Chap. 319.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 3216 of the Code of Virginia, a
heretofore amended, relating to inspection, measurement and loading of, anc
tax on oysters, and prescribing penalties. [H B 189]

Approved March 29, 1940

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
Section thirty-two hundred and sixteen of the Code of Virginia, as
heretofore amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to read a:
follows:

Section 3216. Oyster inspection when loading on vessels, et
cetera; measurements; tax; penalties.—It shall be unlawful for any
person, firm, or corporation to take, catch, or to purchase oysters
taken from the waters of the Commonwealth of Virginia, or from
any waters under the jurisdiction or joint jurisdiction of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia, or from any oyster grounds leased by the
Commonwealth of Virginia for market, or to shuck, or operate buy-
boats, vessels, or motor vehicles, or other conveyance for the purpose
of buying shell oysters taken from the waters of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, or under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, or waters under the joint jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of
Virginia, or from any oyster ground leased by the Commonwealth,
until a permit has been obtained from the Commissioner of Fisheries,
or the oyster inspector of the district in which the ground from which
the oysters to be taken lie, or from the captain of any oyster police
boat of this State. The commissioner or any inspector, deputy, or
captain of any oyster police boat of this State shall have the right at
all times to inspect any of the oysters taken or purchased as aforesaid,
loaded on any boat, or vessel, motor vehicle or other conveyance or
sold to any person, firm, or corporation wherever they may be, as to
the quality or measurements; the owner or master of such boat or
vessel, motor vehicle or other conveyance or the purchaser of any
oysters taken as aforesaid, shall pay a tax to the Commonwealth of
Virginia, or to the person so authorized to receive the same, of not
more than one cent per bushel on each bushel of oysters taken or
purchased as aforesaid, it being the intent and purpose of this act to
impose a tax upon all the oysters taken from any of the waters of
the Commonwealth of Virginia, or from any of the waters under the
jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, or from any of the
waters under the joint jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
There is excepted from the imposition of the tax aforesaid all oysters
which are to be replanted in any of the waters of this Commonwealth.
A strict account of oysters taken or purchased as aforesaid shall be
kept by the purchaser, planter, or packers, and the tax on the same
shall be paid by the purchasers, planters or packers as herein pro-
vided between the first and tenth days of each month immediately
following that in which such oysters were shucked, barrelled, packed
or marketed. All purchasers, planters, or packers 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 shall be at all times 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
punishable as hereinafter provided.

(2) It shall be the duty of the oyster inspector in whose district
a cargo of oysters is to be loaded to inspect said oysters as they are
loaded and to see that all measurements are a full legal bushel of
oysters; and when said oysters are loaded, to collect the tax on same,
and furnish the owner, master, or operator with a certificate showing
the number of bushels in each load, and signed by the inspector,
deputy, or police-boat captain that the tax on each load is paid, a
copy of which said certificate shall be sent to the office of the Com-
missioner of Fisheries.

(3) When at any time there is to be loaded in any one district
more than one load at the same time, the inspector or police-boat
captain is empowered to appoint, on the consent and approval of the
Commissioner of Fisheries, a sufficient number of deputies for the
purposes hereinbefore set forth; that on or before the fifth day of
each month the inspector or police-boat captain shall render a state-
ment to the commissioner, on blanks furnished by the commissioner,
showing the amounts collected, and from whom collected.

(4) Of the revenue derived from this section, after deducting
twenty per centum to be credited to the Commissioner of Fisheries
to reimburse the said Commission of Fisheries for the additional cost
incurred in enforcing this section, the balance shall be credited to the
oyster repletion fund; and it shall be the duty of the State Health
Commissioner to make all inspections commensurate with the United
States Department of Health regulations.

(5) Any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of
transporting shellfish within the State of Virginia, either within the
State of Virginia or to a point outside of the State of Virginia by
truck, boat, or otherwise, shall keep an itemized daily record of the
number of bushels and/or gallons of oysters so transported. Such
record shall be open at all times for inspection by the auditor of the
Commission of Fisheries, any inspector or deputy inspector of the
Commission of Fisheries, or any person so designated by the Com-
missioner of Fisheries.

(6) Any person who shall violate any provision of this section
shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than
twenty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars.