Chap. 271.—An ACT to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a new section
numbered 3299-a, to provide for culling oysters taken from the Potomac River;
to define unmarketable oysters; to provide how such culling shall be done; to
define the rights and authority of oyster inspectors or other officers with
respect to examining the contents of boats, warehouses or other places where
oysters may be found or are stored; to invalidate subsection or paragraph 3 of
Section 3299 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, relating to the same matters;
and to provide when this act and such invalidation shall become effective.

[S B 187]
Approved March 26, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding a new section
numbered thirty-two hundred ninety-nine-a, as follows:

Section 3299-a. Oysters taken from the Potomac River required
‘0 be culled and inspected ; penalties for violation—(a) All oysters taken
rom any natural rocks, beds or shoals, within the Potomac River shall
ye culled on their natural rocks, beds or shoals as taken, and oysters
whose shells measure less than three inches in length, measuring from
hinge to mouth, which are hereby declared to be unmarketable oysters,
and all shells, shall be included in such cullings and replaced on said
rocks, beds or shoals as taken; provided, that unmarketable oysters once
passed from the culling board to the inside of the boat shall be considered
as not having been culled in accordance with the provisions of this sec-
tion ; and provided further, that when unmarketable oysters are adhering
so closely to the shell of the marketable oysters as to render removal
impossible without destroying the young oyster, then such unmarketable
oysters need not be removed and need not be included in the cullings.

(b) It shall be a violation of this section for any person to buy, sell
or have in his possession on the Potomac River, its tributaries, or any
other place, unmarketable oysters and shells taken from the natural
rocks, beds or shoals as aforesaid.

For the purpose of ascertaining whether this section has been vio-
lated, any oyster inspector, or other officer authorized by law, shall have
the right, at any time, to examine the contents of any boat, including
market boats, and the contents of any oyster packing house, or oyster
warehouse, or to examine any oysters stored or accumulated in any place,
conveyance or thing. If, upon such examination, the oyster inspector, or
other officer authorized by law, shall find that any cargo, load or collected
mass of oysters shall consist of five per cent (5%) or more of unmarket-
able oysters and shells, or of five per cent (5%) or more of unmarketable
oysters, the owner, captain, or person in charge, of any boat on which
such oysters are found, or the person in charge of any other conveyance,
thing or place where such oysters are found, shall be deemed to be in
possession of such oysters and 1n violation of this section.

(c) Any owner, captain, or person in charge, of any boat, except a
market boat, who is found guilty of being in possession of, or selling.
oysters in violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined; for
the first offense, fifty dollars ($50.00), for the second offense, one hun-
dred dollars ($100.00) and for each subsequent offense, two hundred
dollars ($200.00). In addition, the oystering license of such boat shall
be suspended for not less than two weeks nor more than three months
when more than two violations of this section occur thereon, regardless
of whether or not the owner, captain, or person in charge, of such boat at
the time of such third or subsequent offense has been found guilty of any
prior violation of this section.

(d) Any owner, captain, or person in charge, of any market boat,
or any person in charge of any oyster packing house or oyster warehouse.
or any person in charge of any oysters stored or collected in a mass in any
conveyance, place or thing, other than a boat as specified in paragraph
(c), who is found guilty of being in violation of this section shall, upon
conviction, be fined: for the first offense, one hundred dollars ($100.00),
for the second offense, two hundred dollars ($200.00) and for each sub-
sequent offense, five hundred dollars ($500.00).

For the purposes of this section, a market boat is hereby defined as
any boat which engages at any time in buying, storing or transporting
oysters which have been taken from the water by another boat.
Failure to pay any fine imposed under this section, shall result in
the convicted person serving one day in jail for each dollar of the fine
imposed and not paid, but in no event shall any such person be confined
in jail for more than ninety days (90) for any single offense.

In addition to the above penalties, such cargo, load or collected mass
of oysters shall be confiscated and returned to the natural rocks, beds or
shoals under the supervision of the inspector or other officer making the
arrest, at the expense of the violator, which expense shall be in addition to
the fine, suspension of license, or imprisonment, and any boat or other
conveyance on which such oysters are found shall be held as security for
the payment of the said fine and expense.

(e) In order to provide for the disposition of any oysters that have
been declared unmarketable, in case there is an appeal or waiver of trial,
the cargo, load or other collected mass of oysters shall remain in the pos-
session or custody of the inspector, or other officer, making the arrest
until the owner, captain, or person in charge, of the boat, or the person
in charge of any other conveyance, place or thing where such oysters are
found shall have reculled the oysters in question. The inspector, or
other officer, under whose supervision the reculling is done, after ascer-
taining the quantity of unmarketable oysters and shells so culled and the
quantity of marketable oysters remaining, shall give the violator a certifi-
cate showing the number of bushels of such unmarketable oysters and
shells and the quantity of such marketable oysters remaining, and the
unmarketable oysters and shells shall then be returned to the natural
rocks, beds or shoals under the supervision of the said inspector, or other
officer. The cost of reculling, returning such unmarketable oysters and
shells to the water and expenses, incidental thereto shall be borne by the
violator. Provided, that this section shall not apply to seed oysters or
plants taken under other provisions of this section from that point at the
mouth of Upper Machodoc creek, in the county of King George, Vir-
ginia, to Lower Cedar Point in Charles County, Maryland.

2. Under the taking effect in the State of Maryland of the pro-
visions of this section, the Governor of Virginia shall issue his proclama-
tion declaring the provisions of this act to be effective, upon which being
clone, subsection or paragraph three of section thirty-two hundred ninety-
nine, as amended, shall become and thereafter be null and void and of no
force or effect whatever.