohibited fishing zone of any pound net which is marked according to the provisions of subsection C of this section. Further, it shall be unlawful for any person to take or harvest crabs from any part of a pound net which is marked according to the provisions of subsection C of this section, unless such person has the written permission of the owner of the pound net.

C.   If the owner of a pound net intends that the prohibited fishing zone be enforced around his pound net, that owner shall mark his net with flags placed at each end of the net, one at the channelward end of the head of the net and one at the shoreward end of the leader of the net. Each flag shall be of blaze-orange color, 12 inches high and 12 inches wide, and shall be supported by a mast of sufficient size to maintain the bottom of the flag at least four feet above the surface of the water.

D.   It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper with any flag marking the prohibited fishing zone of any pound net.

E.    It shall be unlawful for any person to tie, fasten or secure any boat or vessel to any pole, stake, netting or any other part of a pound net or staked gill net, except during the normal lawful fishing of such nets by the licensee, his crew or agent.

4 VAC 20-20-40. PRIORITY RIGHTS; GENERAL.

Except as may be otherwise provided herein, chronological order of receipt of applications shall be used to establish priority rights of any applicant to any fixed fishing device location. In those instances of simultaneous receipt, priority shall be determined by lottery.

4 VAC 20-20-50. PRIORITY RIGHTS; RENEWAL BY CURRENT LICENSEE.

A.   Applications for renewal of license for existing fixed fishing devices may be accepted by the
officer beginning at 9 a.m. on December 1 of the current license year through noon on January 10 of the next license year providing the applicant has met all requirements of law and this chapter. Any location not relicensed during the above period of time shall be considered vacant and available to any qualified applicant after noon on January 10.

B.   Except as provided in subsections C and D of this section, a currently licensed fixed fishing device must have been fished during the current license year in order for the licensee to maintain his priority right to such location. It shall be mandatory for the licensee to notify the officer, on forms provided by the commission, when the fixed fishing device is ready to be fished in the location applied for, by a complete system of nets and poles, except as provided in subsection D of this section, for the purpose of visual inspection by the officer. Either the failure of the licensee to notify the officer when the fixed fishing device is ready to be fished or the failure by the licensee actually to fish the licensed device, by use of a complete system of nets and poles, except as provided in subsection D of this section, shall terminate his right or privilege to renew the license during the period set forth in subsection A of this section of this chapter, and he shall not become a qualified applicant for such location until 9 a.m. on February 1. Any application received from an unqualified applicant under this subsection shall be considered as received at 9 a.m. on February 1; however, in the event of the death of a current license holder, the priority right to renew the currently held locations of the deceased licensee shall not expire by reason of failure to fish said locations during the year for which they were licensed, but one additional year shall be and is hereby granted to the personal representative or lawful beneficiary of the deceased licensee to license the location in the name of the estate of the deceased licensee for purposes of fishing said location or making valid assignment thereof.

C.   During the effective period of 4 VAC 20-530, which establishes a moratorium on the taking and possession of American shad in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, any person licensed during 1993 to set a staked gill net who chooses not to set that net during the period of the moratorium may maintain his priority right to the stake net's 1993 location by completing an application for a fixed fishing device and submitting it to the officer. No license fee shall be charged for the application.

D.  Current pound net licensees shall not be required to fish their pound nets or establish a complete system of nets and poles in 2007, in order to renew their licenses or maintain their priority rights to such locations for 2008.

4 VAC 20-20-60.   Priority rights; licensed location, request by other than current licensee.

Applications for license for currently licensed fixed fishing device locations by persons other than the current licensee shall not be accepted by the officer during the year any current license is valid.

4 VAC 20-20-70.   Priority rights; vacant location.

Application from any qualified applicant for any fixed fishing device at a vacant and unlicensed location may be accepted by the officer at any time during the year for which the license is intended, and only for the year during which the license is intended, except that any application received prior to noon on January 10 for any location believed to be vacant and unlicensed pursuant to 4 VAC 20-20-50 B shall be considered as received at noon on January 10, and in chronological order of receipt.

4 VAC 20-20-80.   Transfer and vested rights.

A. A current fixed fishing device license, and the rights to renew same, may be transferred by the present licensee provided all parties comply with the existing statutes and regulations. Any transferee takes the license subject to all of the duties of the transferor.

B. Any rights a licensee may have, upon his death, shall be vested in his personal representative or lawful beneficiary.

4 VAC 20-20-90. Penalty.

As set forth in §28.2-903 of the Code of Virginia, any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of any provision of this chapter committed by the same person with 12 months of a prior violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

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