CHAP. 501.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved February
7, 1898, entitled, an act to create the board of fisheries of Virginia,
and define its duties and fix the salary of its members, as amended
by acts approved February 21, 1900, February 15, 1901, and Mareh
12, 1908, respectively, so as to change the position of secretary of the
commission of fisheries to that of shellfish commissioner, to define the
duties and powers of the commission, to fix salaries and provide a
fund for carrying out the provisions of this act. (H. B. 166.)

Approved March 23, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act approved February seventh, eighteen hundred and nine-
ty-eight, entitled an act to create the board of fisheries of Vir-
ginia, and define its duties and fix the salary of its members,
2s amended by acts approved February twenty-first, nineteen
hundred; February fifteenth, nineteen hundred and one, and
March twelfth, nineteen hundred and eight, respectively, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. 841

Sec. 2. That for the purpose of enforcing the laws relat-
ing to the fisheries of tidewater Virginia, the commission of
fisheries, heretofore created, shall consist as at present, of five
members appointed by the governor, at least two of whom
shall be from the tidewater section of the State. One of said
tidewater members shall be designated by the governor as com-
missioner of fisheries, who shall be ex-officio chairman of the
commission of fisheries and chief inspector, and one other tide-
water member instead of being designated as secretary of the
commission of fisheries, shall be designated shellfish commis-
sioner, and shall be assistant commissioner of fisheries, assistant
chief inspector, and ex-officio secretary of the commission. The
commissioner of fisheries and the shellfish commissioner shall
be, one from that section of tidewater which lies east of the
Chesapeake bay, and the other from that section of tidewater
which lies west of said bay. The present secretary of the com-
mission of fisheries is hereby designated shellfish commissioner,
and he shall serve as such shellfish commissioner until the expi-
ration of the term for which he has been appointed secretary of
said commission. On or before the twenty-eighth day of Feb-
ruary, nineteen hundred and eighteen, it shall be the duty of
the governor to appoint the five members of said commission,
whose terms of office shall be as follows: The commissioner of
fisheries for a term of four years from the first day of March,
nineteen hundred and eighteen; the shellfish commissioner for
a term of six years from said date; and the remaining three
members for terms of two, four and six years, respectively from
said date; and thereafter their successors shall be appointed by
the governor for a term of four years each. The governor shall
have power to remove any or all of them for neglect of duty,
misfeasance or malfeasance in office, and to fill any vacancy or
vacancies which may occur. All members of this commission
shall be sworn into office in the presence of the secretary of
the Commonwealth, who shall thereupon issue to each of them
a certificate designating each as a member of the commission
of fisheries and also designating the commissioner of fisheries
and the shellfish commissioner, each certificate to bear the sig-
nature of the governor, and to be countersigned by the secretary
of the Commonwealth, and to bear the seal of the State. The
commissioner of fisheries and the shellfish commissioner of the
said commission shall each enter into bond in the penalty of two
thousand dollars, with sufficient surety, to be approved by the
governor, payable and conditioned as required by section one
hundred and seventy-seven of the Code of Virginia. The salary
of the commissioner of fisheries is hereby fixed at twenty-five
hundred dollars, and the salary o: the shellfish commissioner at
eighteen hundred dollars per year. All members of the com-
mission shall be paid actual expenses incurred in the perform-
ance of their duties, but the other three members of the com-
mission shall receive no salary. Beginning March first, nine-

106
teen hundred and eighteen, the salaries of the members of the
commission shall be as follows: the commissioner of fisheries
twenty-five hundred dollars, the shellfish commissioner eighteen
hundred dollars, and each of the other members of the commis-
sion two hundred dollars per year.

Sec. 3. Enforcement of law and supervision of employees.—
It shall be the duty of said commission to see that all laws re-
lating to fish, oysters, crabs, clams and terrapin, and other shell-
fish, are enforced and observed; and that all persons engaged
in these industries are fully protected in their respective rights.
It shall also be the duty of the commission to see that the inspec-
tors, police and other employees faithfully perform the duties
prescribed for them by law, and observe such rules and regula-
tions as may be laid down by the commission for their govern-
ment. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of fisheries and
the shellfish commissioner to maintain a constant supervision
over the industries under the care of this commission, and over
the inspectors and other employees.

Sec. 4. Investigations and experiments.—It shall be the
duty of the commissioner of fisheries and the shellfish commis-
sioner to carry on investigations relating to the migration,
habits and propagation of fish in the tidal waters of the State,
also investigations relating to the cultivation and propagation
of the oyster, clam and other mollusca, and of the terrapin and
crab, and for this purpose they may employ such scientific and
other assistance as may be authorized by the commission of fish-
eries.

Sec. 5. Reports.—It shall be the duty of the commission to
make an annual report to the governor, a report to the general
assembly at its regular session, and also a final report to the
governor covering the period from the first day of October next
preceding to expiration of their term of office, which shall be
published as part of the first annual report of the succeeding
commission. In said reports the amounts of revenue derived
from the several industries under the supervision of the com-
mission, and also the expenditures of said commission shall be
plainly set forth. The condition of the several industries under
the supervision of the commission shall be discussed, and such
legislation as the commission may think advisable for the bet-
terment, protection and conservation of said industries shal
be recommended.

Sec. 6. Officers and clerical force.—It shall be the duty of
the said commission to establish and equip an office, or offices,
in some convenient place or places in tidewater, and it is au-
thorized to employ such clerks and other employees as may be
necessary for the proper carrying on of the office work. All
records and accounts in the office or offices of said commission
shall be open at all times to the examination of the governor
and auditor of public accounts or their accredited agents.
Sec. 7. Equipment.—The commission of fisheries is au-
thorized to purchase or rent such boats, nets, and other equip-
ment as may be necessary to enable them and their assistants
to perform the duties imposed upon them by law; and the said
commission is also authorized to sell, exchange or repair any
boats or other equipment belonging to the service; and in the
case of sale or exchange, to reinvest the proceeds in another
boat or boats or equipment, or to use the said proceeds in addi-
tion to the appropriation now authorized by law, for carrying
en the work of protecting and promoting the fisheries of the

tate.

Sec. 8. Hatcheries—The commission of fisheries is author-
ized to establish and maintain a hatchery or hatcheries for the
artificial propagation of fish, and to co-operate with the United
States bureau of fisheries in said work by furnishing to said
bureau fish eggs, roe or spawn, whenever in the opinion of said
commission it seems advisable and the appropriation for the use
of the said commission is sufficient to defray the expenses of
said hatcheries or said work.

Sec. 9. Inspectors.—The commission of fisheries shall di-
vide the territory over which they have jurisdiction into dis-
tricts, and on or before the thirtieth day of April, nineteen hun-
dred and sixteen, and every two years thereafter, shall appoint
for each of said districts, one or more inspectors, whose term
of office shall begin the first day of May next succeeding their
appointment and continue for two years. The said commission
shall fill all vacancies occurring in the office of inspector, and
shall appoint additional inspectors, abolish any office or con-
solidate two or more offices into one, whenever they deem it ad-
visable. All inspectors and other employees in the service shall
be subject to the direction and control of the commission as to
their official acts, and the commission shall have power to re-
move any or all inspectors and other employees from office for
neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance in office.

Sec. 10. Police Force and other employees.—The said com-
mission shall employ the captains and crews of all boats used
in the police service, such special police or special inspectors as
the good of the service may require, superintendent of hatche-
ries and other employees necessary to carry on the work of arti-
ficially propagating fish or gathering spawn, and all of said em-
ployees shall hold their positions at the will of the commission.
The boats, captains and crews of said boats, special police, spe-
cial inspectors, and all other employees shall be under the con-
trol of the commission and subject to its orders. The said com-
mission is also authorized to employ the services of surveyors
and attorneys whenever it is deemed advisable.

Sec. 11. Arrest and seizures without warrant; when and
how made.—Any member of the commission of fisheries, all in-
spectors, police, captains of boats and other officers in the ser-
vice shall have power, with or without warrants, to arrest any
person or persons violating any of the fishery laws, and to seize
any vessel, boat, craft, or other thing used in violating any of
said laws, together with the cargo of such vessel, boat or craft,
and they shall have the same authority as constables have to
summon the posse comitatus to aid them in making such arrest
and seizure. Any person so arrested shail be carried before a
magistrate for trial, and any vessel, boat, craft or other thing
so seized when not forfeited to the Commonwealth in proper
proceedings, may be held by the inspector or other official who
made the seizure or in whose district the same was seized, until
the accused has paid the penalty of his offence if upon trial he
is found guilty, or has settled the amount agreed upon without
trial, or has, upon trial, been acquitted, as the case may be.

sec. 12. Authority to compromise.—Any person liable for
any fine for violation of any of the fishery laws may pay the offi-
cer directly instrumental in apprehending such person, such sum
as may be agreed upon between such person and officer and all
costs; and thereupon such person shall be discharged from all
legal proceedings that may be instituted against him for such
offence; provided, that the amount so agreed upon be not less
than the minimum fine imposed for such offence, any such agree-
ment to be in the nature of a compromise and not to be used as
evidence in any proceeding for such violation.

Sec. 13. Power to take fish—-The commission of fisheries
and the United States bureau of fisheries, with the consent of the
commission of fisheries, may take and cause to be taken for
scientific purposes, or for fish culture, any fish or other marine
organism at any time from the waters of Virginia, and may
cause or permit to be sold such fishes or parts of fishes so taken
as may not be necessary for purposes of scientific investigations
or fish culture: provided, that in taking fish for fish culture in
the hatcheries of this State or in the hauneries of the United
States, the fish shall only be taken while the hatcheries are in
operation.

Sec. 14. No interest in fisheries —No member of the com-
mission of fisheries, nor any of the inspectors, captains or other
employees shall be engaged (for market or profit) in any fish-
ing industry in Virginia, either directly or indirectly.

Sec. 15. Printing—The auditor of public accounts shall
provide the commission and its employees with such printing.
stationery and blank forms as may be required in the perforn-
ance of their duties, and the necessary postage and expressage
in transmitting the same.

Sec. 16. Appropriation.—To meet the necessary expenses
of this commission and to provide a fund for carrying out the
provisions of this act, there shall be appropriated annually the
sum of forty-five thousand dollars, out of the revenue derived
from the fishing industries, known as the oyster fund of the
State, which sum shall include all salaries, charges and expendi-
tures provided for in this act, or expended by the commission
in the discharge of its duties or in promoting and benefiting the
industries under its supervision.

Sec. 17. Whenever the word nsh or fishes used as a sub-
stantive occurs in this act it shall be construed to include por-
poises and otner marine mammals, fishes, oysters, clams, scal-
lops, and other mollusca, and crustaceans, and wherever the
word fishing or fisheries occurs it shall be construed to include
all operations involved in using, setting, or operating apparatus
employed in killing or taking the said animals or in transport-
ing and preparing them for market.

Sec. 18. Tidewater Virginia, as used in this act, is hereby
defined to embrace the following counties and all towns and cit-
ies situated in any of said counties; Accomac, Alexandria, Caro-
line, Charles City, Chesterfield, Elizabeth City, Essex, Fairfax,
Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King
George, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Mathews,
Middlesex, Nansemond, New Kent, Norfolk, Northampton,
Northumberland, Princess Anne, Richmond, Stafford, Warwick,
Westmoreland and York.

Sec. 19. That all acts relating to the tidal fisheries of Vir-
ginia are hereby amended so that the words “Oyster Inspector”’
shall read “Inspector”; and the words ‘Secretary of the Com-
mission of Fisheries” shall read “Shellfish Commissioner.”

Sec. 20. All laws in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed.