Chap. 101.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 26, 31 and 32 of an
act approved March 17, 1910, entitled an act to revise, amend and
consolidate into one act certain laws relating to oysters, fish, clams,
crabs, and other shellfish, and to repeal all acts or parts of acts of
the general assembly, and any section or sections of the Code of Vir-
ginia in conflict with the provisions of this act. (H. B. 268.)

Approved March 1, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
sections twenty-six, thirty-one and thirty-two, of an act ap-
proved March seventeenth, nineteen hundred and ten, entitled
an act to revise, amend and consolidate into one act certain
laws relating to oysters, fish, clams, crabs, and other shellfish,
and to repeal all acts or parts of acts of the general assembly,
and any section or sections of the Code of Virginia in conflict
with the provisions of this act, be amended and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

(26) Buying or selling unculled oysters; penalty; not to ap-
ply above Days’ point in James river.—And it shall be unlaw-
ful for any person to take, buy or sell oysters under the pre-
scribed size, and shells so taken as aforesaid from the natural
rocks, beds and shoals. Any person violating the provisions of
this act, either by taking from the said rocks, beds or shoals,
or by buying or selling oysters less than three inches in length,
from the hinge to mouth, or shells, as hereinbefore mentioned,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one
hundred dollars; provided, however, that so much of this sec-
tion and the preceding section as prohibits the taking and catch-
ing of oysters whose shells measure less than three inches from
hinge to mouth, shall not apply to James river above a line
drawn from Days’ point, in the county of Isle of Wight, to
Deep creek, in the county of Warwick, nor to the eastern side
xf Accomac and Northampton counties, nor to any rivers,
*reeks, or other estuaries of the Potomac river, and provided
further, that the commission of fisheries is hereby authorized
0 permit the taking of oysters measuring less than three inches
‘rom hinge to mouth in that territory in the James river which
ies between a line drawn from Days’ point, in the county of
isle of Wight, to Deep creek, in the county of Warwick, and a
ine drawn from Coopers creek in the county of Isle of Wight,
o© Finch’s pier in the city of Newport News, whenever after
xxamination by the commission of the said area and public
hearings, to be conducted as hereinafter specifiec; the commis-
sion shall ascertain that the oysters upon said area should be
thinned out so as to permit those remaining to p)yoperly mature
as marketable oysters, and provided further, taat said com-
mission shall have power to revoke said permit whenever after
examination and hearing as hereinafter defined it shall be made
to appear that the oysters on said area have been thinned out
sufficiently to allow them to mature as marketable oysters. The
hearings hereinbefore provided for shall be held at Newport
News after advertising the same once a week for three con-
secutive weeks in a newspaper published in Norfolk, and in a
newspaper published in Newport News giving the place, time
and purpose of said hearing; provided, however, the public
hearing herein provided for and the notice herein required to
be given, shall not apply to the action of the commission of
fisheries in first granting the permits for the taking of oysters
from that portion of James river below a line drawn from
Days’ point, in the county of Isle of Wight, to Deep creek, in
the county of Warwick.

In the waters of this State entering the Potomac the pro-
hibited size shall be two and one-half inches. In addition to
the penalty above prescribed, the license of any person found
guilty of violating this section may, in the discretion of the
commission of fisheries, be revoked by order of said commission,
and such person shall not be again licensed to take or catch
oysters in this State for a period of one year after the com-
mission of such offense. The having at one time more than one
bushel of oysters and shell on the culling board, deck, wash-
board, or other receptacle above the hold of the boat of any
person oystering upon the natural rocks, beds or shoals, or the
attempt of any person to escape or to throw oysters or shells
overboard into the water, other than in the ordinary process
of culling, upon the approach of the oyster inspector, or police
boat, shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of this sec-
tion. Any person offering oysters for sale or having the same
in his possession which shall not have been culled as required
by this section shall be deemed guilty of violating the law, and
if upon trial he shall claim that such oysters are from private
planting grounds, the burden of proving that fact shall be upon
him. Such person may be tried in any court having jurisdic-
tion under this act over the waters where he is arrested or ap-
prehended and if any such person shall resist in any way any
Inspector or other authorized person in making an examination
of the oysters suspected, or upon being requested by such offi-
cer or other authorized person to be admitted into a boat or
oyster house for the purpose of such inspection, shall refuse
to so admit such officer or other authorized person, the party
suspected shall be deemed prima facie gullly Of violating Uills
section.

(31) Carrying seed oysters out of State, or buying for that
purpose prohibited; penalties. It shall be unlawful for any
person to carry, or attempt to carry, or to buy for the purpose
of carrying out of this State any oysters taken from the natural
rocks, beds or shoals in the waters of this Commonwealth,
whose shells measure less than three inches, or from estuaries
of the Potomac river oysters whose shells measure less than two
and one-half inches in length from hinge to mouth, until he has
first obtained for each cargo a permit to do so from the inspec-
tor from whose district the said cargo is to be taken or from the
captain of one of the oyster police boats, and has paid to the
inspector or police captain a tax of one cent per bushel on the
number of bushels in said cargo. Said permit shall be signed
by the commissioner of fisheries and countersigned by the said
inspector or police captain, and it shall be the duty of said com-
mission to grant such permits whenever after examination by
the commission of the said seed areas and public hearing, as
hereinafter provided, the commission shall ascertain that it
will not injure or deplete said seed areas to grant such permits
and that the supply of seed oysters is in excess of the demand
for seed oysters by planters in the State of Virginia; and pro-
vided that the commission shall have power to cease granting
such permits whenever after examination and public hearing,
as herinafter provided, the commission shall ascertain that said
seed areas are becoming depleted and that to continue to grant
such permits would seriously injure the same. The hearings
hereinbefore provided for shall be held at Newport News, Vir-
ginia, after advertising the same once a week for three con-
secutive weeks in a newspaper published in Newport News and
In a newspaper published in Norfolk, giving the time, place and
purpose of said hearing, provided, however, the public hearing
herein provided for, and the notice herein required to be given,
shall not apply to the action of the commission of fisheries in
first granting the permits herein provided for for the shipping
of seed oysters out of this State. Any person violating the pro-
visions of this act shall, upon conviction thereof, be confined
in the penitentiary for one year, or at the discretion of the jury,
may be confined in jail not exceeding one year, and fined not ex-
ceeding five hundred dollars. Moreover, all boats and vessels,
together with their tackle used in violating this section, and all
oysters found thereon, shall be forfeited to the Commonwealth,
in proceedings as provided for the enforcement of forfeitures.
If any oyster inspector or other person shall knowingly aid and
abet or shall collude with any person in the violation of this
section. he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail not exceeding six

months and finned not exceeding five hundred dollars.
(32) License to buy or carry seed oysters from certain
grounds; penalty. It shall be unlawful for any person, with-
out first having obtained a license therefor, as hereinafter pro-
vided, to buy or carry oysters to be planted in this State whose
shells measure less than three inches in length from hinge to
mouth, from the eastern side of Accomac and Northampton
counties, or from James river above a line drawn from Coop-
ers creek in the county of Isle of Wight to Finch’s pier in the
city of Newport News. Any person desiring to buy or carry
such oysters from said localities to be planted in this State,
shall first obtain for each cargo a permit therefor from the oys-
ter inspector for the district wherein such person resides, or
from an officer of a police boat for each boat or vessel to be
used, which permit shall state the name and tonnage (if regis-
tered in the custom house) of the boat or vessel, the name of
the owner and master thereof, and to what waters in this State
it is intended to use such boat or vessel in carrying such oys-
ters.. Before such permit shall be granted, the owner or master
of such boat or vessel shall make oath before the inspector or
officer of a police boat that said boat or vessel will not be used
for the purpose of carrying seed oysters measuring less than
the size aforesaid out of this State, and that he will not sell
such oysters to any other person for the purpose of carrying
the same out of the State. The oaths so taken and subscribed,
together with a memorandum of the permit issued, shall be re-
turned by the inspector or officer of a police boat to the secre-
tary of the commission of fisheries, to be filed by him in his
office. The owner or master of any boat or vessel found buy-
ing or carrying seed oysters from the places aforesaid to any
point in this State, without a permit therefor, shall be fined
not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars.

2. By reason of the fact that there is an over production
of seed oysters on the natural rocks in James river, and that
there are too many oysters in that portion of James river be
low the line drawn from Days’ point, in the county of Isle o!
Wight, to Deep creek, in the county of Warwick, an emergency}

is declared to exist and this act shall be in force from its pas
sage.