CHAPTER 684

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 28.1-18, 28.1-48, 28.1-61, 28.1-65, 28.1-78,
28.1-74, 28.1-87, 28.1-89, 28.1-91, 28.1-98, 28.1-109, 28.1-120, 28.1-124,
28.1-187, 28.1-189, 28.1-165, 28.1-167, 28.1-179, and 28.1-188, as sev-
erally amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to fish, oysters, shell-
fish and other marine life; and further to repeal §§ 28.1-75, 28.1-86
and 28.1-204 through 28.1-226 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the
same subject matter.

[H 384]

Approved April 6, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 28.1-18, 28.1-48, 28.1-61, 28.1-65, 28.1-73, 28.1-74, 28.1-87,
28.1-89, 28.1-91, 28.1-98, 28.1-109, 28.1-120, 28.1-124, 28.1-137, 28.1-139,
28.1-165, 28.1-167, 28.1-179 and 28.1-183, as severally amended, of the Code
of Virginia, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 28.1-18. No * inspector, captain, mate, or other employee of the
Commission of Fisheries shall be * granted a license to engage in * the
finfish or shellfish industry in Virginia. * He shall not be assigned an
oyster ground lease, either directly or indirectly, unless such an interest
is acquired by inheritance. If such employee owns a lease prior to his
employment, he shall not be required to terminate his interest therein.
This section * shall not be applicable to members of the Commission.

§ 28.1-48. (1) Amount of tax; to whom paid. Every resident who
shall apply for license to catch or take fish from the tidal waters of the
Commonwealth, or the waters within the jurisdiction of the Common-
wealth, shall pay to the inspector of such district a specific license tax,
which shall be in lieu of all taxes levied upon such persons for taking and
catching fish, or for selling the product thereof, as follows:

(a) On each pound net * siz dollars * ;

(b) (1) On each * stake gill net of * twelve hundred feet in length *
or under, with a fixed location, eight dollars; *

(2) On all other gill nets up to four hundred feet, five dollars; all
such nets over four hundred feet and up to twelve hundred feet, six dollars
and fifty cents;

(c) On each thresh net, skirt net, slat traps, prop nets, trap net, or
similar device, * four dollars;

(d) On each fyke net head, weir, or similar * device, * four dollars * ;

(e) * On each person taking or catching eels or otherwise fishing by
@ means commonly known as fish pots, six dollars and fifty cents;

(f) On each * trotline, * three dollars and fifty cents;

(g) On each person using or operating a fish dip net, * three dollars;

(h) On each haul seine used for catching fish, under five hundred yards
in length, fifteen dollars; no person shall set a haul seine on Sunday:

(i) On each haul seine used for catching fish, from five hundred yards
in length to one thousand yards in length, forty-five dollars; no person
shall set a haul seine on Sunday;

(j) On each sturgeon gill net or trammel net, seven dollars and fifty

(k) On each sturgeon sweep net or haul seine, thirty-eight dollars.

(2) Licenses for other devices —The Commission of Fisheries shall
have the power to establish a license commensurate with other licenses in
an amount not * more than one hundred dollars for any device used for
the taking or catching finfish, fish or shellfish in the waters of the Common-
wealth *, that is not mentioned * in Title 28 of the Code. The Commission
shall have the authority to specify any restrictions or control over the de-
vice or the person operating the device they may deem advisable when is-
suing such a license.

(3) Register mark and how displayed; length of seine.—Inspectors
issuing such licenses shall furnish to the person to whom such licenses are
issued a number or register mark, to be placed by the fishermen on their
boats or fixed fishing devices. Provided, however, that it shall be unlawful
for any person, firm, or corporation to use, operate, set or cause to be used,
operated, or set, any such drift, or haul seine exceeding in length one
thousand yards. If the license be for a fixed fishing device, the holder of
the license shall fasten such register mark or number securely to one of
the offshore stakes of the fishing device, but such device may be moved at

time within the same inspection district during the season for which
the license therefor has been secured with the approval in writing of the
inspector without the payment of any additional license. If the license be
for a haul seine, drift net, purse net or similar fishing device, the holder
of such license shall fasten the register mark number securely at a con-
spicuous place on the starboard side of the boat used in fishing such device.

§ 28.1-61. (1) General Provisions.—Every person, firm or corpora-
tion owning or holding by lease or charter a purse net, seine, or vessel of
any description to be engaged in catching fish in any of the waters of this
Commonwealth, or waters within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth,
to be manufactured into fish meal, oil, or guano, or for any other purpose,
shall make application to the Commissioner of Fisheries through the in-
spector for the district in which is located the factory where such are to
be manufactured, or in which the applicant resides or has its principal
office, for a license to take and catch fish within the waters of this Common-
wealth, or waters within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, for the
purpose aforesaid.

(2) Who shall make application.—If it be a corporation applying for
such license, the application shall be made by an officer or one of the
directors of such corporation; if the applicant be a partnership, the appli-
cation shall be made by a general partner thereof; if the applicant be a
joint venture or other firm, by a member thereof; if the applicant be an
individual, by such individual.

3) Form and contents of application.—The application shall be in
writing, shall be sworn to by the applicant before a notary public or other
person authorized to administer oaths, and shall disclose:

(a) The true name or names of the persons, firm, or corporation own-
ing the purse net, seine, or vessel, and all the apparatus thereunto belong-
ing, together with the true name or names of any persons, firms, or cor-
porations holding the same by lease or charter, for which such license is
desired; and, if it be a firm, the true names of all the members of such
firm ; and, if it be a corporation, whether the same be a domestic or foreign
corporation, and the location of the principal office thereof.

(b) That all such persons and firm members are, and have been for
twelve months next preceding, bona fide residents of the State of Virginia.

(c) The name of each and every vessel, steamer, or other water craft
for which such license is desired.

(d) That the applicant will not be concerned or interested with any
nonresident of this State, except as stockholders in domestic corporations,
in taking or catching fish in the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters
within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, for the purpose of manufac-
turing the same into fish meal, oil, guano, or for any other purpose or in
such manufacture.

(e) That the nets or vessels of any description thus to be employed
and for which license is desired are not held by contract of hire, charter,
or other agreement calling for their return at any subsequent time to any
nonresident person, firm, or corporation.

f) The place where the factory which is to manufacture the fish so
taken and caught into fish meal, oil, or guano or for any other purpose, is

ocated.
(g) That, during the period of this license, the applicant will not
violate any of the laws of this State in regard to the taking and catching
of fish in the waters thereof.

(4) Application of section—The provisions of this section shall apply
only to resident persons, firms, and corporations who, when duly licensed,
shall have the right to take and catch fish for the purpose aforesaid in all
the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters within its jurisdiction.

§ 28.1-65. Nonresidents may be stockholders in domestic corpora-
tions authorized to take and catch fish to be manufactured into fish meal,
oil, * guano, or for any other purpose, and to engage in such manufacture.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent a resident licensee
from employing nonresidents to command or work licensed purse nets,
seines, vessels, steamers, or other craft.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to take or
catch in the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters within its jurisdic-
tion, menhaden fish to be manufactured into fish meal, oil, or guano or for
any other purpose, between the first day of December and the last Monday
in May of each year; and it shall also be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to use in said waters for the purpose of taking or catching
menhaden fish for the purpose aforesaid any purse net or other net having,
when made, a stretched mesh of less than one and three-quarter inches.
Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this
section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-73. It shall be the duty of the Commission of Fisheries to
provide metal license plates or tags when required by statute or regulation,
of such design or designs, with such letters and/or figures stamped or
painted thereon, as may be deemed necessary or proper by the Commis-
sion.

§ 28.1-74. Such metal license plates or tags shall be furnished by the
Commission of Fisheries to the various inspectors * , who shall furnish the
same to * such licensee who is required by statute or regulation to attach
and display such metal license plate or tag. * If the license be for a haul
seine or purse net, the licensee shall securely attach and display the metal
license plate at a conspicuous place on the starboard side of the boat used
in fishing such device. If the license * be for a pound net, fyke net, gill
net of any type, drift net or other similar device, for the taking of fish, *
the licensee shall securely attach and display * the metal license plate on
one of the off-shore stakes or buoys of the fishing device. Each of the
aforesaid nets set in the water shall be marked by a buoy or stake easily
visible on the surface which * shall display the * metal license plate which
was issued by the Inspector. Any of the aforesaid nets in the water not
identified in this manner may be seized by a duly authorized inspector to
be held for any forthcoming legal proceeding.

§ 28.1-87. All purchasers, planters, packers, importers of shucking
stock or shippers shall keep an accurate and complete itemized daily record
of oysters barrelled, packed, shucked or marketed by them in a book to
be kept for that purpose, which book will also indicate the number of
bushels of oysters, before shucking, which came from public grounds,
from what general area thereof, from whom purchased and the number
which came from private grounds and from whom purchased and the
number which were imported including the name and address from whom
purchased. This book shall at all times be open for inspection by the
Commissioner or any employee designated by him to inspect the same;
and a failure to keep such a record shall be unlawful and shall be punish-
able as hereinafter provided.

The purchasers, planters, packers, importers of shucking stock or
shippers shall pay a tax, to be known as inspection tax, to the Common-
wealth of Virginia, or to the person authorized to receive the same, of not
more than one and one-half cents for each bushel of oysters taken, caught,
imported, or purchased, or two cents per gallon of all shucked oysters
it being the intent and purpose of this section to impose a tax upon al
oysters taken, caught, imported or purchased, except those which are tk
be replanted in the waters of the Commonwealth.

he tax shall be collected by the district inspector or police boat cap
tain from the owner, master or operator of any boat or vessel, moto
vehicle, or the purchaser, importer or shipper, regardless of whether he is
a packer, planter or an individual working on public grounds, immediately
when each boat, vessel or motor vehicle is loaded or arrives in the State
when the oysters do not go to a shucking or packing house. If the oysters
are going to a shucking or packing house located in the Commonwealth o:
Virginia for their use, then the tax shall be collected from the shucking
house or packer. If the tax has not previously been paid to an inspector
the tax shall be paid by such * purchaser, packer, importer or shipper be
tween the first and * fifth day of each month immediately following thai
in which such oysters are shucked, barrelled, packed, shipped or marketed

§ 28.1-89. In addition to all other taxes imposed by law, there shal
be an export, or out-of-state tax of * twenty cents per bushel imposed on al
oysters, including seed oysters, taken from any of the public oystei
grounds of this State and shipped unshucked from this State. A recorc
shall be kept on all out-of-state shipments.

All funds received or collected pursuant to this section shall be pax
into the State treasury to the credit of the Public Oyster Replenishmen:
Fund for the purpose of such fund.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to carry, 01
attempt to carry, or to buy for the purpose of carrying out of this State
any size or kind of oysters taken from the natural rocks, beds or shoals 1
the waters of this Commonwealth until he has first obtained for each cargc
a permit to do so from an inspector and has paid to the inspector the re
quired export, inspection and replenishment taxes with buyer’s report.

The permit shall state the name of the boat or license number of th
motor vehicle; the name and address of the owner and/or master of th
boat or owner and/or operator of the motor vehicle. The permit shall stat
the name and address of the person, firm or corporation to whom the carge
of oysters are to be delivered. The permit shall specify the number 0;
bushels and whether they are seed or shucking stock.

Before such permit shall be granted, the applicant shall certify, be
fore an inspector, that the cargo will not be delivered or discharged to any
other person, firm or corporation.

§ 28.1-91. Any person purchasing or buying oysters from any persor
catching or taking oysters from the public rocks, beds or shoals shall have
an annual oyster buyer’s license which has been issued by the Commission
Said license fee shall be five dollars * for any person buying oysters which
are to be planted, processed or marketed in this State. The license fe
shall be fifty dollars for any person buying oysters which are to bi
planted, processed or marketed outside this State.

§ 28.1-98. It shall be unlawful for any person who does not have :
written permit from an inspector or from the Commissioner of Fisheries
at any time * to carry public rocks oysters from the James River seed area
i. e., that area in the James River and its tributaries above a line drawr
from Cooper’s Creek in Isle of Wight County on the south side of James
River to a line in a northeasterly directiun across James River to the New:
port News municipal water tank located on Warwick Boulevard betweer
59th Street and 60th Street in the city of Newport News.

§ 28.1-109. (1) Grounds comprising. The residue of such water.
front in excess of what is already assigned or is reserved for the ripariar
adopted and authorized by the Congress and those required for the dis-
posal of materials dredged incident to the maintenance of such projects,
and other than natural oyster beds, rocks or shoals, as defined by law and
included in the Baylor survey, may be occupied for the purpose of planting
or propagating oysters thereon, and may be leased by the Commission
upon proper application therefor. ;

(2) Eligible applicants; provisions of section incorporated in lease.
Application for assignment of oyster-planting ground may be made by
any resident of the State, or any county, municipality, or political subdivt-
sion of the State, or by any firm, or corporation chartered under the laws
of this State for the purpose of oyster culture and the oyster business pro-
vided that at least sixty per cent of the stock of any such corporation must
be wholly owned by residents of the State of Virginia. Provided further
that such firm or corporation employ only resident labor in planting, culti-
vating, selling and marketing the oysters grown on the ground or land
so occupied, and provided its principal place of business for selling and
marketing such oysters be maintained within this State; and the provisions
of this section shall be incorporated in any lease of oyster ground to any
such firm or corporation, and the violation thereof shall forfeit the lease.

(3) Application for assignment.—All applications for assignment of
oyster-planting grounds shall be made in writing to the inspector of the
district wherein the ground lies, in duplicate. Applications shall be given
priority in the same order in which they are received by the inspector; the
applications shall be signed by the inspector when he receives them show-
ing time and date received and the method by which he received them. The
application shall state as near as may be the number of acres applied for
and definite location, with the name of one or more prominent points or
objects adjacent to such ground. A duplicate copy of this application shall
be immediately forwarded to the office of the Commission of Fisheries by
the inspector. It shall be the duty of any resident, firm or corporation de-
siring to obtain a location for planting or propagating oysters to apply
to the inspector of the district in which such land lies to have the location
ascertained, designated, surveyed and assigned.

(4) Posting of notice of applications.—Notice of the application shal]
be posted by the inspector for not less than sixty days at the courthouse
of the county or city in which the ground applied * for lies, and in at
least two or more prominent places in the vicinity of such ground.

(5) Advertisement of application—-No assignment shall be made of
any piece of ground containing more than ten acres until notice of applica-
tion has been published in the county or city wherein the ground lies; and
if no newspaper be published in the county or city, then it shall be pub-
lished once a week for at least four weeks in some newspaper having
general circulation in the county within which the ground lies. This publi-
cation shall be done in addition to the posting of the notices as required in
paragraph (4) above, however, said publication may be done within the
same sixty-day period that the application is posted.

(6) Survey and marking of ground.—lIf a protest is not filed in the
Commission office within sixty days after posting of the notice of applica-
tion, the inspector shall * request the chief engineer of the Commission of
Fisheries to designate a surveyor * to survey the grounds * and make a
plat in duplicate of the same. The surveyor shall forward the plat of
survey to the office of the Commission of Fisheries to be approved by the
engineer of the Commission *. If no protest to the application or surveying
of ground is made before the expiration of thirty days after the plat of
survey is recorded in the office of the Commission of Fisheries, the ground
applied for shall be assigned by the inspector provided:

(a) That the application and assignment complies with all applicable
provisions of law and if in the judgment of the Commission of Fisheries
it shall be wise to do so.

(b) All fees, costs, and the annual rental has been paid for the lease
of said ground. The ground shall be marked at the expense of the applicant,
at the time the survey is made, and at the direction of the surveyor, with
suitable stakes or other such markers, as may be permitted and approved
by the Commission of Fisheries; and such suitable stakes or markers
shall be kept by the lessee in their proper places at all times during the
continuance of such lease, so as to conform accurately to the survey.
Should such stakes or other markers be removed, knocked down, or be
carried away, the lessee shall replace them in their proper places; and if
he fails to do so within thirty days after being notified by the inspector
of the district in which the ground lies, the lessee shall have no claim
against any person for trespassing on the ground in any manner.

(7) Application, surveyor’s fee and recording fee.—Any applicant for
oyster-planting ground or for riparian oyster ground shall pay an applica-
tion fee of twenty-five dollars and in addition shall pay to the surveyor for
his services * twenty dollars for the first five acres or less; * three dollars
per acre or fraction thereof for each acre more than five and up to and
including ten acres; * two dollars per acre or fraction thereof for each
acre more than ten and up to and including * twenty acres; one dollar
per acre or fraction thereof for each acre more than twenty acres and up
to and including thirty acres; fifty cents per acre * or fraction thereof
for each acre more than thirty and up to and including fifty acres; and
twenty-five cents per acre for all over fifty acres; and for drawing plat
of ground (original and one duplicate), two dollars per corner for each
corner, up to and including four corners, and one dollar per corner for
all additional corners over four. Before an assignment or transfer, the
applicant shall pay * szx dollars for recording each assignment * or trans-
fer and plat in the Clerk’s Office and six dollars for recording * each as-
signment or transfer and plat in the Commission office. The sum of twelve
dollars shall be paid to the inspector receiving the application. No ground
shall be assigned until * all the fees prescribed herein have been paid.

(8) Restrictions on assigned acreage and applications.—No assign-
ment, except in Chesapeake Bay, shall exceed two hundred and fifty acres.
No applicant, after having had as much as two hundred and fifty acres of
oyster ground assigned to him, shall again make application for another
assignment of oyster grounds within six months from the day his assign-
ment was recorded and completed as the statutes hereinafter provide. If
an assignment be not made within six months after the expiration of the
notice required by statute to be posted for sixty days, such application
shall, upon the expiration of six months, lapse and become null and void,
unless an extension is allowed by the Commission, of not more than ninety
days, provided, however, that in cases where a protest has been filed with
the Commission against the granting of an application, the application
shall not lapse until the Commission has finally acted upon the application.

(9) Restriction on acreage owned or operated.—No person, firm or
corporation shall own or operate more than three thousand acres of oyster
grounds in the waters of this State other than the Chesapeake Bay; and
should ground in excess of three thousand acres be acquired by original
assignment to the assignee, or be assigned to him or them by a lawful
holder of such oyster ground, or as heir or distributee, or by devise or
* bequest, he or they shall, nevertheless, have a right to lawfully
hold the same for and during the period of one year and shall have a legal
right to assign the same. Should no assignment be made within one year
the oyster-planting ground so acquired, in excess of three thousand acres,
shall revert to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and may be applied for by
any person having a legal right to do so.

(10) Application for planting ground in Chesapeake Bay; acreage
1154 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [VA., 1966

allowed; annual rental.—Application for planting ground in Chesapeake
Bay in waters from fifteen feet or more in depth shall be made to the
Commission of Fisheries, which shall have the right to accept or reject any
such application as it may deem best for the public interests; and the
number of acres to be assigned to any applicant shall not exceed five
thousand acres, provided that such assignment shall not interfere with
the established fishing rights. Any such application, surveying, and mark-
ing shall conform to the law pertaining to oyster-planting grounds. The
annual rental per acre in the Chesapeake Bay, in waters from fifteen feet
or more in depth, shall be such an amount per acre as the Commission of
Fisheries may designate, but in no case shall be less than seventy-five cents
per annum per acre.

(11) Payment of annual rental to inspector; penalty for default—
Such an applicant shall pay to the inspector the annual rental for such
ground at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per acre or any fraction
thereof, per annum, except as provided for the Chesapeake Bay, and for
bathing ground; such rental to be due on the first of September of each
year after the date of assignment; and if not paid on or before December
fifth, a ten per centum penalty shall be added to the annual rental charge,
and the inspector may proceed to levy for rental and penalty.

(12) Duration of lease.—Each assignment shal] continue in force for
a period of twenty years from the date of assignment, unless said assign-
ment is terminated in one of the manners provided by law. At the end of
the twenty-year period, the holder shall continue to hold the same and it
shall continue a new and renewed assignment unless the holder notified
the district inspector or the Commissioner of Fisheries, that said assign-
ment is not to be renewed. The interest in such ground shall be construed
as a chattel real, and at the death of the renter pass into the hands of the
personal representative, or resident heirs if there be no qualification on the
estate, who shall notify the Commission office of the death of said renter
within one year. The rights of a nonresident heir or any other person, 1n
a lease, whose address is unknown and who cannot be located, shall be
deemed null and void after a period of twelve months. At the expiration
of the twelve months’ period, the Commission shall transfer such lease to
the person or persons who in its judgment it deems entitled thereto.

If there be no such person, or persons, entitled thereto, the Commis-
sion shall void the lease on its books and may accept applications from the
general public.

A nonresident heir must within twelve months transfer such rights
as he may have to a resident of Virginia. If such transfer is not recorded
in the Commission office within twelve months, whatever rights such heir
may have inherited shall become null and void.

(12a) Upon the death of a lessee of record with surviving resident
heirs the Commission shall notify the personal representative of the said
deceased lessee or the resident heir or heirs to apply for a transfer of the
lease pursuant to § 28.1-112 and the Commission may require a survey
or resurvey should they deem it necessary.

If such application is not made within twelve months after receipt of
such notice, then whatever rights the personal representative, heir oF
heirs may have in the lease shall cease and terminate and the Commission
shall cancel the lease on its books and may accept applications therefor
from the general public. |

(12b) If the Chief Engineer and the Commission should determine
that in any past assignment of oyster ground or when there is any attempt
to transfer oyster ground, that there has not been a survey and/or 8
recorded plat acceptable to the Commission and, in their opinion, does not
accurately describe the metes and bounds of the leased ground, the Com-
mission shall require the lessee and/or the transferor to have the ground
surveyed and the plat recorded.

If the lessee fails to order the survey or resurvey within six months
after date of notification to the lessee or transferor, by certified mail, the
Commission shall cancel the lease on its books and may accept applications
therefor from the general public.

(12c) The cost of any surveys and recording fees required under
paragraphs (12a) and (12b) hereof shall be borne by the lessee or trans-
feror and the cost and fees for same shall be the same as for surveys
made by the Commission.

(138) Possession gives no preference as to assignment.—Any person,
firm or corporation in possession of any oyster-planting ground which has
not been assigned according to law shall have no preference as to having
the same assigned to him, but such ground shall be open to the first
applicant.

(14) Recordation of plat.—The plat and assignment, as soon as prac-
ticable after completion, and after such ground shall have been assigned
to the applicant, shall be filed for record by the inspector in the office of
the Commission of Fisheries and in the office of the clerk of the county or
city by the Commission of Fisheries. The county or city clerk shall forth-
with record the assignment and plat in a well-bound and substantial book,
such recording to be indexed in the name of the assignee. The clerk of the
court shall receive the said plat and assignment and record the same, and
shall be paid by the Commission for his services a fee of six dollars for
each assignment. After the same has been recorded, the assignee is en-
titled to withdraw the original from the clerk’s office.

(15) State guarantees rights of renter subject to right of fishing.—To
any person, after having complied with all requirements, as set forth in
the statutes necessary to have ground assigned to him, the State will
guarantee the absolute right to the renter to continue to use and occupy
such ground for the term of the lease, subject to: (a) subsection (12) of
this section; (b) riparian rights; (c) the right of fishing in waters above
the bottoms, provided that no person exercising such right of fishing shall
use any device which is fixed to the bottom, or which, in any way,
* interferes with such renter’s rights or damages such bottoms, or
the oysters planted thereon; and (d) established fishing stands, but only
if said fishing stand license fee is timely received from the existing licensee
of said fishing stand and no new applicant shall have priority over the
said oyster lease. However, such fishing stand location, assigned prior to
the lease of said oyster ground, is to be considered a vested interest, a
chattel real, and is an inheritable right which may be transferred or
assigned whenever the current licensee complies with all existing laws.

(16) Payment of rent by person who does not hold lease.—In any
case where the inspector has personal knowledge that the person in
whose name the lease was made, is dead, or unknown, and there is no
one actually claiming said property as an heir of the former lessee, and
there is a person personally known to the inspector who has paid the
rent on the ground for at least five years, the inspector shall notify the
person paying said rent that the ground may be assigned to someone else,
provided that the person paying the rent shall have thirty days priority
in which to perfect his application.

_ (17) Delinquent ground.—Any ground or area which becomes de-
linquent shall be open and available to be leased, after the following con-
ditions have been complied with: ;

(a) The Commission must have notified the person in writing on or
about September first of that year of the amount of rent due. If the
rent becomes delinquent, a second notice must be mailed by certified mail
on or about June first of the following year.
due on or before June thirtieth of the following year the land may be
assigned if there is a valid application; provided that if the holder of the
lease is deceased said delinquent lands shall not be open for application
until one year has transpired from the time of the death.

(c) If the Commission has posted a list of delinquent oyster ground
in that county for thirty days at the court house and three public places
in the district in which the ground is located.

(18) Effect of proposal for navigation project.—From and after the
date on which the Commissioner of Fisheries receives information to the
effect that with regard to a specified navigation improvement project,
the Secretary of the Army has been authorized by congressional action to
cause a survey to be made on any such project, the Commissioner shall
obtain the consent and approval of the Governor before leasing any public
oyster-planting grounds which probably will be required for dredging
operations or spoil disposal areas in connection with such project. If
after the completion of the survey and a submission of the District
Engineers’ report thereon to the Chief of Engineers, U. S. , the
proposed navigation improvement project is not authorized, the affected
ground will again become available for lease and assignment.

Nothing in the above shall prohibit the renewal of any lease already
in existence at the time the Commissioner of Fisheries receives informa-
tion as to the authorization of a survey, as above set out.

§ 28.1-120. (1) Application for license—Any resident of this State
who shall be duly qualified and desires to take or catch oysters or clams *
from the * waters of the Commonwealth, * not leased for planting pur-
poses, by hand or with ordinary or patent tongs, or any other instrument
allowed by law other than a scrape or dredge, shall first apply * to * an
inspector for a license.
én (2) License * fees.—The license * fee for taking oysters shall be as

ollows:

(a) For each * person taking or catching oysters by hand or with
ordinary tongs, seven dollars and fifty cents.

(b) For each person taking or catching oysters * with * patent tongs,
* seventeen dollars.

f a * Fee for taking clams.—License fee for taking clams shall be as
ollows:

(a) For each person * taking or catching * clams by hand or with
ordinary tongs, * five dollars * and twenty-five cents.

b) * For * each person * taking or catching clams * with patent
tongs, seventeen dollars.

* The license for taking * clams by * tongs, ordinary or patent, shall
entitle the holder thereof to take only clams from the public * bottoms in
the waters of * the Commonwealth * but not from * public oyster rocks,
beds and shoals or from leased oyster ground, and is not to be construed,
in anywise, to permit or authorize the taking of oysters at anytime.

(4) Possessing oysters while taking clams.—If any person shall have
in his possession any oysters while taking or catching clams or scallops
under the preceding subsection during the season in which it is unlawful
to take or catch oysters from the natural rocks, beds or shoals, he shall be
prima facie guilty of violating the law of taking or catching of oysters
therefrom during the prohibited season.

(5) Taking clams in certain areas.—It shall be unlawful to take or
catch clams at any time, or by any means, in Pocomoke Sound above a
line drawn from Drum Bay Point, in the county of Accomack, and running
a north-northwest course to the line between the States of Maryland an
Virginia, except upon such grounds in those waters as may be set aside
for public clamming or scalloping purposes by the Commission of Fisheries.
(6) Restriction on size of clams.—It shall be unlawful for any person
to ship any clams measuring less than one and seven-sixteenths inches
in length from hinge to mouth, or to take or catch clams under such size
other than for seed or planting purposes.

(7) * Exhibition of license.—Any person * engaged in taking oysters
or clams from public grounds shall have such license available for inspec-
tion and shall exhibit it whenever requested by an inspector. Failure to
exhibit the license upon demand of any inspector shall be a misdemeanor
and prima facie evidence that such person is working without a license;
provided, however, that if such person exhibit a license issued prior to the
tume of his arrest to the inspector before the date of trial, the inspector
shall request the court to dismiss the charge.

(8) Oysters and clams for household use exempted.—This section shall
not apply to the taking or catching of oysters or clams for immediate house-
hold use but not for planting or for sale, provided that no one may take
more than one bushel of oysters or two hundred fifty clams in any one day
without having a license.

(9) Violation of section.—Any person violating the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-124. All oysters taken from any public natural rocks, beds, or
shoals in the waters of this State shall be culled on their natural rocks, beds,
or shoals as taken; and oysters whose shells measure less than three inches
in length, except those oysters taken from Russ Rock and Little Carter’s
Rock, in the Rappahannock River, whose shells shall be not less than two
and one-half inches in length, and all shells shall be included in such culling,
and replaced upon such rocks, beds or shoals. If oysters from leased

ounds and oysters from public grounds are mixed in the same cargo on a
boat or motor vehicle the entire cargo shall be subject to cull under this
ion.

The Commission shall have the authority to reduce the size or length
limitation of the oysters to be culled in any area except in the James River
where they have established seed beds pursuant to § 28.1-85 or wherever
they deem it advisable or necessary to conserve, protect or promote the
production of oysters.

All oysters * shall be placed on the culling board as taken and culled
by hand to the inside of the boat when found to include oysters less than
the size above prescribed, and all shells, the entire cargo shall be considered
as not having been culled as taken, according to the provisions of this
section.

When small oysters are adhering so closely to the shell of the market-
able oysters as to render removal impossible without destroying the young
oyster, then it shall not be necessary to remove it.

In the inspection of oysters under this section, the law enforcement
officer shall, with a shovel, take at least one bushel of oysters at random,
provided that the entire bushel shall be taken at one place in the pile of
oysters. If as many as one * four quart measure of undersized unshucked
oysters and/or shells are found per bushel inspected, it shall constitute a
violation of this section. In the inspection of seed oysters taken from the
James River seed area, or any other area designated as seed area by the
Commission of Fisheries, if as many as one * six quart measure of shells
are found per bushel inspected, it shall constitute a violation of this section.

It shall be unlawful to have more than one-half gallon of shucked
oysters kept on board of a boat tonging on the public rocks.

Any violation of any provisic . of this section shall constitute a mis-
demeanor. Any person charged w: h violating any provision of this section
shall be required, by the officer - aking said charge, to scatter the entire
cargo of oysters on the public rc ks under the supervision of an inspector
and at the expense of the perso: charged with the violation. Provided that
in lieu of throwing said cargo overboard the person charged with said
violation may post cash bond with the officer making the charge in an
amount approximately equal to the value of the entire load as determined
by the officer making the charge. The refusal to either dump the oysters
overboard or post a cash bond shall constitute a distinct and separate
offense from any other violation. A person who has posted a cash bond
who is acquitted shall be refunded said cash bond, if found guilty said
cash bond shall be forfeited and deposited to the credit of the special
oyster replenishment fund.

If a cash bond is posted by the person charged, the person charged
shall properly cull the entire cargo of oysters immediately after the in-
spector has found them to be in violation of this section and before they
can be sold, planted or disposed of by the person charged or by any other
person to prevent the marketing of ulegal oysters and/or shetls

The aforesaid requirement to scatter the entire cargo of oysters on the
public rocks shall only apply to a cargo of oysters taken by any catcher
from the public oyster grounds and shall not apply to oysters which have
been purchased by a buyer and in the buyer’s possession.

§ 28.1-187. If any person take, steal or carry away, without per-
mission of the owner, oysters, clams, bedded or planted, oysters deposited
by any person making up a cargo for market, shells or seed planted for
formation of oyster beds by the State or any person, firm, or corporation,
he shall be deemed guilty of the larceny thereof.

After any person is convicted for any violation of taking oysters from
public ground, the Commission, without notice and hearing required by
§ 28.1-86, immediately shall revoke all existing licenses to take or catch
finfish or ‘shellfish, issued to such person. No new licenses shall be issued to
such person for a minimum of one year or a maximum of five years after
such conviction in the discretion of the Commission.

§ 28.1-139. No person shall take oysters or clams in the waters of
this State, from either public or private grounds, on Sunday or in the
night time between the hours of sunset and sunrise; nor shall any person
load any vessel or boat for such purpose with any oysters from any of the
waters of the Commonwealth on Sunday or in the night time between the
hours of sunset and sunrise; however, shucking oysters from the public
grounds other than from designated seed areas may be unloaded on shore
at packing houses or loaded on trucks or motor vehicles one-half hour
after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise; but those oysters which
have been inspected by an oyster inspector and purchased by the packer
or planter, and the oysters owned by the packer or planter, may be un-
loaded at any time except Sunday within the discretion of the packer.

§ 28.1-165. Any resident of this State desiring to take or catch
crabs for market or profit from the waters of this Commonwealth, or
waters under its jurisdiction, by any of the means hereinafter stated, or
any person desiring to engage in the business of buying or marketing
crabs for packing or canning the same in any way, shall pay to the in-
spector of the district in which he resides the taxes and be subject to the
provisions set forth in the other sections of this article and the following
subsections: ,

(1) For each person taking or catching crabs by dip nets, net, ordi-
nary trot line, hand rake, or hand scrape, pushed or pulled, or with any
device other than hand line, three dollars and seventy-five cents; pro-
vided that no boat shall be used to pull or push any rake or scrape except
as provided for in subsections (4) to (8) of this section.

(2) For each person taking or catching crabs with patent trot lines,
fifteen dollars and seventy-five cents.

(3) For each boat operator catching blue crabs by means of a device
made of wire or thread net and commonly known as a crab pot, fifteen
dollars; or if catching crabs with one or more assistants twenty-five dol-
lars; but no such pot or device shall be used which has a mesh less than
one and one-half inches. A holder of a crab pot license may use peeler
pots, exempt from mesh size limitations, without securing additional
license. A peeler pot is defined as a wire mesh pot baited with only live
adult male (jimmy) blue crabs. Provided, however, that during the months
of June, July and August any person fifteen years of age or under may
be an assistant to a boat operator catching blue crabs by means of a
device made of wire or thread net without obtaining a license.

(4) For boat used for the purpose of taking or catching hard crabs
with power-lifted scrapes or dredges, thirty dollars; but such boat shall
not be used as a boat for buying crabs, when the Commission limits the
taking of crabs under § 28.1-168.

(5) (a) For each person, firm or corporation picking crabs, sixteen
dollars and fifty cents.

P nes For each person, firm or corporation shedding crabs, eleven
oO

Anyone purchasing a license as provided in parts (a) and (b) of
this subsection shall not be required to purchase a crab buyer’s license.

(6) (a) For each boat or motor vehicle * used in buying crabs, *
eight dollars and twenty-five cents. * The license plates issued shall be at-
tached and displayed on each boat or motor vehicle used in buying crabs.

(b) For each person, firm or corporation engaged in marketing crabs
by barrel, basket or crate, eight dollars and twenty-five cents.

(c) No person who is licensed to catch crabs shall be required to
procure further license for marketing or shipping his own catch.

(7) For each crab trap or crab pound, * four dollars. *

(8) For scraping crabs with a hand scrape, eight dollars and twenty-
five cents.

8 28.1-167. It shall be unlawful for any person to catch, take or
have in possession at any time more than ten per centum by count per
barrel, box, basket or other shipping container of hard crabs, which
measure less than * five inches across the shell from tip to tip of the *
longest spikes, or to destroy them in any manner, but shall immediately
return the same to the water alive when taken out of the net or scrape;
provided that adult female crabs, peeler crabs and soft crabs are exempt
from these limitations.

The inspector shall have the authority to grade or cull any number
of barrels, baskets or containers of crabs in any person’s possession
which he may deem necessary.

If the inspector finds undersize crabs in excess of the ten per centum
tolerance, the entire quantity of crabs in or from each barrel, basket or
container, which was inspected, shall be seized by the inspector and all
such crabs shall be immediately returned to the water by the person who
possessed such crabs. The refusal to return the crabs to the water shali
constitute a distinct and separate offense from any other violation.

The aforesaid requirement to return the crabs to the waters shall
apply to crabs taken and in possession of a crabber or catcher and shall
not apply to crabs which have been purchased by a buyer and in the
buyer’s possession, nor shall it apply to crabs which have been transported
a distance of five miles from the nearest salt water.

Any person when convicted of the second violation within one year of
any provisions of this section, the Commission shall upon the second con-
viction, immediately, without notice and a hearing as required in § 28.1-86,
revoke all the existing licenses which have been issued to such person to
take or catch crabs, and the Commission shall not tissue a new license or
licenses to such person to take or catch crabs for a pertod of one year from
the date of the second conviction.
§ 28.1-179. (1) No person, firm or corporation shall take, catch,
transport, sell, offer for sale, remove, receive, keep or store shellfish
from condemned areas, or relay shellfish taken from such areas, until a
special permit has been obtained from the Commission, which must be
carried in his possession when engaged in such operation.

Before any person, firm or corporation shall take or remove shellfish
from private grounds in condemned areas he shall have written authority
in his possession from the owner or lessee in addition to obtaining the
permit as herein required.

No permit for transporting or relaying shall be issued to any person,
firm or corporation for the purpose of buying and selling shellfish from
condemned areas. Permits for transporting and relaying shall only be
issued to persons, firms or corporations who catch shellfish from con-
demned areas and who want to move such shellfish to an approved area;
and to those persons who buy shellfish from condemned areas from the
catcher and who transport or relay the shellfish to their or other ap-
proved grounds.

No permits shall be issued to any motor vehicle transporting and/or
relaying shellfish from condemned areas unless such motor vehicle has
an enclosed body with doors which can be sealed by an inspector. An
mspector shall have the authority to refuse to issue such a permit tf he
determines the motor vehicle cannot be properly sealed.

If shellfish from condemned areas is to be transported and/or re-
layed, at anytime, by a motor vehicle an inspector shall seal the body of
the motor vehicle before departure and the seal shall not be broken by
anyone except an inspector at the point of final destination where the
cargo is to be discharged for relaying and/or transplanting wn an ap-
proved area. After the seal is broken an inspector shall supervise the
relaying of the shellfish from the truck to the approved area.

Upon evidence of such permit holder offering for sale and not planting
such shellfish from condemned areas, the Commissioner shall promptly
revoke all permits held by such person, firm or corporation. __

(2) Any person, firm or corporation holding a valid permit to remove,
transport and/or relay shellfish from condemned area shall keep accurate
records and submit monthly reports to the Commission, which shall desig-
nate the areas from which the shellfish were removed; the areas to which
the shellfish were relayed; the dates of the removal, and/or relaying; the
number of bushels of shellfish removed, and/or relayed; the name of the
permit holder; the name and address of each person employed and engaged
in the operation; the names or numbers of the boats; and the license
numbers of the trucks used in the operation. During any month, covered
by permit, in which no removal and/or relaying is in operation, a report
shall be submitted to the Commission, indicating that no shellfish were
removed and/or relayed. It shall be the responsibility of the permit holder
to keep accurate records and make reports of the removal, and/or relay-
ing, to the main office of the Commission on or before the tenth day of the
month following the month of operation. The permit shall set out the
expiration date thereof.

(3) Application for the special permit, provided for in subsection (1)
of this section, before the removal, transportation and/or relaying of
shellfish from condemned areas, shall be made on forms provided by the
Commission. A fee of one dollar shall be paid to the Commission when
such application for permit is filed. This permit shall not be transferable.

The special permit, after being issued, may be revoked at any time
by the Commissioner, when, in his judgment, it will be to the best interest
of the industry that the same be revoked. Any person having said permit
revoked may demand a hearing before the Commission at the next sched-
uled meeting of the Commission.
(4) Shellfish removal, and/or relaying, from condemned areas shall
be under the supervision of the Commission of Fisheries and the Depart-
ment of Health.

(a) The season for the removal, and/or relaying, of shellfish from
private grounds shall be from April first to November first.

) The season for the removal, and/or relaying, of shellfish from
public grounds shall be from May first to August fifteenth.

(c) The above dates for the opening and closing of said seasons may
be changed by the Commission, and the Commission may refuse to grant
permits for removal of shellfish from any and all condemned areas of the
waters of the State. ;

(5) Any conveyance engaged in transporting shellfish, which have
been caught within condemned areas for the purpose of relaying, to
another area where they may be cleansed and made fit for market, shall
display a yellow flag of not less than thirty inches in length and eighteen
inches in width before any shellfish are placed thereon, and the flag shall
be displayed during the entire relaying operation. .

(6) It shall be the duty of the inspector of the Commission of Fish-
eries, and employees of the Department of Health, to examine the area
to which shellfish from condemned areas are relayed and see that adequate
and proper corner stakes or buoys have been put in place by the lessee
before a permit shall be issued to transport to or plant the area. Each
corner stake or buoy shall be marked by a yellow flag or bunting of not
less than fifteen inches by fifteen inches, and the marking shall remain
until a special permit to remove the shellfish for sale or shipment has been
obtained from the State Health Commissioner.

(7) No person, firm or corporation shall discharge, or cause to be
discharged, any part or all of the shellfish from any conveyance engaged
in transporting shellfish from condemned areas at any place other than
to approved areas for cleansing, and shall move directly to the approved
planting ground, or to conveyances holding a proper permit for relaying
to cleansing areas designated in the permit.

(8) The loading and unloading, ashore, of shellfish taken from con-
demned areas shall only be at points designated by the Commission.

(9) Should the occasion arise for any emergency unloading of any
conveyance engaged in transporting shellfish from a condemned area, the
Commission shall be notified immediately and disposition of said cargo
shall be made under the supervision of the said Commission.

(10) There shall be no transportation, relaying or any movement of
shellfish from condemned areas after sunset or before sunrise except by
motor vehicle properly sealed pursuant to subsection (1) hereof. Clean
shellfish and shellfish from condemned areas shall not be mixed in any
quantity in the same cargo. *

(11) The Commission of Fisheries, whenever they deem an emer-
gency exists, may make rules and regulations to protect the health of the
public, which relate to shellfish from condemned areas, without complying
with the requirements of §§ 28.1-124 and 28.1-125. Such rules and regu-
lations shall become effective upon the passage by the Commission. These
rules and regulations shall be enforced by revoking any and all permits
which may have been issued.

_ § 28.1-183. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the
six preceding sections (§§ 28.1-177 to 28.1-182), the State Health Com-
missioner and the Commissioner of Fisheries, and such agents or assistants
of either of the Commissioners as are now or may be hereafter appointed
may enter upon premises located in the State, or upon any boat, vessel,
barge, car, motor vehicle, or other conveyance, wharf, packing or shucking
house, store, stall or other place where oysters, clams, crab meat or
scallops may be found, and if it appears that the provisions of such sections,
or any of them, have been violated, may, with or without a warrant,
arrest any person or persons who are or who have been, or who are
believed to be or have been, in charge of such oysters, clams, crab meat
or scallops, and may seize, in the name of the Commonwealth, and take
possession of such oysters, clams, crab meat or scallops, and may seize and
take possession of any boat, vessel, barge, car, motor vehicle or other
conveyance used in violation of the provisions of such sections, together
with the cargo of any such boat, vessel, barge, car, motor vehicle or other
conveyance, which may be held till the accused has paid the penalty for his
offense, if upon trial he is found guilty, or has upon trial been acquitted,
as the case may be. When any oysters, clams, crabs or scallops of an ac-
cused are seized pursuant to the provisions of this section, such may be
destroyed at the discretion of the State Health Commissioner, the Com-
missioner of Fisheries or their authorized agents or assistants, and tf the
accused is acquitted of the charges, he shall be recompensed the value
thereof, based on the average selling price on the day of seizure.

2. That §§ 28.1-75, 28.1-86, and 28.1-204 through 28.1-226, of the Code
of Virginia, are repealed.