CHAPTER 406

An Act to revise, rearrange, amend and recodify the general laws of
Virginia relating to fish, oysters and shellfish; to that end to repeal
Title 28 of the Code of Virginia, which title includes Chapters 1 to 12
and §§ 28-1 to 28-258, inclusive, of the Code of Virginia, as amended,
which title relates to fish, oysters and shellfish; to amend the Code of
Virginia by adding thereto, in lieu of the foregoing title, chapters and
sections of the Code repealed by this act a new title numbered 28.1,
which title includes ten new chapters numbered 1 to 10, both inclusive,
and new sections numbered 28.1-1 to 28.1-226, both inclusive, relating
to fish, oysters and shellfish, and to repeal all acts and parts of acts
in conflict with the provisions of this act. CH 1

Approved March 31, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That Title 28 of the Code of Virginia, which title includes Chapters
1 to 12 and §§ 28-1 to 28-258, inclusive, of the Code of Virginia, as
amended, is repealed.

That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding thereto, in lieu of
the title, chapters and sections of the Code of Virginia herein repealed, a
hew title numbered 28.1, ten new chapters numbered 1 to 10, both inclu-
Sive, and new sections numbered 28.1-1 to 28.1-226, both inclusive, which
hew title, chapters and sections are as follows:

TITLE 28.1
FISH, OYSTERS, SHELLFISH, OTHER MARINE LIFE

COMMISSION AND COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES

§ 281-1. Definitions.—As used in this title:
Lommission” shall be taken to mean the “Commission of Fisheries’’.
Commissioner’ shall be taken to mean “Commissioner of Fisheries’.
“Fish”, “fishes” or “shellfish” shall be construed to include porpoise,
fishes, oysters, clams, scallops, mollusca, crustaceans, terrapins, marine
mammals and all other seafood.

“Fishing” or “fisheries” shall be construed to include all operations
involved in using, setting, taking, catching, or operating apparatus em-
ployed in killing, taking or catching the same, or in transporting and pre-
paring the same for market. ;

“Marine fish,” “shellfish” and “organisms” shall be those species which
spend the major portion of their lives in marine or estuarine waters
(shad, herring, alewives and striped bass or rock fish) are considered to
be marine fish; sunfishes, crappies, catfish and carp are not.

“Resident” shall be any person who has actually resided in Virginia
for twelve months.

“Shoals” shall be taken to mean water of less than four feet in depth
at mean low water.

§ 28.1-2. What constitutes “Tidewater Virginia’.—Tidewater Vir-
ginia, as used in this title, is defined to embrace the following counties:
Accomack, Arlington, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Essex, Fairfax,
Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King George,
King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Nanse-
mond, New Kent, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Prince George,
Prince William, Princess Anne, Richmond, Southampton, Stafford, Surry,
Sussex, Westmoreland, and York; and the cities of Alexandria, Fredericks-
burg, Hampton, Hopewell, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Ports-
mouth, Richmond, South Norfolk, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williams-

urg.

§ 28.1-3. Jurisdiction of the Commission.—The jurisdiction of the
Commission of Fisheries shall extend to the fall line of all tidal rivers and
streams and the Commission shall have jurisdiction over all commercial
fishing and all marine fish, marine shellfish, and marine organisms below
said fall line on all tidal waters of the Commonwealth.

§ 28.1-4. Chairman and members of the Commission.—The Commis-
sion of Fisheries shall consist of a chairman and four additional members.
They shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the
General Assembly, if in session when such appointments are made, and if
not in session, then at its next succeeding session. The chairman, who shall
be an experienced administrator with knowledge of seafood and marine
affairs, shall be appointed as such by the Governor. The chairman shall be
Commissioner of Fisheries and shall devote full time to the duties of the
office.

§ 28.1-5. Terms of office and vacancies.—The chairman and two
members of the Commission shall hold office at the pleasure of the Gov-
ernor for terms coincident with the term of each Governor making the
appointments, or until their successors shall be appointed and qualified,
respectively. The remaining two members of the Commission shall be
appointed to hold office at the pleasure of the Governor for a term of four
years each, or until their successors shall be appointed and qualified,
respectively; provided, that the appointment of such two members shall
be made to expire on the thirtieth day of June of every fourth year after
nineteen hundred and forty-eight. No person except the chairman shall be
eligible to serve for or during more than two successive terms; provided,
however, any person heretofore or hereafter appointed to fill a vacancy
shall be eligible for two additional terms after the expiration of the term
of the vacancy he was appointed; and incumbency during the current term
when this amendment takes effect constitutes the first of the two succes-
sive terms with respect to eligibility for appointment. Vacancies shall be
filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as original appointments
are made.
§ 28.1-6. Oath; delivery of commissions of members.—The Commis-
Sioner and the associate members shall take the oath prescribed by section
thirty-four of the Constitution before a court of record of any county or
city wherein such member resides. The commission of each member shall
be forwarded by the Governor to the clerk of the court of record of the
county or city of which such member is a resident, and shall be delivered
to such member on the taking of the oath and the giving of the bond pre-
scribed in the following section.

§ 28.1-7. Bonds required.—The Commissioner shall enter into bond
in the penalty of ten thousand dollars, with surety to be approved by the
Governor, payable and conditioned as required by § 49-12.

28.1-8. Compensation.—The Commissioner shall receive a salary
to be fixed by the General Assembly and payable out of the appropriation
made for the Commission of Fisheries. The associate members shall receive
a per diem of twenty dollars when actually serving and actual traveling
expenses incurred in attending their duties as members of the Commission.

§ 28.1-9. Powers of Commissioner and associate members.—The
Commissioner and the associate members shall jointly exercise all of the
powers herein conferred, except that it is the intent of this section that
the Commissioner shall, except as otherwise provided, be wholly respon-
sible for the enforcement of the fish and shellfish laws and for the appoint-
ment of all employees.

§ 28.1-10. Meetings—The Commission shall meet on the call of the
chairman or three members at such times as he or they may deem neces-
sary, and at such places as he or they may designate.

§ 28.1-11. Office; records open to examination.—The Commissioner
shall establish and equip a permanent office at some convenient place in
the city of Newport News. All records in the office shall be open at all
times to the examination of the Governor, Auditor of Public Accounts, or
their accredited agents, or any interested person. The office of the Com-
mission shall be kept open for transaction of business throughout each
year, in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth.

§ 28.1-12. Appointment and control of employees.—The Commis-
sioner is authorized to appoint all of the officers and employees of the
Commission of Fisheries, including all inspectors and police boat captains,
and shall have full control of all the employees of his department, except-
ing the associate members. He shall employ such agencies and employees
as the good of the service may, in the opinion of the Commission, require,
and all such employees shall be subject to his orders.

§ 28.1-13. Commissioner to enforce laws and require performance
of duties.—The Commissioner shall faithfully, impartially, and efficiently
enforce all of the laws of this State relative to the fish and shellfish indus-
try in the tidewaters of the Commonwealth, or under the jurisdiction or
under the joint jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, and shall see that all
laws relating to fish and shellfish are enforced and observed. It shall also
be the duty of the Commissioner to see that the employees faithfully per-
form the duties prescribed for them by law, and observe such rules and
regulations as may be laid down by the Commission or Commissioner for
their government.

§ 28.1-14. Purchase, lease or sale of boats, nets and other equip-
ment.—The Commissioner with the approval of the Commission of Fish-
eries is authorized to purchase or rent such boats, nets, and other equip-
ment as may be necessary to enable the Commissioner and his assistants
to perform the duties imposed on them by law; and the Commissioner is
also authorized with the approval of the Commission to sell, exchange,
charter, lease, rent, or repair any boats or other equipment belonging in
the service; and in the case of sale or exchange, may re-invest the pro-
ceeds in another boat or boats, or equipment.
§ 28.1-15. Reports of employees.—All employees shall be required
to make such reports to the Commissioner at such times as the Commis-
sioner or Commission shall direct.

§ 28.1-16. Investigations by Commissioner.—It shall be the duty of
the Commissioner to investigate from time to time any and all matters
affecting the seafood industry, and the Commission shall have the authority
to hear and determine all questions arising out of the official acts of its
employees.

§ 28.1-17. Annual and other reports to Governor and General
Assembly.—It shall be the duty of the Commission to make a biennial
report to the Governor, and a report to the General Assembly, at each
regular session. In such reports the amounts of revenue derived from the
fish and shellfish industries under the supervision of the Commission, and
also the expenditures of the Commission shall be plainly set forth. The
condition of the fish and shellfish industries under the supervision of the
Commission shall be discussed, and such legislation as the Commission
may think advisable for the betterment, protection, and conservation of
such industries shall be reeommended. The Commission and Commissioner,
either or both, shall be required to make such reports to the Governor at
such times as the Governor shall direct. Such recommendations to the
Governor relative to legislation for the advancement of the fish and shell-
fish industries shall be transmitted by the Governor, together with his
recommendations, to the General Assembly at its next succeeding session.

§ 28.1-18. Who to have no interest in fisheries.—No inspectors, cap-
tains or other employees of the Commission of Fisheries shall be engaged
for market or profit in any fish or shellfish industry in Virginia, either
directly or indirectly, but this section is not applicable to members of the
Commission.

§ 28.1-19. Employment of civil engineer and assistant.—The Com-
missioner of Fisheries is authorized to appoint, with the consent of the
Commission, a competent civil engineer and assistants thereto. It shall be
the duty of such civil engineers to make, under the supervision of the Com-
missioner of Fisheries, a resurvey, where necessary, of the Baylor survey
within the State, and to make surveys, where necessary, of all oyster-
planting grounds heretofore leased or assigned by the State, together with
such other surveys and resurveys of natural oyster rocks and shoals as
may be deemed necessary and proper by the Commissioner of Fisheries.

§ 28.1-20. Conservation and repletion officer.—The Commission of
Fisheries shall appoint a conservation and repletion officer, who at the
direction of the Commission and the following advice and recommenda-
tions of the Director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, shall be
in charge of the oyster and shellfish repletion program, and have such
other duties as the Commission shall prescribe.

§ 28.1-21. When licenses terminate; proration.—All licenses issued
by the Commission of Fisheries shall be on an annual basis and shall
expire on December thirty-one of the year in which issued.

§ 28.1-22. Destruction of duplicate licenses and invoices.—The Com-
mission may destroy or otherwise dispose of duplicate and triplicate sets
of licenses and the duplicate invoices or vouchers after they have been
audited by the Auditor of Public Accounts.

PROCEEDINGS, ACTIONS & REGULATIONS
OF THE COMMISSION

§ 28.1-23. Authority to make regulations.—The Commission shall
have authority to make such regulations as it deems necessary to promote
the general welfare of the Seafood Industry and to conserve and promote
the seafood and marine resources of the State, which regulations do not
conflict with the provisions of statutory law.

§ 28.1-24. Publication of proposed regulations.—No regulation of
general application shall be promulgated by the Commission until the
expressed terms or an informative summary of the proposed regulation
has been published by and at the expense of the agency at least once in
daily papers published and having general circulation in Richmond, Nor-
folk, and Newport News, or if the regulation has only local application in
the locality to which it applies, and a copy is on file in the office of the
Commission of Fisheries and the office of the Division of Statutory Re-
search and Drafting, open to inspection to the general public. Such publi-
cation and filing must be not less than ten days nor more than thirty days
prior to the day on which the public hearing on the proposal is to be held.
The published notice shall include a statement of the time, place, and
nature of the hearing.

§ 28.1-25. Adoption of emergency regulations.—If, in an emergency.
the adoption of a regulation is necessary for the immediate preservation
of the public peace, health, safety, welfare, protection of the seafood indus-
try, or natural resources or marine animals, the Commission may promul-
gate the necessary regulation, in which the regulation shall forthwith be
published and filed as prescribed in § 28.1-24. No regulation adopted as an
emergency regulation shall remain in effect longer than thirty days unless
a public hearing is held as prescribed in § 28.1-26 after being advertised
as prescribed in § 28.1-24.

§ 28.1-26. Hearing on proposed regulation.—A public hearing shall
be held by the agency at the time and place named in the notice prescribed
in § 28.1-24, and opportunity shall be afforded all interested persons to be
heard and to submit objections, amendments, evidence and arguments. The
regulation may be adopted in the form in which it was filed, or as amended
at the hearing, provided the amendments do not alter the main purpose of
the regulation.

§ 28.1-27. Distribution of new regulations.—A copy of any regula-
tion adopted by the Commission of general application shall be sent to the
Division of Statutory Research and Drafting, the Clerks of the Courts of
record of all counties and cities located in the Tidewater section of Vir-
ginia, and to all inspectors of the Commission.

§ 28.1-28. Right of petition to Commission.—Any interested person
may petition the Commission requesting the promulgation, amendment or
repeal of any regulation.

§ 28.1-29. Judicial review of validity of regulations.—The validity
of any regulation of general application may be determined upon petition
for a declaratory judgment thereon addressed to the Circuit Court of the
City of Richmond, or Corporation Court of the City of Newport News by
any person who might be adversely affected by its enforcement and who
alleges that it is invalid; provided, that the validity of any regulation of
local application only, may be determined by such petition addressed to
the Court of record of the county or city wherein the application is appli-
cable. A copy of the pleading shall be served on the Commission at its
office in Newport News. An appeal may be taken from the decision of the
Court of record to the Supreme Court of Appeals in the same manner that
other appeals are made.

The General Assembly may by resolution nullify any regulation of the
Commission.

§ 28.1-30. Hearings before Commission.—Any person whose rights,
duties or privileges, including matters relating to licenses, shellfish plant-
ing grounds, fishing stands, have been or may be affected by any action or
in action of an agency without a formal hearing may demand in writing
a formal hearing of his complaint, or on the action of the Commission
affecting his rights, and a hearing thereon shall be held as soon as prac-
ticable before the Commission. All known interested parties shall be
afforded an opportunity to be heard before the Commission. All persons
who have noted their interest with the Commission in any matter, shall
be given at least five days’ notice of hearing by first class mail of the
time, place, and issues involved. An opportunity shall be afforded all
parties to present evidence and argument with respect thereto. The pro-
ponents for any regulation or matter shall be heard first, then the oppo-
nents. The Commissioner, if present, or any member of the Commission,
if the Commissioner is not present, shall preside over the hearing. An
orderly procedure shall be followed, and the rules of evidence shall be
adhered to insofar as possible.

Depositions may be taken and read as in actions of law.

The Commission or Commissioner shall have power to issue sub-
poenas and subpoenas duces tecum, and at the request of any party, shall
issue such subpoena. The failure of a witness without legal excuse to
appear or to testify or to produce documents shall be reported by the
agency to the Corporation Court of the City of Newport News and the
proceedings thereon shall be as provided in § 8-302.

§ 28.1-31. Procedure of hearing.—Every party shall have the right
to cross-examine adverse witnesses including inspectors and officers of the
Commission and to submit rebuttal evidence.

The decision of the agency shall be based only on evidence received
at the hearing and matters of which a Court of record could take judical
notice.

Any party may have a stenographic report made of the hearing at
cost to the party; a copy of such report shall be made available to the
Commission, if it so requests, at the cost of the Commission.

§ 28.1-32. Findings of Commission.—In all contested matters the
finding, award, action or judgment of the Commission shall be reduced to
writing and copies thereof sent to the parties noting an appearance.

§ 28.1-33. Judicial review in contested cases.—(a) Any person ag-
grieved by a final decision in a contested case, whether such decision is
affirmative or negative in form, is entitled to judicial review thereof under
this chapter either in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, Corpora-
tion Court of the City of Newport News, or in any court of record having
jurisdiction in the city or county in which is located his property affected
by the decision complained of.

(b) Proceedings for review shall be instituted by filing a notice of
appeal with the Commission within thirty days after the date of the order
and giving a copy thereof to all other parties.

(c) With his notice of appeal, the appellant shall deliver to the Com-
mission a transcript of the testimony if it was taken down in writing, or,
if it was not taken down in writing, a statement of it in narrative form.

(d) Within thirty days thereafter, the Commission shall transmit
to the clerk of the court to which the appeal is taken:

(1) A copy of the request, if any, for, or notice of, the formal hearing.

(2) A copy of the order appealed from.

(3) A copy of the notice of appeal.

(4) The transcript or statement of the testimony filed by appellant,
together with a certificate that it is correct or that it is correct except in
specified particulars.

(5) The exhibits.

(e) The failure of the Commission to transmit the record within the
time allowed shall not prejudice the rights of the appellant. The court, on
motion of the appellant, may issue a writ of certiorari requiring the agency
to transmit the record on or before a certain date.

(f) The court, sitting without a jury, shall hear the appeal on the
record transmitted by the Commission and such additional evidence as may
be necessary to resolve any controversy as to the correctness of the re-
cord. And the court, in its discretion, may receive such other evidence as
the ends of justice require. —

(g) The court may affirm the decision of the Commission or remand
the case for further proceedings; or it may reverse or modify the decision
if the substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the
findings, conclusions or decisions are (1) in violation of constitutional
provisions; or (2) in excess of statutory authority or jurisdiction of the
agency; or (3) made upon unlawful procedure; or (4) unsupported by the
evidence on the record considered as a whole; or (5) arbitrary, capricious,
or an abuse of discretion.

(h) The filing of a notice of appeal shall not operate to stay the
enforcement of the order. The appellant, at any time after the filing of
his notice of appeal, may apply to the court to which he has appealed for
a stay. The application shall be on motion after notice to the Commission,
and a stay pending the appeal shall be granted unless it appears to the
court that immediate enforcement of the order is essential to the public
health or safety. In the order granting a stay the court may make any pro-
vision required to serve the ends of justice, including the granting or con-
tinuing in effect of a license.

(i) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent resort to other means of
review, redress, or trial de novo, provided by law.

§ 28.1-34. Appeals to Supreme Court of Appeals——From the final
decision of the court of record an appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court of
Appeals in the manner provided by law for appeals in civil cases.

§ 28.1-35. Posting of notices.—The return of any employee of the
Commission as to the posting of any notices required under this title or
affecting any regulation of the Commission shall be conclusive evidence
of the same.

§ 28.1-36. Revocation of licenses.—The Commission, after ten days’
notice to any person having a license issued by it may revoke such license
for violation of any of the provisions of this title. A hearing shall be heard
by the Commission and an appeal may be taken to the Courts as provided
in this chapter.

INSPECTION DISTRICTS, INSPECTORS, POLICE
FLEET

§ 28.1-37. Inspection districts—The Commission of Fisheries shall
divide the territory over which it has jurisdiction into districts and in do-
ing so it shall redistrict such territory with a view to reducing the number
of inspection districts to the smallest number, commensurate with the
efficient enforcement of the fish and shellfish laws of this state. This
power shall be a continuing power and may be exercised at any time.

§ 28.1-38. Appointment of chief of inspectors.—The Commission
shall appoint a chief of inspectors to be charged with directing enforce-
ment.

§ 28.1-39. Appointment of inspectors.—The Commissioner of Fisher-
les shall appoint for each of such districts one or more inspectors.

§ 28.1-40. Time devoted to duties; compensation.—Each inspector
shall be required to devote at least a normal work week exclusively to the
performance of his duties; and each inspector shall be paid for such serv-
Ices such compensation as may be provided in accordance with law for
the purpose.

§ 28.1-41. Training and qualification of inspectors.—The Commis-
sioner of Fisheries shall establish a training program for all inspectors.
After July 1, 1962, no new inspector may be appointed who is not a high
school graduate or equivalent, or who has not satisfactorily passed an
examination prepared by the Commissioner.

§ 28.1-42. Oath and bond.—Each inspector appointed by the Com-
missioner shall qualify before the circuit or corporation court of the county
or city in which he resides, or in which his district may be, or before the
clerk thereof in vacation, by taking the oaths prescribed by law and enter-
ing into a bond in a sum fixed by the Commissioner, with sufficient cash
or corporate surety to be approved by such court or clerk, in the penalty
not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars nor to be less than five hundred
dollars; payable and conditioned as required by law, and the clerk of such
court shall transmit a copy of the bond to the Commissioner within thirty
days from its execution. The premium on every such bond shall be paid out
of funds of the Commission. ;

§ 28.1-48. Collection of licenses, rentals, fines, etc—The Commis-
sion may designate such trustworthy persons in the several districts to
sell licenses, and collect rentals and other sums due it, as it deems circum-
stances require; all such persons shall be bonded in such sum as will pro-
tect the Commission from any loss. All provisions applicable to such sales
and collections by inspectors shall apply to such officers and agents.

§ 28.1-44. Fees.—Each inspector, agent or officer shall collect the
following fees for services herein enumerated in the issuance of licenses:
One dollar and fifty cents for assigning oyster-planting grounds including
riparian grounds; three dollars for assigning of bathing grounds; one dol-
lar for issuing permits as required by this title; and such other fees as are
specified under other sections of this title pertaining to fish, crabs, clams
and other shellfish. ;

§ 28.1-45. Reports of collections; receipts and accounts.—Each in-
spector shall at such times as may be required of him, make a complete
report to the Commissioner of collections during the preceding month from
every source under his supervision, according to the forms furnished him
by order of the Commission, accompanied by all revenues collected during
the preceding calendar month. The inspector shall give receipts for all
rents, taxes and other sums collected by him only upon such blank
forms as may be furnished him by the Commission, and shall keep accounts
of all such collections and records of all his official acts in books to be
furnished him by the Commission, which books and record shall be and
remain the property of the State, subject at all times to examination by the
Commission, or its agents or attorneys, and be delivered to such inspector’s
successor in office or to the Commission.

§ 28.1-46. Police fleet.—The police fleet shall consist of the various
boats now operated by the Commission of Fisheries, with such additions
or changes as the Commission may from time to time make, either in ac-
cordance with special enactment of the General Assembly or by reason of
the general powers conferred upon it by law.

FISH AND FISHING GENERALLY

ARTICLE 1
FOOD FISH

§ 28.1-47. License to residents to fish with certain nets.—Any resi-
dent of this State desiring to take or catch fish with any device other than
a hand line in any of the tidal waters of the Commonwealth, or tidal waters
within the jurisdiction or under the joint jurisdiction of this Common-
wealth, shall apply to the inspector of the district within which the person
so applying resides, except that the applicant for license to fish with a
fixed device shall make application in writing to the inspector of the dis-
trict in which the fixed device is proposed to be located, and state on oath
the true name or names of the person or persons applying for license,
that they are, and have been for twelve months next preceding, residents
of this State, the place at which the net, seine, fyke, weir, or other device
is to be fished; and that during the period of the license, which shall be
from the first day of January to the thirty-first day of December, inclusive,
of each year, they will not violate any of the laws of this State in relation
to the taking and catching of fish.

§ 28.1-48. License tax for fishing in tidal waters; register mark.—
(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 Commonwealth, 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 five dollars and fifty cents;

(b) On each float or stake gill net of six hundred feet in length and
under, three dollars; and for each additional thirty feet or fraction
thereof, fifteen cents;

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

(d) On each fyke net head, weir, or similarly fixed device, two dol-
lars and fifty cents;

(e) On fish or eel pots not exceeding five in number, two dollars and
fifty cents; on each additional pot on the same license, fifteen cents;

(f) On each fish trot line, two dollars and fifty cents;

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

(h) On each haul seine used for catching fish, under five hundred
yards in length, fifteen dollars;

(i) On each haul seine used for catching fish, from five hundred
yards in length to one thousand yards in length, forty-five dollars;

te On each sturgeon gill net or trammel net, seven dollars and fifty
cents;

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

(2) Licenses for other devices.—The Commission of Fisheries shall
have power to establish a license commensurate with other licenses in an
amount not less than one dollar nor more than one hundred dollars for
any device used for taking fish or shellfish in the waters of the Common-
wealth, or waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, that is not
mentioned above, and which has been put in use.

(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
any 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

evice.
take, catch or have in possession any sturgeon less than five feet in length;
or any rock fish of less than twelve inches in length or more than twenty-

§ 28.1-49. Size of fish that may be caught.—It shall be unlawful to
five pounds in weight except that rock fish more than twenty-five pounds
in weight may be lawfully taken by hook and line or lure; or any trout
less than nine inches in length; or any spot less than six inches in length;
or any bluefish less than eight inches in length; or any bonito fish less than
twenty inches in length; or any croakers (grumblers) less than seven
inches in length; or any black drum bass less than twelve inches in length;
or any red drum bass less than twelve inches in length; or any hog fish
less than six inches in length; or any mackerel less than ten inches in
length; or any mullets less than six inches in length; or any pompanos less
than seven inches in length; or any porgie or moon fish less than ten inches
in length; or any star-butter fish less than six inches in length; or any
other butter fish less than seven inches in length; or any round-head or sea
mullet less than seven inches in length; or any sea bass less than five
inches in length; or any sheepshead less than twelve inches in length; or
any black bass less than eight inches in length; or any mud shad less than
seven inches in length; or any white sand perch less than five inches in
length; or any yellow or ring perch less than seven inches in length; or
any blue nose perch less than seven inches in length; or any bream less
than eight inches in length; or any hickory shad or any other shad less
than ten inches in length; or any bullhead catfish less than nine inches in
length; or any Mississippi or blue channel catfish less than eleven inches
in length; or any white channel catfish less than ten inches in length; or
any flounder less than twelve inches in length. All such measurements are
to be from nose to tip of tail.

Any such fish caught by any person shall be at once returned to the
water, unless obviously injured or dead.

Whenever any fisherman or dealer or any other person, each of whom
is herein called owner, has in his possession a lot or quantity of fish which
weighs more than one hundred pounds in the aggregate, a one hundred
pound lot may be separated according to size, and if it is found that in
such a lot so separated the number of fish under the minimum size pre-
scribed herein equals or exceeds ten per centum of the whole number of
fish in the lot so separated, such owner shall be deemed to be guilty of
violating the provisions of this section. In the event the owner has in his
possession a lot or quantity of fish which weighs not more than one hun-
dred pounds and it is found that in such lot the number of fish under the
minimum size prescribed herein equals or exceeds ten per centum of the
whole number of fish legally retained, in such lot, such owner shall be
deemed to be guilty of violating the provisions of this section.

If any dealer offers for sale any fish under the sizes hereinbefore
stated, he shall be deemed guilty of violating the provisions of this section.

§ 28.1-50. Channel bass that may be taken in one day.—Only two
channel bass (red drum) over thirty-two inches in length may be taken
in any one day by any person.

§ 28.1-51. Size of mesh and length and depth of certain nets; pound
met, haul seine and shallow water defined.—It shall be unlawful for any
person to use a pound net, head, or picket, or mullet net (that is under
two hundred yards long) having a smaller mesh than two inches, stretched
measure, after having been tarred, for the purpose of catching food fish.
Nor shall any haul seine or mullet net be longer than one thousand yards
in length and if over two hundred yards long, shall not have mesh less than
three inches, stretched measure, and no mullet net shall be deeper than
forty meshes, provided, further, that no license shall be issued to set a
pound net or other fixed fishing device on an established and presently
used haul seine stand, except that this provision shall not affect a pound
net stand presently licensed as such.

Any net having a funnel mouth, round mouth, or square mouth, with
head exposed above water, shall be construed as a “pound net”. A “haul
seine” is any net set out from the shore or shallow water. The term “shal-
low water’ as used herein shall mean any waters not exceeding eight feet
in depth at mean low tide. Every haul seine shall have one and the same
end stationary at all times while the seine is being used, except when
closing the net the stationary end may be changed.

§ 28.1-52. Length of fishing structures.—No single fishing structure
shall have a total length greater than 1,200 feet, except in waters on the
Eastern Shore south of the entrance to Eastern Bay, where the allowable
lengths of single structures shall be not more than 1,800 feet. Between
successive fishing structures in the same row, clear and unobstructed
intervals of at least 200 feet shall be maintained, and adjoining rows of
fishing structures shall be at least 300 yards apart. In addition, a clear
passageway at least 200 feet wide shall be maintained, reaching from all
regular navigable channels to all established boat landings. All stakes shall
project not less than four feet above the surface of the water of all stages
a the tide. Any stake not complying with this condition shall be with-

rawn.

No fishing device shall be placed within three hundred (300) yards of
the side or end of any other fishing device, unless in the same row, but
this shall not apply to a licensee who desires to place his own nets closer
than 300 yards to each other, and will not apply to fishing by hook and line.

§ 28.1-53. Distance nets may extend across body of water or chan-
nel.—It shall be unlawful to set or fish any net or nets across any river,
bay, estuary, creek, or inlet which are longer than one-fourth the width
of said body of water from mean low water to mean low water at the
point where said net or nets are set or fished. Said net or nets shall not
be set or fished more than one-half the distance across the channel of said
river, bay, estuary, creek or inlet.

§ 28.1-54. Concealing name or number of vessel; carrying patent
tongs, etc., while fishing for menhaden.—If any captain, master, or owner
cover or conceal, or permit to be covered or concealed, the name or number
of any vessel for the catching, or taking, or conveying of fish, oysters,
clams, scallops, or crabs, or shall carry or permit to be carried aboard his
vessel when employed in fishing for menhaden any scrape, dredge, or
patent tongs, he shall upon conviction thereof be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-55. Killing fish by means of explosives, drugs or poisons.—It
shall be unlawful to kill any species of fish by means of explosives, drugs,
or poisons at any time in any of the waters of the Commonwealth or in
any of the waters under its jurisdiction.

§ 28.1-56. Possession or sale of fish taken by means of explosives,
drugs or poisons.—lIt shall be unlawful to have in possession, or to sell or
offer to sell, within the Commonwealth, any fish killed or captured by
means of explosives, drugs or poisons, whether the same were so killed
or captured within or without the jurisdiction of Virginia.

§ 28.1-57. What fishing by nonresidents 1s unlawful.—If any person,
not a resident of this State, take or catch fish in any of the tidal waters
thereof, in any other way than by line, rod, or pole held in hand, he shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any resident of this State who enters
into a partnership or other agreement with intent to defeat the object of
this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

ARTICLE 2

FISH FOR MANUFACTURE INTO FISH MEAL, OIL, ETC.

§ 28.1-58. Food fish not to be taken, bought, or sold for manufacture
into fish meal, oil, etc.; percentage allowable.—It shall be unlawful to take,
catch or round up with purse net for the purpose of manufacture into
guano, fish meal, or oil, or buying or selling for such purpose, food fish, to
an amount greater than one per cent of the whole catch without imme-
diately opening the net and turning loose any such food fish while yet
alive; or for any steamer or other vessel licensed for the purpose of men-
haden fishing to catch any food fish for the purpose of marketing the
same; or for any person, firm or corporation to have in its possession food
fish, to a greater amount than one per cent of the bulk for the purpose of
manufacturing them into guano, fish meal, or oil, or for any person to use
in any manner any food fish, to a greater amount than one per cent of the
bulk for the purpose of fertilizing or improving the soil.

Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this sec-
tion, or having in their possession more than one per cent of food fish,
among menhaden caught for the purpose of manufacturing into guano, fish
meal, or oil, or buying or selling the same for such purpose, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor, and the license on such person’s boat or net shall be
revoked for the remainder of the season.

§ 28.1-59. License to take fish with purse nets for such manufac-
ture.—(1) Residents.—Any resident person, firm or corporation entitled
by law to fish in any of the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters
within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, desiring to take or catch
fish therein with purse nets for the purpose of manufacturing them into
oil, fish scrap, fish meal or guano, or for any other purpose, shall first
obtain a license therefor, and shall pay to the inspector a specific license
tax, which shall be in lieu of all taxes levied upon such person, firm or
corporation for taking and catching fish with purse nets, or for selling the
products thereof, as follows:

(a) On each sail vessel fishing with purse nets of not more than four
hundred meshes deep, twenty-one dollars and fifty cents;

(b) On each sail vessel fishing with purse net of more than four hun-
dred meshes deep, seventy-five dollars;

(c) On each power boat or steam vessel of over twenty horsepower
fishing with purse net, one dollar and fifty cents per gross ton, provided
the minimum license shall not be less than one hundred fifty dollars and
the maximum not more than three hundred dollars;

(d) On each power boat or steam vessel of not over twenty horse-
power, fishing with purse net, thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents.

Such inspector shall thereupon grant a license to use such net or other
device, and state in such license the name or names of the person or per-
sons who shall use the same, and the amount of tax as prescribed by law;
and the term for which such license is granted shall begin on the first day
of January in any year and end on the thirty-first day of December of the
Same year.

It shall be lawful for a resident of this State, except such persons,
firms or corporations as may be engaged in the taking or catching of fish
for the purpose of manufacturing the same into oil, fish scrap, fish meal
or guano, to employ any vessel or net owned within or without this State
for the purpose of taking and catching fish.

(2) Nonresidents.—Any nonresident person, firm or corporation may
be licensed to take and catch fish known as “‘menhaden” with purse nets
within the season permitted by law, under the provisions of § 28.1-60,
within the three mile limit on the seacoast of Virginia and east of a
straight line drawn from Cape Charles Light House to Cape Henry Light
House upon compliance with the provisions of such section.

§ 28.1-60. Nonresidents generally.—(1) Catching fish for oil or
ruano prohibited. No nonresident of this State shall take or catch any
fish, in the waters of the Commonwealth, or in the waters under its joint
jurisdiction, for the purpose of converting the same into oil, fish scrap,
fish meal or guano, except as hereinafter provided; nor shall any non-
resident be concerned or interested with any resident as partner or other-
wise, except as a stockholder in a domestic corporation, in taking or catch-
ing fish in any of the waters of this State to be manufactured into oil,
fish scrap, fish meal or guano, or in such manufacture, except as herein-
after provided. .

(2) Resident not to be interested.—Nor shall any resident of this
State be concerned or interested with any nonresident as partner or other-
wise, except as stockholder in a domestic corporation, in taking or catch-
ing fish in any of the waters of this State to be manufactured into oil,
fish scrap, fish meal or guano, or in such manufacture, except as here-
inafter provided, or knowingly permit any nonresident to use his name
for either purpose.

(3) License for taking menhaden fish. A nonresident person, firm
or corporation may take or catch the fish known as “menhaden”, within
the three-mile limit on the seacoast of Virginia and east of a straight line
drawn from Cape Charles Light House to Cape Henry Light House for the
purpose of converting the same into oil, fish scrap, fish meal or guano be-
tween the last Monday of May and the first day of December of each
year; provided such person, firm or corporation has applied for and ob-
tained license to take and catch such fish within the above defined area
and in accordance with the following requirements.

(4) Application for license; affidavit required.—Such nonresident
person, firm or corporation shall apply to the Commissioner of Fisheries
for such license, at the office of the Commissioner. Before granting such
license the Commissioner shall require the applicant applying for the same
to disclose by written affidavit;

_ (a) The true name or names of the person, persons, firm or corpora-
tion owning the purse net, seine, vessel or water craft, and all the appara-
tus thereunto belonging, for which the license is desired; and if it be a
firm, the true names and addresses of all the members of such firm; and,
if a corporation, the location of the principal office and the names and
addresses of the officers thereof.

(b) The name of each and every vessel, steamer or other waten
craft, and the port in which the same is registered, for which such license
is desired.

(c) That during the period of the license the owners and all persons
employed by them will not violate any of the laws of this State in regard
to the taking and catching of fish in the waters thereof.

Should the Commissioner of Fisheries be fully satisfied that the state-
ments set forth in the affidavit are true and bona fide he shall then grant
a license to such applicant, upon the applicant’s payment of the same
license fee as set forth for residents in Section 28.1-59; provided, that in
the event a resident of Virginia would be required to pay higher license
fees in the applicant’s state, then such applicant shall be required to pay
the same license fee in this State which a resident of Virginia would be
required to pay in the applicant’s state. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to permit fishing west of the aforementioned straight line from
Cape Charles Light House to Cape Henry Light House.

(5) Service of process. Every such licensee shall by written power of
attorney appoint the Secretary of the Commonwealth and his successors in
office, its agent, upon whom shall be served all lawful process against or
notice to, such licensee, and who shall be authorized to enter an appearance
in his behalf. The service shall only be made upon the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, or, in his absence, upon the person in charge of his office,
and shall be made in duplicate. The provisions of § 8-47 shall not apply to
process in any action, suit, or motion against such licensee to be served
upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth. A copy of such power of at-
torney, duly certified and authenticated shall be filed with the Secretary of
the Commonwealth, and copies thereof duly certified by him shall be re-
ceived as evidence in all the courts of this State. No judgment shall be
entered against the licensee until after the process has been served as set
forth for at least ten days.

Whenever lawful process against, or notice to, any such nonresident
person, firm or corporation shall be served as hereinabove provided for,
the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall forthwith mail a copy of such
process or notice to such nonresident person, firm or corporation. For
the first process or notice to be so mailed, the Secretary of the Common-
wealth shall collect two dollars and fifty cents, and for each additional
process or notice to be so mailed the sum of fifty cents, which shall be
paid by the plaintiff at the time of such service, and the same shall be
recovered by him as a part of the taxable costs, if he prevails in the suit
or action.

A judgment, decree or order of the court entered or made agair.st any
such nonresident person, firm or corporation shall be as valid and binding
on such nonresident person, firm or corporation as if such nonresident per-
son, firm or corporation had been a resident and served with process or
notice therein.

(6) Penalty for violation—Any person, firm or corporation violat-
ing any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-61. Application for license for resident to catch fish for
manufacture into fish meal, oil, etc.—(1) General provisions.—Every per-
son, firm, or corporation 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, shall
make application to the Commissioner of Fisheries through the inspector
for the district in which is located the factory where such are to be manu-
factured, or in which the applicant resides or has its principal office, for
a license to take and catch fish within the waters of this Commonwealth,
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 direc-
tors of such corporation; if the applicant be a partnership, the application
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 indi-
vidual, 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
owning the purse net, seine, or vessel, and all the apparatus thereunto be-
longing, together with the true name or names of any persons, firms,
or corporations holding the same by lease or charter, for which such li-
cense 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 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 is located.

__ (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 li-
censed, shall have the right to take and catch fish for the purpose afore-
sald in all the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters within its juris-

iction.

_ § 28.1-62. Action of the Commissioner of Fisheries on such applica-
tion.—Should the Commissioner of Fisheries be satisfied that the dis-
closures required by § 28.1-61 have been duly made, and that the applica-
tion conforms in other respects to the provisions of said section, and upon
payment of the license tax specified in § 28.1-59 the inspector through
whom, or in whose district the application was made shall issue to the
applicant a license for each of the purse nets, seines, vessels, steamers,
or other water craft specified in the application, which license shall state
the name of the licensee and the name of the vessel, steamer, or other
water craft licensed.

If any vessel, steamer, or other water craft so licensed becomes dis-
abled for use during the period of such license, the licensee may, with the
consent of the Commissioner of Fisheries, hire or charter a vessel, steamer,
or other craft belonging to a nonresident to take the place of the one so
disabled for the unexpired period of such license; in which case the inspec-
tor shall transfer the license issued for the disabled vessel, steamer, or
other craft to the one so hired or chartered without requiring any addi-
tional license therefor, for which transfer the fee shall be one dollar.

The Commissioner of Fisheries may delegate to the various inspectors
so much or all of his authority under this section as he may deem expedi-
ent; provided, however, that any person, firm, or corporation aggrieved
by any action of any inspector exercising such delegated authority shall
have the right to appeal to the Commissioner of Fisheries for a review and
correction of the actions of such inspector. Such appeal may be made by
mailing a statement of the inspector’s action, together with the appellant’s
objections thereto and his grounds for such objections to the Commissioner
of Fisheries at the office of the Commission of Fisheries. Upon receipt of
such appeal, the Commissioner of Fisheries shall forthwith notifv the
ovster inspector involved, who shall, within three days, deliver to the
Commissioner of Fisheries all papers in his possession concerning the
subject matter of the appeal, together with a written statement of his
actions in the premises and the grounds therefor. The Commissioner of
Fisheries shall issue his ruling granting, transferring, refusing, or refus-
ing to transfer the license or licenses involved within ten days after the
receipt by him of such appeal.

§ 28.1-63. Appeals from actions of the Commissioner of Fisheries.
—Any person. firm, or corporation aggrieved by anv action of the Com-
missioner of Fisheries taken under the provisions of § 28.1-62 shall have
the right to petition the circuit court of the county, or the corporation
court of the city, in which is located the factory where the fish were to be
manufactured, or in which the applicant resides or has its principal office
for a review and correction of the ruling of the Commissioner of Fisheries
as provided in Chapter Two of this title.

§ 28.1-64. Penalty for violation of three preceding sections.—If any
person, firm or corporation use or employ any pursc net, seine. vessel,
steamer or other craft for the purpose of taking and catching fish in the
waters of this Commonwealth, or in the waters within its jurisdiction, or
in waters under its joint jurisdiction, to be manufactured into oil, fish
scrap, fish meal, or guano, or permit the same to be used or employed by
another for such purposes, without first obtaining a license therefor as
hereinabove provided; or if any person swear falsely in making applica-
tion for the certificate aforesaid, or otherwise violate any of the provisions
of the three preceding sections, such person, firm or corporation shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any vessel, boat or other craft, her tackle, apparel, anchors, cables,

sails, rigging and appurtenances and any troll net or similar device used

in the violation of any of the provisions of the three preceding sections
shall together with the cargo of such vessel, boat or craft be forfeited to
the Commonwealth, such forfeiture to be enforced under the provisions of
Chapter 8 of this title. Any property seized under authority of this article
shall be held to await the proceedings of information prescribed by such
section; and upon such seizure being made, the officer or other person
making the same shall forthwith give notice thereof to the Common-
wealth’s Attorney whose duty it is to file such information.

§ 28.1-65. Nonresident commanders and fishermen; nonresident
stockholders; closed season for menhaden fishing; forbidden nets.—Non-
residents may be stockholders in domestic corporations authorized to take
and catch fish to be manufactured into fish meal, oil, and guano, 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 be-
tween 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.

§ 28.1-66. Processing of herring which 1s unfit for human consump-
tion.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any person
catching herring in pound nets, dip nets, haul seines, and other similar
nets, excluding trawl] and purse nets, may sell such herring to be manu-
factured into fish meal, fish oil, or guano, provided that said herring is or
has become unfit for human consumption or for processing into food for
human consumption. Any manufacturer purchasing said herring which is
or has become unfit for human consumption or for processing into food
for human consumption, may manufacture said herring into fish meal, fish
oil, or guano.

ARTICLE 3
TROLLS, TRAWL NETS AND DRAG NETS

§ 28.1-67. Trolls, trawl nets and drag nets prohibited.—It shall be
unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to operate, for the purpose
of taking or catching fish, a troll or trawl] net, drag net, or similar device
drawn through the waters by a vessel, boat, or other craft in any waters
of the Commonwealth, or waters under the jurisdiction of the Common-
wealth, except a regular licensed haul seine, authorized by law; or to buy,
sell, or offer for sale any fish taken or caught in the waters of the Com-
monwealth, or under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, with a troll
or traw! net, drag net, or similar device.
§ 28.1-68. Trawling boat not granted license for other fishing device.
—No vessel, boat or other craft shall have a license for any other net or
fishing device granted to be used or employed on a boat equipped for
trawling, and having thereon a trawl net, except as hereinafter provided.

§ 28.1-69. Fishing with trawl net within three-mile limit.—It shall
not be lawful to catch fish within the three-mile limit of the Virginia
Atlantic shoreline with a trawl net or similar device. Provided, however,
the Commission of Fisheries may issue permits to trawl within said three-
mile limit, in the waters north of Cape Charles to the Maryland line,
during the months of June, July and August of each year.

§ 28.1-70. License fee.—A license to fish in the above area with a
trawl net or similar device will be granted upon payment of a fee of
thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents per annum for each boat so employed,
and no part of this fee will be refunded should the area be closed at the
order of the Commissioner of Fisheries.

§ 28.1-71. Prima facie evidence of violation.—The finding of any
vessel, boat, or other craft in the waters of the Commonwealth, or in the
waters under the joint jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, equipped for
trolling, or trawling, having a trawl net, drag net, or a similar device
aboard with fresh or live fish on deck or in the hold thereof, or in any
portion of such vessel, boat or craft, shall be prima facie evidence that the
operator or operators and master and members of the crew of the vessel,
boat or other craft are guilty of trolling or trawling.

§ 28.1-72. Exemption from article-——Nothing in this article shall be
construed as prohibiting the transportation of fish caught by means of
troll or trawl net outside of the territorial limits of Virginia and troll or
trawl nets used incident thereto, into Virginia ports to be placed upon the
market.

§ 28.1-72.1. Forfeiture of boats, nets, etc.—Any vessel, boat or other
craft, her tackle, apparel, anchors, cables, sails, rigging and appurtenances
and any troll net or similar device used in the violation of any of the
provisions of this article shall together with the cargo of such vessel, boat
or craft be forfeited to the Commonwealth, such forfeiture to be enforced
under the provisions of Chapter 8 of this title. Any property seized under
authority of this article shall be held to await the proceedings by informa-
tion prescribed by such section; and upon such seizure being made, the
officer or other person making the same shall forthwith give notice thereof
to the Commonwealth’s Attorney whose duty it is to file such information.

ARTICLE 4

MARKING OF BOATS, NETS AND OTHER DEVICES,
AND RESTRICTIONS

§ 28.1-73—Commission to provide plates or tags.—It shall be the
duty of the Commission of Fisheries to provide metal plates or tags, of
such design or designs, with such letters and figures stamped or painted
thereon, as may be deemed proper by the Commission, for the marking or
designation of all boats used in taking and catching fish, or shellfish in the
tidal waters of the State, and for the marking of haul seines, pound nets,
fyke nets, purse nets, drag nets, and other devices for the taking of fish
in the tidal waters of this State.

§ 28.1-74. Inspectors to distribute plates or tags; duty to attach to
boats, nets or other devices.—Such metal plates or tags shall be furnished
by the Commission of Fisheries to the various inspectors of this State, who
shall furnish the same to the owners and operators of every boat used and
employed in the taking of fish or shellfish in the tidal waters of this State,
and the same shall thereupon be attached by the owner or operator of such
boat to such boat, in such a position thereon as may be designated by the
Commission of Fisheries as the proper place to display such metal plate
or tag, when the same cannot be attached to the device. It shall also be the
duty of each inspector, when issuing a license to any person to operate or
set a pound net, fyke net, gill net or other device for the taking of fish, to
furnish such licensee with a metal disc or tag, which such licensee shall
display upon such part of such pound net, fyke net, gill net or other
device as may be prescribed by the Commission of Fisheries.

§ 28.1-75. License tags for takers of clams or oysters.—The license
to take clams or oysters by hand or tongs or by any dredging device shall
be of some durable material. All such licenses shall be displayed on the
starboard side of the boat in a plainly visible location.

§ 28.1-76. Penalty for failure to attach plate or tag or for permit-
ting its removal.—Any person, licensed to engage in the fish or shellfish
business in this State, who shall fail or refuse to properly attach such
metal plate or tag to the boat, pound net, fyke net or gill net for which he
has procured a license, or who shall remove or suffer the same to be
removed from such boat, pound net, fyke net, gill net or other device, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-77. Duty to apply for new plate or tag in case of loss.—Should
such metal plate or tag be removed or destroyed by accident or by the
force of the sea, or in any other casual manner, it shall be the duty of the
person holding the license to operate, conduct and maintain such boat, haul
seine, pound net, fyke net, purse net and other device to at once apply to
the inspector of the district in which such boat, haul seine, pound net, fyke
net, or other device is located to issue to him a new plate or tag, which
application must be made within twenty-four hours after the discovery of
the destruction or loss of the original plate or tag; and any person failing
so to do for twenty-four hours after the discovery of the loss of any such
plate or tag shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-78. Exemptions from article—Nothing contained in this
article shall be construed to apply to boats used purely for pleasure pur-
poses, or for the taking of fish or shellfish for family use only by rod and
line or with hand lines.

§ 28.1-79. Old poles and stands to be removed.—No person shall be
issued a license for a pound net or any other type fishing stand requiring
the use of fixed poles or devices until and unless all poles and devices
placed by said person for previous pound nets or fishing stands have been
removed; provided that one pole may be left standing at old stands as
a marker or buoy.

§ 28.1-80. Chickahominy river in Charles City county.—It shall be
unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to take or catch
fish or shellfish, on or within five hundred yards below the Chickahominy
Dam at Walker’s, on the Chickahominy river, in Charles City County,
Virginia, other than with rod and reel and hand line.

§ 28.1-81. Rappahannock river and certain of its tributaries.—It
shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to use any haul seine
within one hundred yards of mean low water mark, or three feet of water
in depth at mean low water, whichever shall be closer to the shore, or over
any oyster ground held under lease from the Commonwealth and marked
as required by law in the waters of the Rappahannock river east of
Downing Bridge at Tappahannock, and im its tributaries east of Downing
Bridge. The restriction hereinabove set forth as to hauling seine within
a certain number of feet of shore or in water of a certain depth shall be
inapplicable where the unrevoked written consent of the adjacent land-
owner has been obtained.
§ 28.1-82. Season, public rocks.—The season for taking oysters from
the natural, or public oyster beds, rocks, or shoals in any of the waters of
this Commonwealth shall be as follows:

By shaft tongs or by hand:

(1) James River seed area, from October first until June first.
erat (2) Seaside of the Eastern Shore, from November first until April

(3) All other areas of the waters of the Commonwealth, from October
first until April first.

By patent tongs:

(1) Chesapeake Bay, between Smith’s Point and Wolf Trap Light-
house, from October first to March first.

(2) Anywhere else in the Commonwealth where patent tongs are not
prohibited from October first to January first.

It shall be unlawful for any person to take or catch oysters from any
of the natural, or public rocks, or shoals of this Commonwealth at any
time other than that provided above. The having of patent tongs and
oysters in a boat at any time other than the season for patent tongs as
Specified above, shall constitute prima facie evidence of violating this
section.

If any person be found upon the natural, or public rocks, beds or
shoals of this Commonwealth taking oysters or with tongs or other device
for taking or catching of oysters other than during the season listed above,
it shall constitute prima facie evidence of violation of this section.

§ 28.1-88. Prohibited area for patent tongs.—It shall be unlawful
for anyone to use or employ patent tongs for the purpose of taking or
catching oysters from the natural or public rocks, beds or shoals of the
Commonwealth in the following areas:

(1) In the Piankatank River and its tributaries above a line begin-
ing at the extreme West most point on a wooden jetty (point ‘“A’’) on
the South property line of lot 9-A owned by E. B. Bottom and lot 8-A of
Gwynn’s Island Estate sub-division, Mathews County (Deed Book 55;
Page No. 279), said point located North 57° 07’, West 176.00 feet from the
East side of said lots 8-A and 9-A. Said point is located on the extreme
Northwest section of Gwynn’s Island known as Cherry Point, Mathews
County; thence 71° 00’ West approximately 10,140 feet, to a survey point
known as the Stove R, located on the extreme South end of Stove Point,
Middlesex County; thence North 38° 00’ East approximately 14,960 feet
to point “X”, or the East gable of hotel, located on the extreme East most
point of Stingray Point, Middlesex County. This area is to include all of
Piankatank River and its tributaries from Cherry Point of Gwynn’s Island
to Stove Point in Middlesex County, and all of the area of Jackson Creek
and its tributaries from Stove Point to Stingray Point;

(2) In the Rappahannock River and its tributaries, above a line
drawn from Towles Point on the North side of the Rappahannock to
Burhan’s Wharf on the South side of said river, which line begins at a
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Triangulation Point, Towles
Number 2, thence south 14° 25’ West (true) approximately eleven thou-
sand, four hundred feet to Station “Burn” located inshore and in line
with the ruins of Burhan’s Wharf on the South side provided that patent
tongs shall not be used in water less than 21 feet in depth at the time they
are used in the area in the Rappahannock River where the use of patent
tongs is permitted;
(3) In the Nansemond River above a line drawn across its mouth ;

(4) In the Mobjack Bay and its tributaries above a line beginning
at a point of land on the South side of the mouth of Brown’s Bay, Glou-
cester County; thence in a northeasterly direction across Mobjack Bay to
a point of land on the northwest side of the mouth of Pepper Creek in
Mathews County. This area, as described, is to include all of Mobjack Bay
and its tributaries from Brown’s Bay to Pepper Creek;

(5) In the James River and its tributaries above a line drawn from
Cooper’s Creek in Isle of Wight County on the south side of James River
to a line in a northeasterly direction across James River to the Newport
News Municipal Water Tank located on Warwick Boulevard between 59th
Street and 60th Street in the City of Newport News;

(6) In the Corrotoman River above a line beginning at U. S. Coast
and Geodetic Triangulation Station Towles No. 2, located on Towles Point,
Lancaster County, thence North 81° 30’ east approximately 16,800 feet
to survey point “Orchard” located on Orchard Point in Lancaster County.
This line, as described, is to include all of Corrotoman River and its tribu-
taries from Towles Point to Orchard Point.

§ 28.1-84. Maximum weight for patent tongs. It shall be unlawful
for any person to use patent tongs exceeding one hundred pounds in gross
weight including any attachments thereto or thereon, excluding rope for
the taking or catching of oysters. The teeth of said patent tongs shall not
exceed four inches in length. The having of a pair of patent tongs exceed-
ing this weight and oysters in a boat at the same time, shall constitute
prima facie evidence of a violation of this Section.

§ 28.1-85. Opening and closing public rocks. The commission or
commissioner with the approval of the commission may, whenever it or
he deems it advisable so to do to protect or promote the growth of oysters,
close and open any area or restrict the manner or method of taking oysters
in any area of the natural, or public, rocks, grounds, or shoals for pur-
poses of repletion and rehabilitation, and may establish seed beds and
plant shells and other culch thereon, or take any other restorative measures
which it or he may deem best. Said area may be closed for an entire sea-
son, or part of season, or may be closed for so many days per week. Before
closing any such area, notice of such closing shall be posted by the inspec-
tor or other officer in two or more public places in the district in which
the area is located for at least five days, and in such event the area shall
be buoyed or marked by signs by a uniform system of buoys or signs in-
dicating that such area is closed and that oystering by any means is pro-
hibited therein. Any area closed under the provisions of this Section may
be re-opened at any time by the commission or commissioner with the ap-
proval of the commission, but any area which has been closed and re-
opened at a later time may be closed by the commission or commissioner
at any time without notice.

§ 28.1-86. Registration of boat taking oysters with tongs; number.—
Any resident of this State having a boat to be used in taking or catching
oysters with tongs from the natural rocks, beds or shoals shall apply to
the inspector of the district where he resides to have the boat registered.

The inspector shall register such boat and prescribe for it a number.
For such registration annually the owner shall pay to the inspector, for
all kinds of boats, a registration fee of one dollar.

Where patent tongs are to be used on any such boat, the inspector
shall register, and number the boat as follows: The stamp or mark shall
be “P. T.’’, and the number shall be the registered number as assigned by
the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries or its name if documented.

Where ordinary tongs are to be used, the inspector shall register and
number such boats as follows: The stamp or mark shall be “O. T.” and
the number shall be the registered number as assigned by the Commission
of Game and Inland Fisheries or its name if documented.

ARTICLE 2
OYSTER RECORDS AND TAXES

§ 28.1-87. Record of oysters handled and tax.—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 punishable 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 all
oysters taken, caught, imported or purchased, except those which are to
be replanted in the waters of the Commonwealth.

The tax shall be collected by the District Inspector or police boat
captain from the owner, master or operator of any boat or vessel, motor
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
of Virginia for their use, then the tax shall be collected from the shucking
house or packer. The tax shall be paid by such shucking house or packer
between the first and tenth day of each month immediately following that
in which such oysters are shucked, barrelled, packed or marketed.

§ 28.1-88. Right to inspection of oysters when loaded on conveyance.
—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.

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

§ 28.1-90. Duty to inspect; collection of tax and receipt for same.—
It shall be the duty of the inspector in whose district a cargo of oysters is to
be loaded, or a police boat captain in the area, to inspect such oysters as
they are loaded and to see that all measurements are a full measure of
oysters as defined in § 28.1-136; and that they are properly culled; and
when such oysters are loaded to collect the inspection tax, and/or the
out-of-state tax, whichever one or more of these taxes will be due and
payable to the Commonwealth. The inspector or police boat captain shall
furnish the owner, master or operator of such boat, vessel or motor vehicle
& receipt showing the date, the destination, the number of bushels and the
amount of each tax paid. This receipt is to be carried in the possession of
the master or operator of the boat, vessel or motor vehicle and must be
exhibited when requested by any inspector or police boat captain, a copy
of which receipt shall be sent to the office of the Commissioner of Fisheries.

On or before the fifth day of each month the inspector or police boat
captain shall render a statement to the Commissioner, on blanks furnished
by the Commissioner, showing the amounts collected, and from whom
collected.

§ 28.1-91. Oyster buyer’s license-—Any person purchasing or buying
oysters from any person 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 $5.00 per year, and
is transferable within the season by application to the Commission for a
transfer. This section shall not apply to any person buying less than 25
bushels of oysters during any calendar year.

§ 28.1-92. Records of oysters taken from public rocks and reports
to be made.—The Commission shall issue to licensed oyster buyers in this
State forms for use in reporting to the Commission. On or before the
fifteenth day of each month the oyster buyer shall send to the Commission
a complete report of all oysters purchased the preceding month on the
form above described setting forth the total number of bushels of oysters
taken from the public grounds, the general area from which taken, the
names of the sellers and the price paid together with all taxes collected
by them as required by § 28.1-98; provided, however, the information
provided herein shall be used only for the collection of taxes mentioned
in this section and for information to the Virginia Institute of Marine

cience.

§ 28.1-938. Tax on oysters taken from public rocks.—There is im-
posed upon all oysters taken from the public rocks, beds, or shoals the
following replenishment tax: Oysters selling for $1.50 per bushel or less,
3 cents per bushel; oysters selling for $1.51 through $2.50 per bushel, 10
cents per bushel; oysters selling for $2.51 through $3.50 per bushel, 15
cents per bushel; oysters selling for $3.51 through $4.50 per bushel, 20
cents per bushel; oysters selling for $4.51 through $5.50 per bushel, 25
cents per bushel; oysters selling for $5.51, or more per bushel, 30 cents
per bushel.

The tax shall be collected by the oyster buyer from the person taking
or catching said oysters from the public rocks, beds, or shoals at the time
sald oysters are purchased. All buyers of oysters from the seed area of the
James River shall pay to the Commission the taxes collected at the time
they pass the inspection point, located on said river, all buyers of oysters
purchasing or buying oysters elsewhere in this State shall pay the taxes
collected to the Commission monthly.

The permit or license of any person purchasing, buying or selling
oysters taken or caught from public rocks, beds or grounds who fails to
comply with the requirements of this section shall be subject to revocation
by the Commission.

§ 28.1-94. Public oyster rocks replenishment fund.—All oyster re-
plenishment taxes collected by the Commission of Fisheries shall be cred-
ited and deposited to a special Public Oyster Rocks Replenishment Fund,
to be used only for administration of the program, and for replenishment,
planting, and re-planting the public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals of this
State with seed oysters, oyster shells, or other material which will catch,
support and grow oysters. These funds shall be withdrawn and expended
for such purpose on the order of the Commission of Fisheries.

§ 28.1-95. Violations, recovery of taxes.—Any person who violates
any provision of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person
collecting taxes under this article and wilfully failing to pay such taxes
collected to the Commission when and as required by law shall be guilty
of larceny of said tax money collected and punished as provided by law
for the crime of larceny. The Commission may maintain an action at law
against any person required to collect or collecting taxes and failing tc
pay them to the Commission for the sum so collected, or which should have
been collected, plus interest, and a penalty of fifteen per cent.

ARTICLE 3

CARRYING OYSTERS FROM STATE OR
CERTAIN GROUNDS

§ 28.1-96. Carrying oysters out of State, or buying for that pur-
pose.—Permit required. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation 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 until he has first obtained
for each cargo a permit to do so from the inspector from whose district
the cargo is to be taken, or from the captain of one of the police boats, and
has paid to the inspector or police boat captain the required tax per bushel
on the number of bushels in the cargo. Such permit shall be signed by the
Commissioner of Fisheries and countersigned by the inspector or police
boat captain; and it shall be the duty of the Commission to grant such
permit whenever, after examination of the seed areas, it shall ascertain
that it will not injure or deplete the seed areas to grant such permits, and
that the supply of seed oysters is in excess of demand for seed oysters by
planters in the State of Virginia; and provided that the Commission shall
have power to cease granting of such permits whenever it shall ascertain
that the seed areas are becoming depleted, and that to continue to grant
such permits would seriously injure the same.

§ 28.1-97. Permit to buy or carry seed oysters from certain grounds.
—(1) Permit required. It shall be unlawful for any person, without first
having obtained a permit therefor, as hereinafter provided, to buy or
carry oysters to be planted in this State, whose shells measure less than
three inches in length from the eastern side of Accomack and Northampton
counties, or from James River above the seed line, as heretofore estab-
lished. Any person desiring to buy or carry such oysters from such locali-
ties to be planted in this State, shall first obtain for each cargo a permit
therefor from the inspector for the district wherein such cargo is loaded,
or from an officer of a police boat, for each boat, vessel, or motor vehicle
to be used, which permit shall state the name and tonnage (if registered
in the customhouse), of the boat, vessel, or motor vehicle, or other con-
veyance, the name of the owner and master thereof, and to what place in
this State it is intended to carry such oysters in such boat, vessel, or
motor vehicle, and shall be loaded, under the supervision of the inspector,
and in the order of the presentation of the permit to the inspector in the
seed oyster district in which such boat, vessel, or motor vehicle or other
conveyance is, to obtain its cargo. Such permit shall further certify to the
identity and residence of the person making application to buy or carry
such oysters.

(2) Oath required. Before such permit shall be granted, the owner,
operator, or mate of such boat, vessel, or motor vehicle shall make oath
before the inspector or officer of a police boat that the boat, vessel, or
motor vehicle or other conveyance 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 oath so taken and sub-
scribed, together with a memorandum of the permit issued, shall be
returned by the inspector or officer of a police boat to the Commissioner,
to be filed in this office.
(3) Penalties for violations. If any person in charge of a boat,
vessel, motor vehicle or other conveyance, obtain a permit to take seed
oysters to some place in this State, thereafter take said seed oysters to
another place in this State, unless within twenty-four hours after taking
said seed oysters he shall notify the Commission of the place in this State
to which said seed oysters are to be taken or were taken, or if he take
said seed oysters out of this State, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The
owner or master of any boat, vessel, or motor vehicle or other conveyance
found buying or carrying seed oysters from the place aforesaid to any point
in this State without a permit therefor shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-98. Permit to carry oysters from certain grounds.—It shall
be unlawful for any person who does not have a written permit from an
inspector or from the Commissioner of Fisheries, at any time during the
closed season to carry oysters from the James River seed area, i.e., that
area in the James River and its tributaries above a line drawn from
Cooper’s Creek in Isle of Wight County on the South side of James River
to a line in a Northeasterly direction across James River to the Newport
News Municipal Water Tank located on Warwick Boulevard between 59th
Street and 60th Street in the City of Newport News.

§ 28.1-99. Taking seed oysters from the State-—Seed oysters, taken
from the public oyster rocks, beds and shoals of the Commonwealth, and
planted in the waters of this Commonwealth, shall not be carried outside
the State of Virginia for a period of twelve months from the time they
were so taken and planted, without first having obtained written permis-
sion from the Commission. Any person violating the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided by law.

ARTICLE 4
SURVEYS AND RESURVEYS

§ 28.1-100. Baylor survey; surveying and resurveying planting
grounds and marking lines.—(1) Surveys and reports as conclusive evi-
dence. The survey or surveys of the natural oyster beds, rocks and shoals
of the Commonwealth, made in pursuance of an act of the General Assem-
bly of Virginia, entitled an act to protect the oyster industry of the Com-
monwealth, approved on the twenty-ninth day of February, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-two, and acts amendatory thereof, or supplemental thereto,
shall until otherwise provided by law continue to be held in all respects
to be the survey or surveys defining and determining the natural oyster
beds, rocks and shoals of the Commonwealth; the surveys and reports
filed in accordance with the acts aforesaid shall be construed in all the
courts of the Commonwealth to be conclusive evidence of the boundaries
and limits of all the natural oyster beds, rocks and shoals lying within
the waters of the counties wherein such reports and surveys are filed
other than those embraced in the surveys authorized by the acts aforesaid.
The surveys of the natural oyster beds, rocks or shoals of the Common-
wealth referred to in this section shall not extend inshore of the mean low
water mark of said body of water, any surveys, plats, markers, or lines
to the contrary notwithstanding. |

(2) Resurvey on motion of Commission or on application of citizens.
The Commission of Fisheries may select and appoint, on such terms as may
be agreed upon, any surveyor to survey or resurvey any oyster-planting
grounds either in his own or any other county, and to re-establish and
permanently mark any line or lines of the Baylor survey of natural oyster
rocks, which, in the judgment of the Commission, it may be necessary to

efine.

§ 28.1-101. Re-establishment, etc., of lines of Baylor survey; proce-
dure.—The Commission of Fisheries may re-establish, relocate and remark
all lines of the Baylor survey which cannot be otherwise relocated because
of the loss or destruction of marks which formerly existed. In re-establish-
ing any such lines of the Baylor survey the line surveyed by Fred E.
Ruediger shall be followed wherever such line exists or was surveyed.
Where no former line can be re-established the Commission may establish
a new line. ;

§ 28.1-102. Unlawful to threaten or hinder surveyor, rights of sur-
veyor.—It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to threaten, resist
or in any manner interfere with a surveyor in the performance of the
duties imposed upon him by the provisions of the law relating to oyster
grounds. And in the performance of any such duties the surveyor shall
have the right to enter upon the lands of any person or persons for that
purpose.

§ 28.1-108. Placing permanent markers.—Whenever any surveys or
resurveys of the public oyster rocks of the Commonwealth are made by
or under the direction of the Commission of Fisheries, prominent and
permanent concrete markers shall be placed on the shores fixing the
survey stations, and whenever possible prominent and permanent range
markers shall be placed on the shores or lands, the cost of same to be paid
by the Commission.

§ 28.1-104. Removal of oysters planted by mistake.—When, by any
resurvey of oyster-planting ground or survey made to re-establish the lines
of the State survey of natural oyster beds, rocks, or shoals, which shall
hereafter be made under the direction of the Commission of Fisheries, it
shall appear that any holder, without his own default, and by mistake of
any officer of the State has had assigned to him and included in the plat
of his assignment any portion of the natural oyster beds, rocks or shoals,
as defined by law, and such holder shall file a petition with the Commission
for leave to remove such oysters or shells from such ground, and that
without default of the holder and by mistake of an officer of the State there
has been assigned to him and included in the plat of his assignment a
portion of the natural oyster beds, rocks or shoals, as defined by law, then
the Commission may allow the holder a reasonable time, not exceeding
two years, within which to remove such oysters, their increase and the
shells therefrom.

§ 28.1-105. Larceny of oysters and shells——Any person other than
such holder, his agent, or employees going upon such ground and taking
oysters and shells therefrom before the expiration of the time allowed
such holder, shall be deemed guilty of larceny thereof.

§ 28.1-106. Removal of markers of planting grounds.—It shall be
unlawful for any person to intentionally or knowingly injure, remove or
displace any boundary oyster stakes, range monuments, signal beacon,
boundstone, post or buoy, or any part, appurtenance or enclosure thereof,
erected, constructed or set on the land or water of this State, or upon the
lawful beds of any lessee, for the purpose of designating, locating, survey-
ing or mapping any shellfish grounds.

§ 28.1-107. Maps to be filed; evidential value.—A copy of all maps of
the bays, rivers and creeks of this Commonwealth made by the engineer
of the Commission of Fisheries and showing the location of oyster-planting
grounds in these waters, shall be filed in the Clerk’s Office of the county or
city having jurisdiction over the respective underwater areas.

Any such map and the areas of the individual assignments of oyster-
planting grounds platted thereon shall be evidence in all the courts of this
Commonwealth of all the oyster-planting grounds leased by the State to
private individuals at the time the survey and map were made.

ARTICLE 5
OYSTER PLANTING GROUND
§ 28.1-108. Assignments of Planting Grounds to Riparian Owners—
Any owner of land bordering on a body of water in the oyster growing
area of this State whose shore front measures at least one hundred five
feet at the low water mark, who has not had as much as one-half acre of
ground already assigned him on such front, or whose lease has terminated
and is not to be renewed, may make application for planting grounds to
the inspector for the district in which the land lies, who shall assign to
him such ground wherever such owner may designate in front of his land
not exceeding in area one-half acre, to be not less than one hundred five
feet wide along the shore and beginning at low water mark, extending out
not more than two hundred ten feet, or to the middle of the body of water,
or to the middle of the channel, whichever is the shorter distance; the same
to be surveyed, plotted, marked, assigned and recorded in all respects as
provided for assignments to persons in Section 28.1-109 of the Code of
Virginia. There shall be no rent due or collected on ground assigned pur-
suant to this section, and such owner shall have the exclusive right to the
use thereof for the purpose of planting or gathering oysters and other
shellfish. The assignment made pursuant to this section shall pass with
the transfer of the adjacent highland to the subsequent owner of high-
land and cannot be held separated from said highland.

This section shall, on and after July 1, 1962, be applicable in all coun-
ties and cities of the State bordering such bodies of water, except it shall
not be applicable to riparian lands located above the James River Bridge
in the James River or its tributaries. In any county or city in this State
where more than one-half of ground per water front tract has heretofore
been assigned to a riparian owner, after July 1, 1962, said ground in
excess of one-half acre shall be deemed to be ground under a regular lease
and assignment, and not a riparian assignment.

This section, so far as the quantity of land to be assigned to and held
by riparian owners is concerned, shall not apply to the county of North-
ampton, but section six of chapter two hundred and fifty-four, acts
eighteen hundred and eighty-three and eighteen hundred and eighty-four,
shall continue in force as to such county, but nothing herein contained
shall be construed as authorizing a rental of a lesser amount per acre than
that provided by law for riparian owners in the above-named county of
the land assigned them as such riparian owners; provided, that nothing in
such section which restores to riparian owners in such county one-fourth
of their respective waterfronts, suitable for planting oysters, shall be
so construed as to permit the owners of waterfronts to compel occupants of
such fronts to remove their oysters from any fourth of such shores, if the
residue of the shore be already in his, the landowner’s possession, or be
unoccupied.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the erection by
riparian land owners of wharves, landings or other structures as other-
wise permitted by law.

§ 28.1-109. General oyster-planting grounds.—(1) Grounds com-
prising. The residue of such water front in excess of what is already
assigned or is reserved for the riparian owners, and the residue of the beds
of the bays, rivers, creeks and shores of the sea other than those within
the limits of navigation projects adopted and authorized by the Congress
and those required for the disposal 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 oc-
cupied 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 by any firm, or corporation chartered under
the laws of this State for the purpose of oyster culture and the oyster
business provided that at least 60% 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 plant-
ing, cultivating, 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 pro-
visions 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
ease.

(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
showing 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 appli-
cation 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 desiring 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 shall
be posted by the inspector for not less than sixty days at the courthouse
of the county or city in which the ground applied or 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 appli-
cation 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
published 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.—Sixty days after posting of the
notice of application, the inspector shall require the chief engineer of the
Commission of Fisheries to designate a surveyor to proceed to survey the
grounds, and said surveyor so designated shall survey said 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 within thirty days. 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:

1. 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.

2. 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 appli-
cant, 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 ten dollars for the first five acres or less; two dollars per acre
or fraction thereof for each acre more than five and up to and including ten
acres; one dollar per acre or fraction thereof for each acre more than ten
and up to and including thirty acres; fifty cents per acre for each acre and
fraction thereof more than thirty acres up to and including fifty and
twenty-five cents per acre for all over 50 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 assignment, the applicant shall pay
$10 for each assignment to the inspector for surveying and recording fees.
No ground shall be assigned until surveyor’s fees 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
bequeath, 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
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 thou-
sand acres, provided that such assignment shall not interfere with the
established fishing rights. Any such application, surveying, and marking
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 shall 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 assignment
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, in
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.

(13) 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
forthwith 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 entitled 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 guar-
antee the absolute right to the renter to continue to use and occupy such
ground for the term of the lease, subject to: (1) subsection (12) of this
Section; (2) riparian rights; (3) the right of fishing in waters above the

ttoms, provided that no person exercising such right of fishing shall
use any device which is fixed to the bottom, or which, in any way, inter-
fered with such renter’s rights or damages such bottoms, or the oysters
planted thereon; and (4) established fishing stands, but only if said fish-
Ing 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 delin-
quent shall be open and available to be leased, after the following condi-
tions 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.

(b) If the person holding the lease does not pay all rents and penal-
ties due on or before June 30th 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 30 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 oper-
ations or spoil disposal areas in connection with such project. If after the
completion of the survey and a submission of the District Engineers’ re-
port thereon to the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, the proposed naviga-
tion 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 information
as to the authorization of a survey, as above set out.

§ 28.1-110. Ground for clams.—aAll provisions in this title referring
or relating to oyster grounds shall include the leasing and/or use of said
grounds for planting, growjng, and/or use of said grounds for planting,
growing, and/or storing clams.

§ 28.1-111. Natural rocks, etc., not to be used or staked off. —It shall
be unlawful for any person to stake in or use or continue to use or occupy
for the purpose of propagating or planting oysters or shells any natural
oyster bed, rock, or shoal, as defined by law, or any bottom which has not
been assigned to him according to law, or any public clamming or scallop-
ing grounds which have been set aside as such. The inspector for that dis-
trict or any other officer of the Commission of Fisheries, shall require any
such person to remove all stakes, watchhouses, or other obstructions from
the natural beds, rocks, or shoals or from any bottom which has not been
assigned to him according to law; failure to remove such stakes or other
obstructions within ten days of the notice in writing is received by said
person shall constitute a separate and additional unlawful act and viola-
tion of this title of the Code of Virginia, and the stakes or other obstruc-
tions shall be removed by the inspector or other officer of the Commission
at the cost of the person unlawfully placing or having placed said stakes
or other obstructions. oo,

§ 28.1-112. Transfer or assignment.—A person holding a valid exist-
ing lease of oyster-planting ground, may transfer, or assign all or any part
of said lease to another under the following conditions and provisions:

(1) The transfer or assignment may be made only to a resident of
the State of Virginia or firm, or corporation authorized by the laws of
this State to occupy and hold oyster-planting ground.

(2) The application for transfer or assignment shall be in the form
prescribed by the Commission and shall be filed with the inspector for the
district in which said ground is located, which application shall be for-
warded to the engineering office of the Commission.

(3) The Commission or its chief engineer shall require a new survey
if there is not a survey of the exact parcel or parcels of grounds to be
transferred or assigned.

(4) The cost of any new surveys required under this Section shall be
borne by the person making the transfer, and the cost and fees for same
shall be the same as for surveys made by the Commission.

(5) The application shall be accompanied by the transfer fee of $5.00
if said parcel or parcels are ten acres or less in area and $10.00 if said
parcel or parcels are more than ten acres in area.

(6) The engineering office of the Commission shall return said appli-
cation for transfer or assignment with any correction or new plat it may
deem necessary, to the Clerk of the Court of the county or city in which
the ground lies, and shall notify the applicant by mail that said transfer
has been sent to said clerk.

(7) The transfer or assignment shall constitute a new lease of the
tract or parcel assigned and of the remainder or balance, if any, of the
ground remaining under the old lease.

(8) The Clerk of said Court shall record the transfer or assignment
together with the new plat of survey, if any in the Clerk’s Office of the
county or city wherein the ground is located after the cost of recording
said transfer and plat is paid to the Clerk by the person receiving said
transfer or assignment. A copy of said transfer or assignment and plat
shall also be recorded at the Office of the Commission.

§ 28.1-118. Refund of rent paid under mistake——Whenever it is
made to appear to the Commission of Fisheries, by satisfactory evidence,
that any person has, under mistake of law or fact, paid to the Common-
wealth any sum or sums of money, he then and there not being legally
obligated to pay the same, the Commission, if of the opinion that justice
so requires, may refund the same. All amounts refunded under this sec-
tion shall be paid out of the then current appropriations made for the use
of the Commission.

§ 28.1-114. Relief from rent.—The Commission of Fisheries may
forgive ground rent for oyster leases in any area declared a disaster area
for oyster culture. A disaster area may be declared when any natural or
man-made condition arises which precludes satisfactory culture of oysters
in that area. Such declaration for an area shall be made by the Commis-
sion of Fisheries upon the advice of the Director of the Virginia Institute
of Marine Science on or before the first day of July of each year, and
ground rent due and payable in September following such declaration may
be forgiven for the ensuing tax year and such relief may continue until
the Commission of Fisheries with the approval of the Virginia Institute
of Marine Science shall declare the area again productive.

§ 28.1-115. Condemnation of oyster bottoms and grounds.—The De-
partment of Highways, and any county, city or town shall have the right
by eminent domain, to acquire any right or interest, partial or complete,
in and to any oyster bottoms, oyster-planting grounds or interest therein
that it deems necessary for the purpose of such Department or county,
city, or town, respectively. The procedure in such cases shall conform,
mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of article 5 of chapter 1 of title 33 of
the Code of 1950 relating to the exercise of the right of eminent domain
by the State Department of Highways in acquiring lands for highway pur-
poses.

The Department of Conservation and Economie Development shall
have the same right of eminent domain against the same properties as
outlined above, where the purpose of the condemnation is to provide for
a navigational improvement benefiting an area of the State or the whole
State and not limited to purposes of any particular county, city, or town.

§ 28.1-116. Rights of owner to waters within lawful survey.—If
any creek, cove or inlet within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth
makes into or runs through the lands of any person, is less than 100 yards
in width at mean low water and is comprised within the limits of his lawful
survey, which survey has been of record in the official records of the
county or city for at least 20 years, such person or other lawful occupant
shall have the exclusive right to use such creek, cove or inlet for sowing
or planting oysters or other shellfish.

§ 28.1-117. Rights of planters to erect watchhouses.—Any person
holding planting ground rented from the State may erect thereon a watch-
house for the purpose of watching oyster beds; provided, however, that it
shall not obstruct navigation, nor otherwise injure the private rights of
any person, and shall be subject to the laws of the State governing such
structures.

§ 28.1-118. Rights of riparian owners to build bulkhead or wharf.—
All assignments or leases of oyster grounds under this chapter shall be
subject to the rights vested in riparian claimants under § 28.1-108 and
also to this proviso and condition, namely: That any landowner desiring
to erect a bulkhead or wharf in front of his property or to open a channel
to reach water of navigable depth or the channel of the stream, or for
other purposes, and is not already a lessee or riparian holder of suitable
bottoms for that purpose, shall have the right to give the lessee or other
holder of oyster grounds in front of his property twelve months’ notice
of such intention; and upon the expiration of that time, the rights of the
lessee or holder of so much of such oyster grounds as shall be reasonably
needed for the building of bulkhead or wharf or channel shall cease;
but if such bulkhead, wharf or channel be not commenced as specified in
such notice within three months after such oyster grounds shall be vacated,
then the former lessee or holder of such oyster grounds shall have the right
to resume possession of such oyster grounds as he may have vacated in
favor of such landowners, subject to the provisions of this chapter,
provided further that anyone constructing a channel under provision of
the section shall compensate the lessee of any oyster shore or oyster
grounds for all losses or damages resulting thereto including the value of
the ground taken for the construction of the channel and the lessee shall
have recourse under action of the law in the Court of the proper juris-
diction of the Commonwealth of Virginia to recover said damages.

§ 28.1-118.1. Bathing grounds; assignment; rental. Any person
desiring to obtain a location for bathing grounds shall apply to the in-
spector of the district in which the grounds lie to have his location
designated, surveyed and assigned for the purpose aforesaid, and for
such ground shall pay an annual rental of seven dollars and fifty cents
per acre. Any such application, surveying, assigning and marking shall
conform to the law pertaining to oyster-planting grounds. Any license so
granted shall be for bathing grounds for public or commercial use only.

Should any lessee of bathing ground have his ground or any portion
thereof re-surveyed or should he reassign any or all of the ground, such
resurvey or reassignment shall not be construed to be a twenty-year re-
newal of his lease, or as a new assignment of such ground, but shall be
deemed to be a continuation of the original assignment, subject to all the
eens and conditions under which such ground was originally as-
signed.

The lessee of any bathing ground, the rent of which is to be paid to
the following September of any year, may abandon his holdings at any time
without being liable for the payment of the rent for the following year,
provided he notifies the inspector, deputy inspector or the Commission of
Fisheries in writing of his intention so to do before September first. Such
notice, when received by the inspector or deputy inspector, shall be im-
mediately forwarded by such inspector or deputy inspector to the office of
the Commissioner.

ARTICLE 6

LICENSE TAXES GENERALLY FOR
TAKING AND HANDLING BIVALVES

§ 28.1-119. Tax on handling bivalves—(A) Tax graduated by
amount of oysters handled.—Every person, firm or corporation engaged
in the business of shucking or packing oysters in this State shall pay a
license tax for the privilege of transacting such business, to be graduated by
the amount of oysters barrelled, shucked or packed by him during the
period for which his license is granted.

(B) Barrellers.—Every person engaged in buying oysters for market-
ing in barrels shall pay a yearly license tax, beginning January first of
each year, to be graduated as follows: (1) For any number of barrels
under one hundred bought and marketed, three dollars and fifty cents; (2)
for one hundred barrels and over, up to two hundred and fifty, six dollars
and seventy-five cents; (3) for two hundred and fifty barrels and over,
up to five hundred, eight dollars and twenty-five cents; (4) five hundred
barrels and over, eleven dollars and twenty-five cents.

(C) Shuckers and packers.—For every license to a person, firm or
corporation engaged in the business of shucking or packing oysters the
license taxes shall be graduated as follows: (1) For any number of
gallons under one thousand, a tax of three dollars; (2) for one thousand
gallons or over, up to ten thousand, a tax of eight dollars and twenty-five
cents; (8) for ten thousand gallons or over, up to twenty-five thousand,
a tax of fifteen dollars and seventy-five cents; (4) for twenty-five
thousand gallons or over, up to fifty thousand, a tax of thirty dollars and
seventy-five cents; (5) for fifty thousand gallons or over, up to one
hundred thousand, a tax of forty-six dollars; (6) for one hundred thousand
gallons or over, up to two hundred thousand, a tax of seventy-five dollars
and seventy-five cents; (7) for two hundred thousand gallons or over, a
tax of one hundred and fifty dollars and fifty cents.

(D) Reports required of licensees.—To ascertain the amount of oys-
ters marketed it shall be the duty of such person, firm or corporation, on
the first day of January of each year, or within ten days thereafter, to
make report in writing, under oath, to the oyster inspector for the district
for which he was licensed, showing the amount of oysters actually shucked
or packed or sold in barrels by him during the next preceding twelve
months.

(E) Violations——Each inspector shall report every oyster packer
who shall fail to comply with the requirements of this Section. Any person,
firm or corporation violating the provision of this section, or making false
reports shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(F) Tax in lieu of other taxes on capital—The sum imposed under
and by virtue of this section shall be in lieu of all taxes for state purposes
on the capital actually employed in such business. The word “‘capital” shall
include moneys and credits actively used in carrying on the business, in-
cluding goods, wares and merchandise on hand, and all solvent bonds, de
mands, and claims made and contracted in the business during the preced-
ing year. Real estate shall not be held to be capital, but shall be assessed
and taxes as other specific property.

(G) Other property listed and taxes.—All other property held by
such person, firm or corporation shall be listed and taxed as other
property.

(H) Collection and disposition of license tax.—The sum required by
this section to be paid when the license is taken out shall be collected in
the same manner that the amounts required to be paid for other licenses
under the oyster laws of the State are collected.

§ 28.1-120. Taking oysters, clams, scallops and mussels by hand or
with tongs.—(1) Application for license.—Any resident of this State who
shall be duly qualified, and desires to take or catch oysters, clams or scal-
lops from the natural oyster beds, rocks, shoals or any other waters of the
Commonwealth, or water under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, not
leased for planting purposes, by hand or with ordinary or patent tongs, or
any instrument allowed by law other than a scrape or dredge, shall first
apply in writing to the inspector for a license.

(2) License taxes.—The license taxes shall be as follows:

(a) For each pair of patent tongs, fifteen dollars and seventy-five
cents.

(b) For each person taking oysters or clams by hand, or with ordi-
nary tongs, five dollars and twenty-five cents.

A license issued for patent tongs shall entitle the holder, without the
payment of an additional license tax, to use ordinary tongs while not
using patent tongs. When such person shall have paid to the inspector the
amount of license required of him the inspector shall register such person,
and shall issue to him a license, which shall entitle him during the season
for which such license shall be issued to take or catch oysters, clams or
scallops from the natural oyster rocks, beds, or shoals, or any other water
of the Commonwealth or within the jurisdiction thereof, for the period
during which he is not prohibited by law from working on any such na-
tural rocks, beds or shoals.

If any person is found oystering, clamming or scalloping upon the
natural rocks, beds, shoals or other waters of the Commonwealth not
assigned for shellfish culture without having been so licensed, or after
having his license revoked, or if he violates any provision of this section,
such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The license issued under the above provision of this section shall
entitle the holder to take either oysters, clams or scallops from the waters
of this Commonwealth, or from waters under the jurisdiction of this
Commonwealth, for and during the open oyster season; and shall, in addi-
tion thereto, permit the holder of such license to take or catch clams or
scallops during the season prohibited by law for the taking of oysters,
from the public clamming bottoms of the Commonwealth.

(3) Tax for taking clams.——For each person desiring to take or
catch only clams by hand or with ordinary tongs the license tax shall be
three dollars and seventy-five cents and for any person desiring to use
patent tongs for the purpose of taking clams only, he shall pay to the in-
spector a specific tax of eight dollars and twenty-five cents for each pair of
such tongs to be used; provided that these licenses for the taking of clams
by hand, or with tongs, ordinary or patent, shall entitle the holder thereof
to take only clams from the public clamming bottoms in the waters of this
Commonwealth and in the waters under its jurisdiction, and not from the
public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals, and is not to be construed, in any-
wise, to permit or authorize the taking of oysters at any time.

(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 State of Maryland and
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.—lIt 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) Digging mussels.—Any person desiring to dig mussels from the
natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals shall pay an annual license of three
dollars and fifty cents, provided that if he holds a license to take or catch
clams or oysters he may dig mussels under the same license.

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

(9) Any person violating the provisions of this Section shall be

guilty of a misdemeanor.
ARTICLE 7

NONRESIDENTS GENERALLY

§ 28.1-121. Who deemed nonresident.—No person shall be deemed
a resident of this State within the meaning of this chapter who is not
a taxpayer in the State, and shall not have maintained his residence
therein for one year and actually resided therein for the four months
next preceding the time when he makes application for any privileges
or licenses granted to residents under this chapter; or unless he be a
bona fide purchaser of land in this State and has actually lived within
this State for the four months next preceding the time when he makes
application for any privileges or licenses granted to residents under
this chapter; provided, no restriction as to residence in this section shall
prevent any person from obtaining license when required for buying fish
or shellfish, or for the shucking of oysters; provided, further, that in
dredging or scraping private planting grounds on permission of the Com-
mission the restriction as to the residence in this section shall not prohibit
the having of nonresidents as crew for any boat used in the fish or shellfish
industry, if such boat be owned wholly by a resident or residents of
Virginia, and also has for its master a resident as defined in this chapter.

§ 28.1-122. Nonresidents not to take or plant oysters, etc.—If any
person other than a resident of this State, as defined in this article,
shall take or catch fish or shellfish, in any of the waters of this State, or
In any of the waters under the jurisdiction of this State, for market or
profit, or if any person other than a resident of this State or a corporation
authorized by law to occupy and hold oyster-planting grounds, rent any
oyster-planting grounds, or plant shellfish in any of the waters of the
State, or waters under the jurisdiction of the State, he shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and such rental, lease or assignment shall be void. Where
the penalty is incurred by reason of the defendant being a nonresident,
the burden of proof as to his residence shall be on him, provided this section
shall not apply to any oyster-planting ground against which foreclosure
proceedings have been instituted or title to which is acquired by reason of
the death of the lessee, and provided further that any interest to title
acquired under this provision shall not extend for a period of more than
twelve months from the time the title vests.

§ 28.1-123. Citizens not to be interested with nonresident.—If any
citizen of this State shall for market or profit be concerned or interested
with any person not a resident thereof in taking or catching fish or shellfish
in any of the waters of this State, or in waters under the jurisdiction of
this State, or in planting oysters or other shellfish therein, or shall
knowingly permit any person, not a resident of this State, to engage in
any such business in his name for market or profit, he shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor; but the restrictions as to residence in this section shall not
prevent a resident from owning stock in a corporation in which non-
residents are stockholders, if such corporation is authorized by law to
occupy oyster-planting grounds.

ARTICLE 8
CULLING OYSTERS

§ 28.1-124. Oysters to be culled as taken.—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.

All oysters once passing from the culling board 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 provision 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 Virginia oyster gallon 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 and one-half
Virginia oyster gallon 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.

This section only applies to oysters taken, by any catcher, from the
natural rocks and shall not apply to oysters which have been purchased by
a buyer and in the buyer’s possession.

Any violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a mis-
demeanor. Any person charged with violating any provision of this section
shall be required, by the officer making said charge, to scatter the entire
cargo of oysters on the public rocks under the supervision of an inspector
and at the expense of the person charged with the vivlation. 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.

§ 28.1-125. Buying, selling, possessing unculled oysters.—It shall be
unlawful for any person to buy, sell, or possess oysters under the pre-
scribed size and shells so taken from the natural rocks, beds and shoals.

§ 28.1-126. Exempted waters.—So much of §§ 28.1-124 and 28.1-125
as prohibits the taking and catching of oysters whose shells measure less
than three inches in length, shall not apply to the James River above a
line drawn from Cooper’s Creek in Isle of Wight County on the South
side of James River to a line in a Northeasterly direction across the
James River to the Newport News Municipal Water Tank located on War-
wick Boulevard between 59th Street and 60th Street in the City of New-
port News, which shall be known as the seed line; nor to Russ Rock and
Little Carter’s Rock, in Rappahannock River, nor to the Eastern side of
Accomack and Northampton Counties; but nothing in this section shall
exempt the culling of shells as provided in § 28.1-124.

§ 28.1-127. Prima facie evidence of violation, defense.—It shall be
unlawful for a person to have any oysters or shells on the culling board,
deck, wash-board or other receptacle above the hold of the boat or in the
deck house of the boat of any person oystering upon the natural rocks,
beds or shoals when the boat is not at anchor, or when the boat is off the
public rocks or when the boat is approaching a buy boat or approaching
a landing. 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, or to the culling board or deck from the hole, upon the approach
of the oyster inspector or police boat shall be prima facie evidence of the
violation of §§ 28.1-124 and/or 28.1-125.

It shall be unlawful for any person to offer for sale or have in his
possession oysters which have not been culled as required by § 28.1-124;
if upon trial for such offense the accused person asserts the claim or
defense that said unculled oysters were taken from private planting
grounds, the burden of proving such defense or fact shall be upon the
accused person. It shall be unlawful for any person who has in his posses-
sion unshucked oysters, to resist or interfere with any inspector or other
authorized officer in the examination of oysters suspected of being un-
culled, or to refuse to admit an inspector or other authorized officer to a
boat or oyster house for the purpose of such inspection.

ARTICLE 9
DREDGING OR SCRAPING

§ 28.1-128. Where lawful to issue permits to dredge.—It shall be
unlawful for any person at any time to take and catch oysters with
dredges and scrapes from any public rocks, beds, or shoals in this State;
provided, however, that the Commission may authorize the use of dredges
upon the public rocks, beds and shoals of Tangier Sound, to-wit: Johnson’s
Rock, Thoroughfare Rock, Fox’s Island Rock, John’s Rock, Klondike Rock,
and the California Rock, during the months of December, January and
February.

It shall be unlawful for any person to have on board a boat a dredge
or equipment normally used for dredging, unless he has a permit to dredge,
or a license to dredge, and has said license or permit on board of said boat.

§ 28.1-129. Application for license to dredge or scrape.—Any resi-
dent desiring to dredge or scrape for oysters in the waters where dredging
Is permitted, shall make application in writing for such privilege to the
inspector of the district in which he resides, which application shall be
sworn to, and shall plainly state the name of his vessel, the owner or
owners thereof, the commander or person in charge and the length of
vessel or gross tonnage at which it is rated. Such application shall further
state the district in which the owner resides; that the applicant 1s a resi-
dent qualified under the requirements of this section; that no nonresident
owns the vessel, in whole or in part, and that it is not held with any inten-
tion, or under any agreement, to return it at any subsequent time to a
nonresident.

§ 28.1-130. Registration and isswance of license-—Upon being satis-
fied of the facts stated in such application, the inspector shall register
such vessel for a fee of one dollar and issue to such applicant a license
granting him the privilege of dredging or scraping for oysters on public
ground within the prescribed limits and season, which shall be plainly set
forth in the license.

§ 28.1-131. Prima facie evidence of violation.—In any prosecution
for the violation of the preceding sections of this article against the master
or commander of a vessel, or any of his crew, or any person on board
thereof, proof that such vessel was equipped with a crank, dredge, or
scrape shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of such section.

§ 28.1-1382. Penalty and forfeiture of equipment.—If any person
take or catch oysters or clams with a dredge, or scrape, or instrument
other than ordinary or patent oyster tongs, or by hand in any of the
waters of the Commonwealth except as provided by law, he shall be
deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be confined
in the penitentiary not less than one year, and fined not less than one
hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, either or both.

§ 28.1-183. License tax.—Before any license shall be issued for
dredging or scraping, the applicant shall, in addition to the fee of one
dollar for registering the boat, pay an annual license tax of twenty dollars
for each dredge. The captains or masters of such boats shall always have
such license on board of their boats and exhibit the same whenever it shall
be demanded by any duly authorized officer; and the refusal so to do shall
be prima facie evidence that they are dredging or scraping without having
a license therefor.

§ 28.1-134. Dredging or scraping on private ground.—(1) It shall
be lawful for any resident of this State holding under legal assignment
oyster-planting ground totaling at least five acres and having paid the rent
therefor, to dredge or scrape the same at any time, except on Sunday or
at night; provided he obtain from the Commission of Fisheries a permit
to do so, such permit to show date of issue and date of expiration, which
expiration date shall not be more than twelve months from date of issue
and may be renewed for like periods from time to time; and provided,
further, that the Commission may after a hearing refuse to grant a permit
or renew the same to dredge or scrape any oyster-planting ground unless
it be proved that the holder thereof has planted seed oysters or shells there-
on and is using said planting ground for the cultivation of oysters and
may refuse to grant said permit if it appears to the satisfaction of the
Commission at said hearing that the holder of said ground is an habitual
violator of the seafood laws; provided further that applicant for said
permit shall have the right of appeal from any decision of the Commission
of Fisheries refusing to grant said permit as provided in Chapter Two of
this ote. The Commission shall receive one dollar for each such permit
issued.

(2) Such privilege of dredging or scraping such oyster-planting
ground may be revoked in any case by the Commission of Fisheries or
Pommissioner, whenever, in its judgment, it may be proper or necessary

O SO.
(3) No person shall have or enjoy the privilege hereinbefore granted
of dredging or scraping his oyster-planting ground unless he shall have
first properly designated and marked the oyster lines of his planting
ground by placing prominent and fixed buoys or stakes thereon, such
buoys or stakes to be so many inches in diameter and to extend so far
above water as the Commission of Fisheries, or the Commissioner, may
direct, and the same shall be kept up and maintained so as to distinctly
mark the outer line or lines of such planting ground. The buoys shall be
painted white, and shall have the initials of the person or firm whose
property they are, placed upon them near the top, in black letters, of not
less than five inches in length. If stakes are used there shall be a sign
painted as prescribed for buoys attached to each corner stake.

(4) Marking boats. Such initials shall also be placed upon each side
of the prow of any boat or craft used or employed in dredging or scraping
such planting ground.

§ 28.1-135. Revocation of license or permit to dredge.—The Com-
mission, after a hearing, on testimony of an officer of the Commission at
such hearing that he has personally observed a person having dredging cable
and/or dredging equipment overboard or in any way engaged in dredging
in any area other than where a person holds a lawful permit or license to
dredge, shall have the authority to revoke all permits and licenses held by
said person to dredge on public and/or private grounds, and to refuse to
issue any licenses or permits for such purposes for a period of one year.
Before any hearing is held pursuant to this section there must be at least
five days notice given to the permit or license holder, by written notice
served by an officer or by certified mail addressed to the permit or license
holder at the address given on the permit or license.

ARTICLE 10
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

§ 28.1-1386. Oyster measures.—It shall not be lawful at any time for
any person to buy or sell oysters in this state in the shell by any other
than one-half bushel or one bushel metallic measures, and such measures
shall be iron circular tubs with straight sides and straight solid bottoms
with holes in bottom, if desired, for draining, such holes to be no larger,
however, than one inch in diameter. A half-bushel tub shall have the fol-
lowing dimensions, all measurements to be from inside to inside; fifteen
inches across the top, thirteen inches across the bottom, and seventeen
inches diagonally from the inside chine to the top; and a bushel tub shall
measure eighteen and one-half inches across the top, seventeen inches
across the bottom, and twenty-one and one-half inches diagonally from the
inside chine to the top. Such metallic measure must be level full across the
entire top of the measure to be considered a full measure.

If the seller of any oysters or oyster shells fails to furnish a full
measure as defined in this section, or a buyer of any seed oysters or
oyster shells accepts less than a full measure as defined in this section, he
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-137. Theft of oysters, clams, shells, etc.—If any person take,
steal or carry away, without permission of the owner, oysters, clams, bed-
ded 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
rid person, firm, or corporation, he shall be deemed guilty of the larceny

ereof.

§ 28.1-138. Converting shells into lime.—lIt shall be unlawful for any
person to take or catch oysters or shells in any of the waters within the
jurisdiction of this State for the purpose of converting the same into lime,
unless and except said person has obtained permission from the Commis-
sion to convert said shells into lime.
§ 28.1-139. Taking shellfish or loading on vessel on Sunday or in
night time.—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 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 unloaded at any time except Sunday within
the discretion of the packer.

§ 28.1-140. Protection of oysters and clams of Virginia.—It shall be
unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to pack, sell, distribute, or
designate as Virginia oysters or clams except such oysters and clams as
have been in the waters of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a period of
at least twelve months prior to the selling or distributing of the same.

§ 28.1-141. Oysters on crab dredging boat.—It shall be unlawful for
any person in charge of any boat licensed to catch crabs with a dredge to
have or allow on board any oysters in excess of one bushel. Any person
violating any provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and punished as provided by law.

§ 28.1-142. Sale of shells to Commission.—(1) Each shucker or
packer of oysters shall sell to the Commission at the prevailing market
price up to twenty per centum of the shells, unless said shells are planted
in Virginia waters.

(2) On or before December first of each year, the Commission shall
notify each shucker or packer whether it will purchase by June first
following the shells so set aside. If such notice is not given, the shucker or
packer may dispose of such shells as he sees fit.

ARTICLE 11

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS AS TO
PARTICULAR WATERS OR LOCALITIES

§ 28.1-148. Use of rakes or scrapes on ocean side of Eastern Shore.—
It shall be unlawful for any person to use, or employ rakes other than
hand rakes, dredges, scrapes, or other like devices for the purpose of taking
or catching oysters, crabs, clams, or shells from the natural rocks, beds, or
shoals on the eastern or ocean side of Accomack and Northampton Counties
at any time. Any person violating this provision shall be fined not less
than ten nor more than fifty dollars for each offense, and be confined in jail
until such fine is paid, but not to exceed thirty days.

§ 28.1-144. Leasing of certain bottoms in Rappahannock River pro-
hibited.—No part of the bottom of the Rappahannock River, lying in or
near the center of such river, and running from the mouth of the river
to and including Morattico bar, which is now designated on the Baylor
survey and resurveys thereof as assignable bottom, and which is commonly
known as “deep water planting grounds’, shall be subject to lease or
assignment, and such bottom is declared to be a part of the public oyster
beds and rocks of such river.

§ 28.1-145. Leasing of certain bottoms in James River prohibited.
The Commission of Fisheries shall have no power to lease any oyster
bottom in the James River, above the James River Bridge, west of the
James River Bridge, not theretofore leased, and nothing herein contained
shall apply to any renewal of existing leases.

§ 28.1-146. Dredging for oysters in James River.—It shall be un-
lawful for any person to dredge for oysters in the James River during
the open season for taking oysters from the public rocks and shoals ;
provided, however, that the Commission of Fisheries may grant a permit
to applicants therefor to dredge in specified areas which permit shall
be valid only within the ten days following its issuance. .

§ 28.1-147. Dredging ship channel between points in James River
without approval.—Insofar as the State has the power to prohibit the
same, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, association,
or government or agency of any or all of any of the foregoing to dredge a
ship channel in the James River between the James River Bridge and
Jamestown Island and to employ or make use of disposal areas to place
material so dredged, except for the ordinary maintenance of the existing
ship channel at its established depth, unless application to accomplish
such dredging, which application shall show specifically the areas to be
dredged and the disposal areas proposed to be used, has been made to
and approved by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Com-
mission of Fisheries.

§ 28.1-148. Mouth of Rappahannock River defined.—Whenever the
mouth of the Rappahannock River is used in Title 28 of the Code it shall
mean: Beginning on the west edge of a concrete breakwater located on
the extreme eastmost of Stingray Point, Middlesex County, designated as
Point “‘B’’, said point is located in line with the north side and 98.3 feet
from the northeast corner of a porch dwelling owned by William E.
Myers; thence north 21° 50’ east (magnetic), 20,240 feet (approxi-
mately,) to a pipe designated as point ‘“‘C’’, located on the extreme eastmost
point of Windmill Point, Lancaster County. This area is to include all of
the Rappahannock River and its tributaries except as set out in § 93.1,
Code of Virginia.

§ 28.1-149. Certain natural oyster rocks in Rappahannock River.—
All of Russ’ Rock and Little Carter’s Rock are declared to be natural
oyster rocks, beds and shoals and unassignable to any person for private
use, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the same had been
embraced within the original Baylor survey; and the Commissioner of
Fisheries is hereby directed as soon as practicable to have such natural
oyster rocks, beds and shoals properly and accurately surveyed and a plat
of the survey recorded in the Clerk’s Office of Richmond and Essex
counties. The expense of making such surveys and recording the plat to
be paid by the Commissioner out of the general oyster funds of the State,
and such natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals shall henceforth be exempt
from assignment to any person.

§ 28.1-150. Declaring certain grounds in Mobjack Bay natural oyster
rocks.—The following grounds in Mobjack Bay, in the county of Glouces-
ter, to-wit: First, a lot of oyster-planting ground containing two hundred
and eighteen and seventy-five-one-hundredths acres surveyed by Fred E.
Reudiger, civil engineer, and assigned to F. W. Darling by George B. Talia-
ferro, oyster inspector, by an assignment recorded in oyster plat book
number four, page thirty-one in the clerk’s office of Gloucester County,
Virginia; second those portions of a lot of oyster ground surveyed by
Fred E. Reudiger, civil engineer, and assigned to J. Weymouth by George
B. Taliaferro, oyster inspector, by his assignment recorded in oyster plat
book number four, page thirty-five in the clerk’s office of Gloucester Coun-
ty, Virginia, and a lot of oyster ground surveyed by Fred E. Reudiger,
civil engineer, and assigned to S. J. Watson by George B. Taliaferro,
oyster inspector, by an assignment recorded in oyster plat book num-
ber four, page thirty-one, in the clerk’s office of Gloucester County,
Virginia, which two portions of the two plats adjoin the two hun-
dred-and-eighteen-and-seventy-five-one-hundredths acre lot of oyster
ground above described, which was assigned to F. W. Darling and which
portions are cut off from the residue of the Weymouth and Watson lots
of oyster ground above described, by a line beginning where the boundary
of J. Weymouth’s ground, which runs north forty-seven degrees, thirty-
two minutes east, seventy-eight and sixty-one hundredths chains, inter-
sects the boundary of F. W. Darling ground, which runs south forty-two
degrees east, thirty chains, and from this point of intersection running
south forty-two degrees east, until it intersects with the line of S. J. Wat-
son’s ground, which runs south fifty-one degrees, twenty-six minutes west
one hundred and thirteen and seventy-nine-one-hundredths chains (these
portions of the Weymouth and Watson lots of oyster ground are cut off
by the boundary line hereinbefore described without regard to acreage
thereof; the acreage is estimated not to exceed fifty acres), shall be re-
garded, deemed, and taken to be natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals as
fully and effectually to all intents and purposes as if the same had origi-
nally been included within the limits and boundaries of the Baylor survey
of the natural rocks, beds, and shoals in the waters of the Commonwealth,
and subject in all respects to the laws of the State in relation to natural
oyster rocks, beds and shoals, and the taking of oysters therefrom, but
subject, also, to the existing rights of any lessees of such ground, if there
be any such right.

§ 28.1-151. Declaring certain areas in Hill’s Bay, Mathews County,
as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The following ground in Hill’s
Bay on the west side of Gwynn’s Island, Mathews County, contained with-
in the following boundaries is hereby declared to be natural oyster rocks,
beds and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use: Beginning
at corner No. 8, Public Ground No. 5 of Mathews County; thence along
Public Ground line to corners Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 138 and 14 in a northeast-
erly direction; thence a due east course to the low water mark on west
side of Gwynn’s Island; thence following the meanders of the low tide line
in a southwesterly direction to corner No. 5 of J. R. Forrest’s oyster lease
of 2.01 acres; thence following said oyster lease in a westerly direction to
corner No. 4 of said lease; thence in a westerly direction to the point of
beginning. The oyster lease of O. V. Sparrow’s 10.51 acres, near Cherry
Point, is hereby excluded from the area herein described.

§ 28.1-152. Declaring certain other areas in Hull’s Bay, Mathews
County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The following ground
in Hill’s Bay, Mathews County, contained within the following boundaries
is hereby declared to be natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals and unassign-
able to any person for private use.

The point of beginning is located at the low tide line on the west side
of the Gwynn’s Island bridge, said bridge connecting the mainland and
Gwynn’s Island; thence following the west right of way of said Gwynn’s
Island bridge to a point on the south side of Public Ground No. 5, Mathews
County; thence along the south side of Public Ground No. 5 in a southwest
direction to Public Ground corner No. 2; thence in a generally west direc-
tion along said Public Ground corner No. 3; thence in a generally north-
west direction along said Public Ground to Public Ground corner No. 4;
thence in a generally northwest direction along said Public Ground to
Public Ground corner No. 5; thence in a generally northwest direction on
the west side of Public Ground No. 5 to a point; thence in a northwest
direction along the south side of C. M. Forrest’s 4.10 acre oyster ground
lease to a point; thence in a northwesterly direction along the southwest
side of J. E. Forrest’s 10.17 acre oyster ground lease to a point; thence in
an easterly direction along the northern side of J. E. Forrest’s 10.17 acre
oyster ground lease to a point on the south side of Public Ground No. 5,
Mathews County; thence in a northwesterly direction along the south side
of Public Ground No. 5 to Public Ground corner No. 6; thence in a gen-
erally north direction along the western side of said Public Ground No. 5
to Public Ground corner No. 5; thence in a northerly direction along said
Public Ground to Public Ground corner No. 4; thence in a northerly direc-
tion along the west side of Public Ground No. 5 to a point; thence follow-
ing the south edge of Shelton Rowe’s, Julian Rowe’s and Robert Callis’s
oyster ground lease of 100 acres in a generally west direction to a point,
said point being due north of survey station “Burton”, located on Burton’s
Point; thence due south toward survey station “Burton” on Burton’s
Point to low tide line; thence following the low tide line in a generally
southeasterly direction to the west side of the mouth of Queen’s Creek;
thence in a southeasterly direction across the mouth of Queen’s Creek to
a point; thence along the low tide line in a generally easterly direction to
the point of beginning.

§ 28.1-153. Declaring certain areas in Chesapeake Bay, Mathews
County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The following ground
in Chesapeake Bay, Mathews County, contained within the following boun-
daries is hereby declared to be natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals and
unassignable to any person for private use.

Beginning, as a point of reference, at survey station “Sand”, located
near the south end of Gwynn’s Island; thence due east to the low-water
mark on the east side of Gwynn’s Island to the true point of beginning;
thence due east along the north side of Additional Public Ground (1954)
to a point on the west side of Public Ground No. 6, Mathews County;
thence following the west side of Public Ground No. 6, Mathews County,
in a northerly direction to Public Ground corner No. 8; thence following
said Public Ground in a northerly direction to Public Ground corner No. 7;
thence following said Public Ground in a northerly direction to Public
Ground corner No. 6; thence in a northerly direction, following said Public
Ground to Public Ground corner No. 5; thence in a northerly direction
following said Public Ground to Public Ground corner No. 4; thence in a
northerly direction following said Public Ground to Public Ground corner
No. 8; thence in a generally west direction following the south side of
Public Ground No. 6 to Public Ground corner No. 2; thence in a generally
westerly direction following said Public Ground to Public Ground corner
No. 1; thence in a southwesterly direction to the intersection of Public
Ground No. 5, Mathews County; thence following the northeast side of
Public Ground No. 5 in a southeasterly direction to the low tide line at
Cherry Point on the north side of Gwynn’s Island; thence following the
low tide line on the north side of Gwynn’s Island to a point; thence follow-
ing the low tide line on the east side of Gwynn’s Island in a southerly
direction to the true point of beginning.

§ 28.1-154. Declaring certain areas near Hole in the Wall, in Math-
ews County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The following
ground near Hole in the Wall, Mathews County, contained within the fol-
lowing boundaries is hereby declared to be natural oyster rocks, beds and
Shoals and unassignable to any person for private use:

Beginning at Virginia Commission of Fisheries’ survey Station Marsh,
located in the marsh on the south side of the Hole in the Wall; thence in a
northeasterly direction to corner No. 3 of Carroll Lee Forrest and Vernon
Rowe, Junior’s, oyster lease of 13.02 acres, thence in a northwesterly di-
rection along said lease to corner No. 2; thence along the east side of R.
Herbert Callis’ lease of 6.69 acres to corner No. 3 of said lease; thence
along the north side of said lease in a westerly direction to corner No. 2,
Said corner No. 2 in on line of Public Ground No. 7, Mathews County;
thence in a northerly direction to Public Ground corner No. 11; thence in
a northwesterly direction along Public Ground line to a point opposite
corners Nos. 8 and 9 of Maywood L. Callis’ 24.69 acres; thence in a north-
easterly direction to corner No. 9 of said lease; thence to corner No. 10 of
said lease; thence in a northeasterly direction to Virginia Commission of
Fisheries’ survey Station Sand; thence in a due east course to the inter-
section of Public Ground No. 6, Mathews County; thence following along
west side of said Public Ground in a southeasterly direction to a point due
east of Station Marsh; thence due west to Station Marsh, or point of be-
ginning.

§ 28.1-155. Declaring certain areas in Pocomoke Sound, Accomack
County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The following area in
Pocomoke Sound, Accomack County, contained within the following bound-
aries is hereby declared to be natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals and
unassignable to any person for private use:

Beginning at a point on the low water mark on the north end of Saxis
Island, said point being due south from the low water mark and marked by
a concrete marker designated as survey point “B’”’ on a map of Pocomoke
Sound; thence from the true point of beginning at low water following in
a southwesterly direction the low water mark on the northwest side of Saxis
Island to a point, said point being the northeast side of Starling creek;
thence southwesterly across mouth of Starling creek to a point; thence
following the low water mark in a southwesterly direction to a point, said
point being on the northeast side of the mouth of Fishing creek; thence in
a generally westerly direction across the mouth of Fishing creek to a
point; thence following the low water mark around Drum Bay to a point,
said point being due north of a concrete survey marker named “Drum”;
thence due north to Public Ground No. 11; thence easterly to Public Ground
corner No. 13; thence southeasterly to Public Ground corner No. 14;
thence easterly to Public Ground corner No. 15; thence southeasterly to
Public Ground corner No. 16; thence easterly to Public Ground corner No.
17; thence northeasterly to Public Ground corner No. 18; then northwest-
erly to Public Ground corner No. 19; thence northeasterly to Public Ground
corner No. 1; thence in a northerly direction to Public Ground corner No.
14 of Public Ground No. 9; thence northerly to Public Ground corner No.
15; thence northeasterly to Public Ground corner No. 16; thence north-
easterly toward Public Ground corner No. 17 to a point; said point being
due north to the true point of beginning; thence due south to the point of
beginning.

Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed as
prohibiting assignment of a portion of such area to riparian owners under
the provisions of § 28-123 of the Code of Virginia.

§ 28.1-156. Declaring certain areas in Piankatank river near Stove
Point, Middlesex County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The
following area, in the Piankatank river around and near Stove Point, Mid-
dlesex County be, and the same hereby is declared, as natural oyster rocks,
beds, and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use:

Beginning at survey station “R” on extreme southern tip of Stove
Point as a point of reference; thence in a southerly direction to the low
water mark on the southern tip of Stove Point; thence in a northerly direc-
tion following the low water mark on the west side of Stove Point to a
point due west of survey station “Billy’’; thence in a due west course to
Public Ground No. 3 Middlesex County; thence in a southerly direction to
public ground corner No. 6 of said public ground; thence in a southerly di-
rection to public ground corner No. 5; thence in an easterly direction to
public ground corner No. 4; thence in a southeasterly direction to public
ypround corner No. 3; thence in a southeasterly direction to a point, said
point being on Public Ground No. 5, of Mathews County; thence in a
northeasterly direction, following Public Ground No. 5, Mathews County,
(0 a point; thence in a northwesterly direction to public ground corner No.
14 of Public Ground No. 2, Middlesex County; thence in a north-northwest-
arly direction to public ground corner No. 138 of said public ground; thence
n a westerly direction to corner No. 4 of J. T. Ward’s 57.48 acre lease;
yhence in a northerly direction following the west side of said J. T. Ward’s
lease to corner No. 5 of the hereinabove mentioned lease; thence in a due
west course to the low water mark on the eastern side of Stove Point;
thence following in a southerly direction the low water mark of the east
side of Stove Point to the point of beginning.

Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall affect any oyster
ground assignments that are now in effect nor shall this section be con-
strued as prohibiting assignment of a portion of such area to riparian
owners under the provisions of § 28.1-108 of the Code of Virginia.

§ 28.1-157. Declaring certain areas near the mouth of the Poquoson
river, in York County, as natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The fol-
lowing ground near the mouth of the Poquoson river in York County, con-
tained within the following boundaries is hereby declared to be natural
oyster rocks, beds and shoals and unassignable to any person for private
use.

Tract No. 1. Beginning at low water mark on the extreme east side
of Goodwin Islands at a point known as Tues Point; thence following the
low water mark on the eastern side of Goodwin Islands in a general south-
erly direction to the extreme southern point of said Goodwin Islands;
thence in a southerly direction to corner No. 7 of the 27.72 acre oyster lease
of C. E., W. T. and J. T. Crockett, H. H. Hansford and 8S. E. Wescott; thence
in a general easterly direction to corner No. 6 of said oyster lease; thence in
a southerly direction to corner No. 5 of said oyster lease; thence in a gen-
eral westerly direction to corner No. 4 of said oyster lease; thence due
south to the low water mark on the east side of Crab Neck; thence follow-
ing the low water mark on the east side of said Crab Neck in a general
southerly direction to the extreme tip of said Crab Neck, known as York
Point; thence in a general south-southwesterly direction to corner No. 3
of Public Ground No. 9, York County; thence in a southeasterly direction
along the northeast side of said Public Ground to Public Ground corner
No. 4; thence in a general southerly direction on the east side of said
Public Ground to corner No. 1 of said Public Ground; thence in a general
southeasterly direction to Public Ground corner No. 3 of Public Ground
No. 8, York County; thence in a northeasterly direction following the west
side of Public Ground No. 8 to Public Ground corner No. 2; thence in an
easterly direction along the northern side of Public Ground No. 8 to Public
Ground corner No. 1; thence in a southwest direction along the east side
of Public Ground No. 8 to Public Ground corner No. 4; thence in a due east
course to the low water mark on the east side of the mouth of Bennett’s
creek; thence following the low water mark in a general easterly direction
to Marsh Point, said point is located at the extreme southeast side of the
mouth of the Poquoson river; thence in a general northwesterly direction
on a line toward Tues Point to a point on the southeast side of Public
Ground No. 7, York County; thence in a southwest direction along the
southeast side of Public Ground No. 7 to Public Ground corner No. 4;
thence in a northwesterly direction along the southwest side of said Public
Ground No. 7 to Public Ground corner No. 1; thence in a northeasterly
direction along the northwest side of said Public Ground No. 7 to a point;
thence following the south line of the oyster ground of C. E. Crockett and
A. P. Thomas, said lease containing 112.70 acres, in a general westerly
direction to corner No. 3 of said oyster lease; thence following the west side
of said oyster lease in a general northerly direction to corner No. 2 of said
lease; thence in a northeasterly direction along the northwest side of said
oyster lease to a point, said point being located on a line from Tues Marsh
to Marsh Point, thence in a northwesterly direction to the low water mark
to Tues Point, or the point of beginning.

Tract 2. Beginning at the low water mark on the extreme east side
of Plumtree Point, said point located on the north side of the mouth of
Back river, said point is the eastmost point on said side of river; thence
in a general north-northwesterly direction toward corner No. 3 of Public
Ground No. 7, York County, to a point on the south side of M. F. Quinn’s
90.40 acre oyster ground lease; thence in a westerly direction along the
south line of M. F. Quinn’s oyster lease to a point, said point being located
on the southeast side of York County, Public Ground No. 7; thence in a
southwesterly direction along the southeast side of Public Ground No. 7,
York County, to a point, said point is located along a line from Tues Point
to Marsh Point; thence in a general southeasterly direction along the here-
tofore described line to the low water mark on Marsh Point, said Marsh
Point being the extreme east point of the south side of the mouth of Poquo-
son river; thence in a general southeasterly direction along the low water
mark to the point of beginning.

§ 28.1-158. Declaring certain ground in Mobjack Bay, in Gloucester
and Mathews Counties, to be natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals.—The
following grounds in Mobjack Bay, Gloucester-Mathews counties, contained
within the following boundaries are hereby declared to be natural oyster
rocks, beds and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use in
the same manner and to the same extent as if the same had been embraced
within the original Baylor survey:

Beginning at the westmost corner of W. E. Belvin’s 79.25 acre oyster
ground lease, designated as corner No. 2 of said lease, said point of begin-
ning also being the northmost corner of additional Public Ground area of
1928, Gloucester County (Deep Rock); thence in a northerly direction
along the west side of the said Belvin lease to corner No. 1 of said lease,
corner No. 1 also being the southmost corner of John Carr’s 84.85 acre
oyster ground lease; thence in a northwesterly direction along the south-
west side of John R. Carr’s 84.85 acre oyster ground lease to corner No. 1
of said oyster ground lease; thence in a general northeasterly direction
along the northwest side of John R. Carr’s oyster lease to corner No. 2 of
said lease, said corner also being the westmost corner of W. E. Belvin’s
27.71 acre oyster ground lease; thence in a northeasterly direction along
the northwest side of W. E. Belvin’s oyster ground lease to corner No. 10
of said lease; thence in a southeasterly direction along the northeast side
of W. E. Belvin’s oyster ground lease to corner No. 6 of said lease; thence
in a northeasterly direction to the southwest side of Public Ground No. 2,
Mathews County; thence in a northwesterly direction along the southwest
side of Public Ground No. 2, Mathews County, to a point, said point being
the intersection of an additional area of Public Clamming Grounds, Glou-
cester County, with Public Oyster Ground No. 2, Mathews County; thence
in a southwest course along additional area of Public Clamming Grounds,
Gloucester County; thence in a southwesterly direction along the edge of
additional area of Public Clamming Grounds in Gloucester County to a
point; thence in a southeasterly direction along the additional area of
Public Clamming Grounds, Gloucester County, to the point of beginning.

§ 28.1-159. Acts which remain in force.—The following acts of the
General Assembly are continued in force:

Chapter 632 of the Acts of 1901-2, approved April 2, 1902, relating
to the natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals in Nomini and Currioman
bays, in the county of Westmoreland.

Chapter 294 of the Acts of 1901-2, approved March 25, 1902, declaring
certain grounds in the James river, in the county of Isle of Wight, known
as Day’s Point Long Rock be a natural oyster bed, rock or shoal.

Chapter 319 of the Acts of 1901, approved February 16, 1901, includ-
ing Surry County within the oyster territory of the State, etc.

Chapter 855 of the Acts of 1895-6, approved March 5, 1896, and chap-
ter 263 of the Acts of 1897-98, approved February 9, 1898, declaring cer-
tain portions of ground in York river to be natural oyster rocks.

Chapter 862 of the Acts of 1897-98, approved March 3, 1898, relating
to the natural oyster rocks, beds and shoals in York river in King and
Queen county.

Chapter 279 of the Acts of 1930, approved March 24, 1930, relating
to certain natural oyster beds, rocks and shoals in Mathews County.

ARTICLE 12
CLAMS AND SCALLOPS

§ 28.1-160. License tax for buying, marketing and shipping clams
or scallops.—(1) Amount of tax. Every person engaged as a principal in
the business of buying, marketing and shipping scallops, clams and
bivalves other than oysters shall for such privilege, on or before January
first of each year pay to the inspector of the district in which such person
does business, a license tax of twenty-five dollars per year.

(2) Ilegal possession of oysters. If any person shall have in his
possession any oysters while taking or catching clams or scallops during
the season in which it is not lawful to take or catch oysters from the
natural rocks, beds, or shoals, he shall be prima facie guilty of violating
the law against taking or catching ovsters therefrom during such season,
and upon conviction, the penalty shall be the same as for taking or catch-
ing oysters from the natural rocks, beds, or shoals, during the prohibited
season.

§ 28.1-161. Dredging clams in polluted areas for replanting in public
clamming grounds.—The Commissioner of Fisheries shall have authority
to dredge clams or have the same dredged in polluted areas for the purpose
of replanting the same in public clamming grounds which have been or
which may thereafter be set aside.

§ 28.1-162. Public clamming or scalloping grounds.—Any ground in
the waters of this Commonwealth not assigned to anyone for planting or
bathing purposes may be, on application of twenty or more citizens to the
oyster inspector of the district in which the land lies, laid off and desig-
nated as public clamming or scalloping grounds; or the Commission of
Fisheries may do so without such petition if in its judgment it is expe-
dient, provided in its opinion no oyster interests will suffer thereby and
the clams or scallops are of sufficient quantity for a person to realize at
least two hundred and twenty-five clams or one and one-half dollars per
day catching and taking clams or scallops from such ground; and, if laid
off, the Commission shall have the metes and bounds of such ground accu-
rately designated by proper and suitable stakes; and also have a plat made
of the same, to be recorded in the clerk’s office of the county wherein the
ground lies, all cost of surveying, platting and recording to be paid by the
applicants; and such ground shall be set apart and remain as public clam-
ming or scalloping ground for the common use of the citizens of this State
so long as the Commission may deem best, and shall not be assigned to
anyone during such period.

§ 28.1-163. Catching of scallops; public scallop grounds.—(1) Sea-
son for catching scallops. It shall be lawful for any person, who has been
duly licensed according to law, to take or catch scallops with scrapes,
from the public grounds of the Commonwealth, to take and catch scallops,
by any means from such grounds between the fifteenth day of November
of each year and the fifteenth day of April of the succeeding year, inclu-
sive: but it shall be unlawful to take or catch scallops by any means what-
soever between the fifteenth day of April and the fifteenth day of Novem-
ber of any year.

(2) License tax. For the privilege of taking scallops, there shall be
paid to the inspector of the district in which he resides a license tax of
two dollars and fifty cents per year, which shall include the privileges of
marketing and shipping scallops so taken or caught.

(8) Measuring ring; size limit.—The inspector shall furnish each
such licensee with a metal ring, having an inside measurement of one and
three-quarter inches; and it shall be unlawful for any person to take,
catch, or have in his possession scallops of a size smaller than one and
three-quarter inches, which will pass through such metal ring.

(4) Public scallop grounds. Any ground in the waters of this Com-
monwealth not assigned to anyone for planting or bathing purposes, may,
on application of twenty or more citizens to the inspector of the district
in which the land lies, be laid off and designated as public scallop grounds;
or the Commission of Fisheries may do so without such petition if in its
judgment it is expedient; provided, in the opinion of the Commission no
oyster interest will suffer thereby, and the scallops are of sufficient quan-
tity for a person to realize at least three dollars per day catching and
taking scallops from such grounds; and, if laid off, the Commission of
Fisheries shall have the metes and bounds of such ground accurately desig-
nated by proper and suitable stakes, and also have a plat made of same,
to be recorded in the clerk’s office of the county wherein the ground lies,
all costs of surveying, platting and recording to be paid by the applicants;
and such grounds shall be set apart and remain as public scallop grounds
for the common use of the citizens of this State so long as the Commission
may deem best, and shall not be assigned to anyone during such period.
Provided, however, that any person who has procured an oyster and/or
clamming license shall have the privilege of taking and catching scallops
under such license.

§ 28.1-164. (RESERVED)

CRABS

§ 28.1-165. Licenses to take crabs; amount of tax; restrictions on
privilege.—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 inspector 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 sub-sections:

(1) For each person taking or catching crabs by dip nets, net,
ordinary trot line, hand rake, or hand scrape, pushed or pulled, or with
any device other than hand line, three dollars and seventy-five cents;
provided 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
dollars; 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 addi-
tional license. A peeler pot is defined as a wire mesh pot baited with only
live adult male (jimmy) blue crabs.

(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) For each picking, crating and/or shedding house, sixteen dollars
and fifty cents.

(6) For each boat or motor vehicle in excess of three used in buying
crabs, and for each person or firm engaged in marketing crabs by barrel
or crate, eight dollars and twenty-five cents; but 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, two dollars and fifty cents.

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

§ 28.1-166. Use of scrapes or dredges.—No scrapes or dredges shall
be used for catching crabs between the first day of April and the first
day of December of any year; provided that the Commission of Fisheries,
when in its judgment it is deemed advisable on account of weather con-
ditions and not contrary to the public interest to do so, may open any
season on the sixteenth day of November and it may likewise extend any
season to the sixteenth day of April; nor shall scrapes or dredges be used
at any time of the year in any of the rivers, or their estuaries, inlets, or
creeks for the purpose of taking crabs except on the ocean side of
Accomack and Northampton Counties. This section shall not apply to the
taking or catching of soft crabs or the crab known as the “peeler” crab.

§ 28.1-167. Limitations on sizes of crabs to be taken.—lIt 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 ship-
ping container of hard crabs, which measure less than four inches across
the shell from tip to tip of the spikes next to 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
semale crabs, peeler crabs and soft crabs are exempt from these limi-

ions. .

§ 28.1-168. Limiting the taking of crabs by one boat in one day.—
Whenever, in the discretion of the Commission, the interest of conservation
and/or the crabbing industry so require, the Commission may limit the
taking or catching of crabs by any one boat in any one day. Such regulation,
upon becoming effective, shall have the full force and effect of law and
violation thereof is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor.

Possession of crabs in excess of the amount provided by such regula-
tion shall be prima facie evidence of violation, provided, however, that the
provisions of this section shall not apply to crab buy boats.

§ 28.1-169. Peeler crab defined.—A peeler crab for the purposes of
this article is a crab that has a soft shell fully developed under the hard
shell, or a crab on which there is a pink or white line or rim on the edge
of that part of the “back fin’ next to the outer section of this fin.

§ 28.1-170. Closed season for taking “sponge” crabs in certain area.
—It shall be unlawful for any person to take or catch “sponge” crabs from,
or have in his possession sponge crabs in the following area from the
fifteenth day of May to the fifteenth day of September, both inclusive, of
every year. The limits of the area are defined as follows:

Beginning at the Nansemond Hotel, Ocean View, Norfolk, Virginia,
and thence in a general northerly direction to Thimble Shoal Lighthouse;
thence running in approximately a northeasterly direction to Cape Charles
Lighthouse, located on Smiths Island; and thence in approximately a
southeastern direction to Cape Henry Lighthouse, and bounded by the shore
line; and thence following the shore line in a general westerly direction
back to the Nansemond Hotel, the point of beginning.

§ 28.1-171. License number to be displayed on boat.—In licensing a
person for taking crabs with boat the inspector shall cause to be placed at
the conspicuous point on the starboard side of such boat, or on the mast
thereof, a number, and the number or numbers shall be kept displayed
during the crabbing season by the master of the boat.

28.1-172. Taking crabs on Sunday or at night time.—No person
shall take from the waters of the Commonwealth crabs for commercial
purposes on Sunday or between one hour after sunset and one hour before
sunrise. This section shall not apply to peeler pound or floats.

28.1-173. Use of crab traps and crab pounds to take crabs.—lIt
shall be unlawful to place, set or use crab traps or crab pounds within one
hundred yards of any other crab trap or crab pound without respect to
whether or not such other crab pound or fyke is owned by the same or
some other person, firm, corporation or association. Any person, firm,
corporation or association violating any of the provisions of this chapter
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided by law.

§ 28.1-174. Crabs for household use.—Nothing in this article shall
apply to anyone taking or catching not more than one bushel per day of
crabs for immediate household use.

HEALTH PROVISIONS

§ 28.1-175. Examination, analysis and inspection of fish, shellfish,
growing areas, packing houses, etc——For the purpose of protecting the
fish and shellfish industries of the State, as well as the public health of the
country, and preventing the sale of fish and shellfish which are deemed
unfit for market, the State Health Commissioner is hereby directed in his
discretion, or at the request of the Governor or the Commission or Com-
missioner of Fisheries, to make an examination or analysis of the
fish and shellfish, whether on the planting grounds, in packing house,
or in any other place or places in this State, from which such fish and shell-
fish are to be taken or sold for food purposes. The Health Commissioner
in making such examination may make an analysis of the sea water and
bottom sediment in and adjacent to the shellfish growing areas, for evi-
dence of pollution, in making such examination and analysis, the Health
Commissioner or his designated agents or employees shall use the accept-
able scientific methods. The Health Commissioner may.also make a survey
of the sanitary conditions and pollution hazards adjacent to shellfish
growing areas, both in the water and on shore.

And the Health Commissioner in making such examination of oyster-
packing houses or other places so designated shall examine the packing
houses and plants wherein fish and shellfish are handled and the sanitary
conditions surrounding the packing house and plant. The Health Commis-
sioner, when making an examination of the packing houses and plants,
may or may not make an analysis of the fish and shellfish in the packing
house or plant at the time the inspection or examination is made.

§ 28.1-176. Polluted ground or shellfish.i—When the State Health
Commissioner determines, as a result of an examination, analysis or
inspection, made pursuant to this chapter, that the shellfish upon such
ground, or in such packing houses, or fish or crab meat in packing houses
or other places where they are sold, or offered for sale as in the preceding
section described, are unfit for market; or that such shellfish growing area
is polluted or has a pollution hazard so great as to render it an unfit
ground upon which to take oysters from for processing or consumption;
or that such packing house or other place is so insanitary as to render it
an unfit place in which to prepare fish, shellfish or crab meat for market,
the State Health Commissioner shall notify the Commissioner of Fisheries,
and owner/or operator of such grounds, packing house, or other place of
such fact.

Upon receipt of such notice, the owner or operator of such grounds,
packing house, or other place, shall cease to take shellfish from such ground,
except as is hereinafter provided, and shall cease to prepare for market,
or to sell, or offer for sale, or to dispose of in any manner, fish, shellfish
or crab meat in such packing houses or other place, as herein mentioned,
until the cause for such notice shall have been removed or relieved to the
satisfaction of the Health Commissioner. ;

And the Health Commissioner may establish, alter and change, in his
discretion, at any time, standards, examinations, analysis and inspections
which shall control the taking and marketing from a health standpoint, of
fish, shellfish, and crab meat; and he shall be the sole judge as to whether
or not such fish, shellfish and crab meat are sanitary and fit for market
and also of such standards, examinations, analysis and inspection.

§ 28.1-177. Condemnation of polluted ground or area.—When from
examination of or analysis of the shellfish in a shellfish growing area, or the
bottom in or adjacent to such area, or the water over such area, or the sani-
tary or pollution conditions adjacent to or in near proximity to a shellfish
growing area, the State Health Commissioner determines that the shellfish
growing in such area is unfit for market, he shall, after notifying the
Commissioner of Fisheries, cause limits or boundaries of such area upon
which such shellfish are located or planted to be fixed, which area shall be
condemned, and remain so until such time as the Health Commissioner
shall find such shellfish or area sanitary and not polluted. The Commission
of Fisheries, with instructions from the State Health Department, shall
erect markers or signs designating condemned areas. The necessary
markers or signs shall be supplied to the Commission of Fisheries by the
State Health Department.

A shellfish growing area and the shellfish located thereon may be
condemned for the following periods:

1. Condemned for an indefinite period, which shall remain in effect
until some major improvement in pollution abatement occur on the stream
in question.

2. Seasonably condemned area where recreation or certain other
activities in or adjacent to the area may cause pollution of the growing
area during certain seasons of the year.

3. Conditionally condemned areas which are sanitary and open under
normal conditions, but which because of potential pollution hazards may
be closed by the Health Commissioner at any time without advance notice
or a prior hearing, provided that relative to said area there must be a
hearing within 30 days after the area is condemned, unless it is re-opened
within said period. Areas not condemned as stated in this and the above
two numbered paragraphs are in effect approved.

§ 28.1-178. Emergency closing of ground.—The State Health Com-
missioner may close or declare any shellfish growing area in this State as
polluted without a hearing or investigation, if he has substantial evidence
or information upon which to conclude that such area is polluted or likely
to be polluted, provided that in such event, the State Health Commissioner
must within thirty days after such closure or declaration, either re-open
said area or make the examination, inspection, and analysis provided for
in §§ 28.1-175, 28.1-176 and 28.1-177. If such grounds or area are not
re-opened or declared not polluted within thirty days after closure or
declaration of pollution, any lease holder in said area may demand and
have a public hearing as to the conditions of the ground or area.

§ 28.1-179. Removal, transportation, etc., from polluted ground.—
(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 approvec
grounds.

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 re-
move, transport and/or relay shellfish from condemned area shall keep ac-
curate records and submit monthly reports to the Commission, which shal]
designate 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 en-
gaged 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 ex-
piration date thereof.

(3) Application for the special permit, provided for in sub-section
(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 scheduled
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 1st to November 1st.

(b) The season for the removal, and/or relaying of shellfish from
public grounds shall be from May 1st to August 15th.

(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 an-
other area where they may be cleansed and made fit for market, shall dis-
play a yellow flag of not less than thirty inches in length and eighteen in-
ches in width before any shellfish are placed thereon, and the flag shall be
jisplayed during the entire relaying operation.

(6) It shall be the duty of the inspector of the Commission of Fisher-
es, 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. Clean shell-
fish and shellfish from condemned areas shall not be mixed in any quantity
in the same cargo. No shellfish from condemned areas shall remain on a
truck after sunset, the cargo must be planted before sunset; unless such
truck is parked under the complete control and supervision of a Fisheries
Inspector or an employee of the Department of Health.

(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 regula-
tions 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.

§ 28.1-180. Who to enforce preceding sections; rules and regula-
tions; duty of Commonwealth’s attorney.—The State Health Commis-
sioner and the Commissioner of Fisheries are hereby charged with the
enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and for the purpose of
carrying out their provisions, they may make uniform rules and regula-
tions, and it shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth, to
whom they or either of them shall report any violation of this chapter to
cause proceedings to be commenced and prosecuted, without delay, for the
fines and penalties in such cases provided.

§ 28.1-181. Violations.—It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to have in their possession, to store, to sell, or to offer for sale
any shellfish which have been removed or taken from a condemned area
other than as provided in § 28.1-179, or to in any way violate any provi-
sion found in this chapter. Upon conviction of violating any provision of
this chapter any boat, vessel, motor vehicle and/or equipment used in com-
mitting said violation may be forfeited as provided by the provisions of
Chapter 8 of this title.

§ 28.1-182. Certification of oysters and clams from out of state.—
All oysters and clams in the shell imported, brought, or transported into
this State for processing or consumption within this State must have a
certificate from the appropriate agency of the state of origin that said
oysters and clams came from clean, approved areas of water of that state.
Any such oysters or clams imported, brought or transported into this
State which are not accompanied by such certificate are deemed to have
come from polluted waters and shall not be sold or processed for consump-
tion within this State but must be replanted in compliance with the pro-
visions and requirements of § 28.1-179.
§ 28.1-183. Powers of officers charged with enforcement.—For the
purpose of carrying out the provisions of the six preceding sections, the
State Health Commissioner 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 pro-
visions 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 Common-
wealth, 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.

§ 28.1-183.1. Common carriers—Common carriers transporting sea-
foods designated in this chapter must carry a bill of lading listing the
seafood cargo, the shipper and the consignee. In the event such cargo is
found to be in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, it shall
be taken possession of as provided in § 28.1-183, the shipper shall be held
liable and the common carrier shall be relieved of the violations and pen-
alties set forth in this chapter.

PROVISIONS, JURISDICTION, FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

§ 28.1-184. Who may issue warrant of arrest and seizure.—Where a
proceeding is instituted for the violation of any section of this title, an
affidavit of such violation may be made before an inspector, a justice of
the peace or the Judge or Clerk of any court, and upon such affidavit the
inspector, justice of the peace, Judge or Clerk may issue his warrant for
the apprehension of the offender.

§ 28.1-185. Arrest and seizure with or without warrant.—The Com-
missioner or any member of the Commission of Fisheries, all inspectors,
police captains of boats, and other employees designated by the Commis-
sioner in the service, shall have the power, with or without warrant, to
arrest any person or persons found violating any of the fish or shellfish
laws, and to seize any vessel, boat, craft, motor vehicle conveyance or
other thing used in violating any of such laws, together with the cargo of
such vessel, boat, craft, motor vehicle conveyance or other thing.

Any property declared forfeited by any of the provisions of the title
of this code, the seizure and disposition whereof is not otherwise provided
for, may be seized by a sheriff or any designated employee of the Commis-
sion under a warrant issued by a Justice of the Peace or of a Court not
of record.

§ 28.1-186. Procedure after arrest and seizure.—Any person so
arrested may be carried before a county or municipal court for trial, or
may be committed to jail pending trial or admitted to bail or released on
recognizance as provided by general law; or the arresting officer may issue
a summons requiring such person to appear for trial at a time and place
specified therein before a court having jurisdiction to try the offense; such
time shall not, however, be less than five days from the date of arrest
unless such person request an earlier hearing. Any person failing to
appear as directed in such summons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
regardless of the disposition of, and in addition to, the charge upon which
he was originally arrested and upon such failure to appear a warrant fo:
his arrest may be issued. ; ;

Any vessel, boat, craft, motor vehicle conveyance, or other thing seizec
under the provisions of § 28.1-185 may be held by the inspector or othe.
official who made the seizure, or in whose district the same was seized
until the accused has paid the penalty of his offense if upon trial he 1:
found guilty, or has upon trial been acquitted, as the case may be.

§ 28.1-187. Violations constitute misdemeanor.—A violation of an}
of the provisions of this title unless otherwise specifically provided, shal
constitute a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine up to and including
but not to exceed, one thousand dollars and/or a sentence in jail up to one
year, either or both.

§ 28.1-188. Pursuit and arrest of law violators who cross Maryland-
Virginia line.—(a) It shall be lawful for any police officer of the Con.
servation Commission of Maryland, or other officer of such commission
having policing powers and charged with the duty of enforcing the fish
and shellfish laws of Maryland, along the Maryland-Virginia line in the
Chesapeake Bay, while in the act of arresting or attempting to arrest a
person or persons for an alleged violation of such laws, committed in his
presence and for which he is attempting an immediate arrest, to pursue
such person or persons across the state line into Virginia and to make such
arrest in Virginia.

(b) The several police officers of the Commission of Fisheries of
Virginia and any other officer or agent of the Commission, having policing
powers and charged with the duty of enforcing the fish and shellfish laws
of Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay along the Maryland-Virginia line, are
hereby authorized and empowered to pursue any person or persons whom
they are attempting to arrest for an alleged violation of the fish and shell-
fish laws of Virginia, committed in their presence and for which they are
seeking an immediate arrest, across the state line into Maryland, if any
such person or persons should flee across such line, to arrest such person
or persons in Maryland and to return him or them to Virginia.

(c) This section shall not take effect unless and until the General
Assembly of the State of Maryland shall have enacted concurrent legisla-
tion and the Governor of this Commonwealth shall have issued his pro-
clamation as hereinafter provided; and if and when such concurrent legis-
lation shall have been enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Maryland and provisions made whereby the same will become effective con-
currently herewith, the Governor shall issue his proclamation declaring
the provisions of this section effective.

§ 28.1-189. Using drag-boxes, etc.—It shall be unlawful for any per-
son to use, in collecting or taking fish or shellfish from the waters of this
Commonwealth, any drag-box, tub, sack, or other receptacle for fish or
shellfish so collected or taken, which in the use or moving are dragged or
drawn through the waters of this Commonwealth; or to secrete in a bag,
box, locker, or other closed receptacle any unculled fish,or shellfish taken
from the waters of this Commonwealth. The possession by any person of
a drag-box in the waters of this Commonwealth, or the having in his
possession of any unculled fish or shellfish secreted as aforesaid, shall be
prima facie evidence of the violation of this section.

§ 28.1-190. Faure to keep names of boats in plain view.—The
master or person in charge of any boat, registered for any purpose under
the preceding chapters of this title, or licensed to engage in fisheries of
any sort, shall keep the name of such boat and number of license under
which it is operated in plain view and in the position prescribed, and in
no way conceal such name or number.

§ 28.1-191. Resistance to officer or authorized person, etc.—Any per-
son found guilty of resisting or impeding an officer or other person au-
thorized to make arrests, seizures, examinations or other performances of
duties under the preceding chapters of this title, shall be guilty of a mis-
demeanor.

§ 28.1-192. Failure to perform duty.—The failure of any officer or
other person to perform any duty required of him by any provision of the
preceding chapters of this title shall constitute a misdemeanor.

§ 28.1-193. Jurisdiction of Courts not of record.—Any proceeding
under any section of the preceding chapters of this title may be before a
court of record or not of record in the county or city wherein, or in any
county or city adjacent to the waters in which the offense was committed.

_ _§ 28.1-194. Compromise of violations of fish or shellfish laws pro-
hibited.—No inspector or other officer apprehending any person for any
violation of the fish or shellfish laws shall have power to compromise or
settle with any such offender, or release him from any legal proceedings
resulting from any such violation.

VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE

§ 28.1-195. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, hereafter re-
ferred to as Institute, heretofore operating as the Virginia Fisheries
Laboratory, is continued and shall be an independent research and service
agency subject to the affiliation hereinafter provided for.

It shall be the duty of the Institute:

(a) to conduct studies and investigations of all phases of the seafood
and commercial fishing and sport fishing industries;

(b) to consider means by which fisheries resources may be conserved,
developed and replenished and to advise the Commission of Fisheries and
other agencies and private groups on these matters;

(c) to conduct studies and investigations of problems pertaining to
the other segments of the maritime economy;

(d) to conduct studies and investigations of marine pollution in
cooperation with the State Water Control Board and the Department of
Health and make the resulting data and possible corrective recommenda-
tions available to the appropriate agencies;

(e) to conduct hydrographic and biological studies of the Chesapeake
Bay and the tributaries thereof and all the tidal waters of the Common-
wealth and the contiguous waters of the Atlantic Ocean;

(f) to engage in research in the marine sciences and, with proper
affiliation with one or more accredited institutions of higher learning,
provide education therein;

‘((g) to make such special studies and investigations concerning the
foregoing as it may be requested to do by the Governor.

The above studies shall include consideration of the seafood and other
marine resources including the waters, bottoms, shorelines, tidal wetlands,
beaches and all phenomena and problems related to marine waters and
the means by which these marine resources might be conserved, developed
and replenished.

§ 28.1-196. In conducting its studies and investigations under the
preceding section the Institute is authorized to obtain and make use of the
services of any agency, public or private. The Institute is further author-
ized, subject to the provisions of law, to solicit, accept and make use of
such funds as are made available from any source, public and private, for
the purpose of furthering the studies and investigations and to work and
cooperate with appropriate State agencies and with similar agencies and
institutions in other states and the United States in conducting the work
authorized hereby. The Institute, its officers, agents, employees, or persons
operating under its direction may take or cause to be taken for scientific
purposes, any fish or other marine organism at any time from the waters
of Virginia, and with the consent of the Commission of Fisheries, may}
cause or permit to be sold such fishes or parts of fishes so taken as may
not be necessary for such purposes. ;

§ 28.1-197. The operation of the Institute, including selection of per.
sonnel, shall be by a Board of Administration consisting of the Commis
sioner of Fisheries, ex officio, and eight other citizens of the State familia
with various phases of the seafood and other maritime segments appointec
by the Governor, who shall appoint the chairman. A person holding some
other State office may be appointed to the Board. Insofar as possible
representation shall be given all branches of the seafood and maritime
industries.

The terms of office of the members shall be as follows: four shall be
appointed for terms of two years and four shall be appointed for terms
of four years. Their successors shall be appointed for terms of four years.
Vacancies occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled
for the unexpired term. The first appointments hereunder shall begin July
one, nineteen hundred sixty-two. No member appointed by the Governor
shall be eligible to serve for more than two successive terms, provided that
a member appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the unexpired
term and may thereafter be appointed to serve two additional successive
terms. The Director of the Institute shall be appointed by the members of
the Board of Administration to serve at the pleasure of the Board.

The members of the Board shall receive no compensation for their
services but appointive members shall be paid their necessary expenses
incurred in the discharge of their duties to be paid from appropriations
to the Institute.

The use of Institute personnel in educational programs shall be sub-
ject to approval of the educational affiliates concerned. Personnel from
other institutions and agencies involved in research and educational activi-
ties shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Administration of the
Institute. The State personnel and appropriation acts shall apply to the
Institute.

§ 28.1-198. The Governor shall appoint a group composed of ten
persons, residents of Tidewater Virginia, and all branches of the seafood
and other maritime industries shall, as far as possible, have representa-
tion on the group. The persons so appointed shall constitute the advisory
group. The advisory group shall meet at least three times a year. The
members appointed shall serve for two years from the date of their ap-
pointment and until their successors are appointed and have qualified. They
shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed
for all ordinary and necessary expenses incurred by them in and about
their services, including their traveling expenses, out of the appropriation
made for the support of the Laboratory.

Such advisory group shall advise and assist the technical personnel
of the Institute in their work; direct their attention to possible problems;
assist in securing the cooperation of the public; help facilitate plans for a
thorough investigation of the commercial and sport fisheries and other
maritime industries and resources; and assist in working out long range
plans for the conservation and repletion of the seafood and other marine
resources of the State.

This section shall be of no further effect after March two, nineteen
hundred sixty-three. |

§ 28.1-199. The Institute shall make an annual report of its findings
and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly.

§ 28.1-200. It shall be unlawful and constitute a misdemeanor for
anyone without authority to destroy, remove, damage, or molest any prop-
erty of the Institute.

§ 28.1-201. (RESERVED)
§ 28.1-202. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact.—

“ARTICLE I
“The purpose of this compact is to promote the better utilization of
the fisheries, marine, shell and anadromous of the Atlantic seaboard by
the development of a joint program for the promotion and protection of
such fisheries, and by the prevention of the physical waste of the fish-
eries from any cause. It is not the purpose of this compact to authorize the
states joining herein to limit the production of fish or fish products for
the purpose of establishing or fixing the price thereof, or creating and per-
petuating monopoly.
“ARTICLE II

“This agreement shall become operative immediately as to those
states executing it whenever any two or more of the states of Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia and Florida have executed it in the form that is in accordance
with the laws of the executing state and the Congress has given its consent.
Any state contiguous with any of the aforementioned states and riparian
upon waters frequented by anadromous fish, flowing into waters under
the jurisdiction of any of the aforementioned states, may become a party
hereto as hereinafter provided.

“ARTICLE III

“Each state joining herein shall appoint three representatives to a
Commission hereby constituted and designated as the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission. One shall be the executive officer of the
administrative agency of such state charged with the conservation of the
fisheries resources to which this compact pertains or, if there be more
than one officer or agency, the official of that state named by the governor
thereof. The second shall be a member of the legislature of such state
designated by the Commission or Committee on Interstate Cooperation of
such state, or if there be none, or if said Commission on Interstate Cooper-
ation cannot constitutionally designate the said member; such legislator
shall be designated by the governor thereof; provided, that if it is con-
stitutionally impossible to appoint a legislator as a commissioner from
such state, the second member shall be appointed by the governor of said
state in his discretion. The third shall be a citizen who shall have a knowl-
edge of and interest in the marine fisheries problem, to be appointed by
the governor. The Commission shall be a body corporate with the powers
and duties set forth herein.

“ARTICLE IV

“The duty of the said Commission shall be to make inquiry and as-
certain from time to time such methods, practices, circumstances and
conditions as may be disclosed for bringing about the consideration of the
prevention of the depletion and physical waste of the fisheries, marine,
shell and anadromous, of the Atlantic seaboard. The Commission shall
have power to recommend the coordination of the exercise of the police
powers of the several states within their respective jurisdictions to pro-
mote the preservation of those fisheries and their protection against over-
fishing, waste, depletion or any abuse whatsoever and to assure a continu-
ing yield from the fisheries resources of the aforementioned states.
“To that end the Commission shall draft and, after consultation with
the Advisory Committee hereinafter authorized, recommend to the gover-
nors and legislatures of the various signatory states legislation dealing
with the conservation of the marine, shell and anadromous fisheries of the
Atlantic seaboard. The Commission shall, more than one month prior to
any regular meeting of the legislature in any signatory state, present to
the governor of the state its recommendations relating to enactments to be
made by the legislature of that state in furthering the intents and pur-
poses of this compact.

The Commission shall consult with and advise the pertinent ad-
ministrative agencies in the states party hereto with regard to problems
connected with the fisheries and recommend the adoption of such regula-
tions as it deems advisable.

“The Commission shall have power to recommend to the states party
hereto the stocking of the waters of such states with fish and fish eggs,
or joint stocking by some or all of the states party hereto, and when two
or more of the states shall jointly stock waters the Commission shall act
as the coordinating agency for such stocking.

“ARTICLE V

“The Commission shall elect from its number a Chairman and a Vice
Chairman and shall appoint and at its pleasure remove or discharge such
officers and employees as may be required to carry the provisions of this
compact into effect, and shall fix and determine their duties, qualifications
and compensation. Said Commission shall adopt rules and regulations for
the conduct of its business. It may establish and maintain one or more
offices for the transaction of its business and may meet at any time or
place but must meet at least once a year.

“ARTICLE VI
“No action shall be taken by the Commission in regard to its general
affairs except by the affirmative vote of a majority of the whole number
of compacting states present at any meeting. No recommendation shall be
made by the Commission in regard to any species of fish except by the
affirmative vote of a majority of the compacting states which have an
interest in such species. The Commission shall define what shall be an in-

terest.
“ARTICLE VII

“The Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior of
the Government of the United States shall act as the primary research
agency of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, cooperating
with the research agencies in each state for that purpose. Representatives
of the said Fish and Wildlife Service shall attend the meetings of the Com-
mission.

“An Advisory Committee to be representative of the commercial
fishermen and the salt water anglers and such other interest of each state
as the Commission deems advisable shall be established by the Commis-
sion as soon as practicable for the purpose of advising the Commission upon
such recommendations as it may desire to make.

“ARTICLE VIII

‘When any state other than those named specifically in Article II of
this compact shall become a party thereto for the purpose of conserving
its anadromous fish in accordance with the provisions of Article II the
participation of such state in the action of the Commission shall be limited
to such species of anadromous fish.

“ARTICLE IX

“Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit the powers of
any signatory state or to repeal or prevent the enactment of any legisla-
tion or the enforcement of any requirement by any signatory state im-
posing additional conditions and restrictions to conserve its fisheries.

“ARTICLE X
“Continued absence of representation or of any representative on
the Commission from any state party hereto shall be brought to the at-
tention of the governor thereof.

“ARTICLE XI

“The states party hereto agree to make annual appropriations to the
support of the Commission in proportion to the primary market value of
the products of their fisheries, exclusive of cod and haddock, as recorded
in the most recent published reports of the Fish and Wildlife Service of
the United States Department of the Interior, provided no state shall con-
tribute less than two hundred dollars per annum and the annual contribu-
tion of each state above the minimum shall be figured to the nearest one
hundred dollars.

“The compacting states agree to appropriate initially the annual
amounts scheduled below, which amounts are calculated in the manner
set forth herein, on the basis of the catch record of 1938. Subsequent bud-
gets shall be recommended by a majority of the Commission and the cost
thereof allocated equitably among the states in accordance with their re-
spective interests and submitted to the compacting states.

“SCHEDULE OF INITIAL STATE CONTRIBUTIONS

0 E06 $ 700 | DY) F-'¢:) 5; $ 200
New Hampshire ............ esuesee 200 Maryland oo ccccccccccccceenececscesmeeeeee 700
Massachusetts 0... ceccessecnn 2800 Virginia cece sceceseseeee ee 1,300
Rhode [slam nea ccscccecenceean 300 North Carolina ................. 600
Commecticut oo ceeeeceeneees 400 South Carolina ccccccccccccocccccccccce 200
New York oon. ecccseceseteccenee 1,300 GOT TIA cccceveetnsnscesecsnscecsnsceee 200
NeW Jersey ieecccecscnecsessnssceeeee 800 1 Fo Us eee 1,500

“ARTICLE XII

“This compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon each
compacting state until renounced by it. Renunciation of this compact must
be preceded by sending six months’ notice in writing of intention to with-
draw from the compact to the other states party hereto.

“Section 2. Without further submission of said compact, the consent
and approval of Congress is hereby given to the States of Connecticut, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and for the purpose of the
better utilization of their anadromous fisheries, to the States of Vermont and
Pennsylvania, to enter into said compact as signatory states and as parties
thereto, in addition to the states which have now ratified the compact.

“Section 3. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission consti-
tuted by the compact shall make an annual report to Congress not later
than sixty days after the beginning of each regular session thereof. Such
report shall set forth the activities of the Commission during the calendar
year ending immediately prior to the beginning of such session.

“Section 4. The right to alter, amend, or repeal the provisions of
Sections 1, 2 and 8 is hereby expressly reserved, provided that nothing in
this compact shall be construed to limit or add to the powers of the pro-
prietory interest of any signatory state or to repeal or prevent the enact-
ment of any legislation or the enforcement of any requirement by a signa-
tory state imposing additional conditions and restrictions to conserve its

fisheries.
“AMENDMENT NUMBER 1
“The states consenting to this amendment agree that any two or more
of them may designate the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
as joint regulatory agency with such powers as they may jointly confer
from time to time for the regulation of the fishing operations of the citi-
zens and vessels of such designating states with respect to specific fisheries
in which such states have a common interest. The representatives of such
states on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission shall constitute
a separate section of such commission for the exercise of the additional
powers so granted provided that the states so acting shall appropriate
additional funds for this purpose. The creation of such section as a joint
regulatory agency shall not deprive the states participating therein of any
of their privileges or powers or responsibilities in the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission under the general compact.”
§ 28.1-203. Potomac River Compact.

PREAMBLE

Whereas, Maryland and Virginia are both vitally interested in con-
serving and improving the valuable fishery resources of the Tidewater
portion of the Potomac River, and

Whereas, certain provisions of the Compact of 1785 between Mary-
land and Virginia having become obsolete, Maryland and Virginia each
recognizing that Maryland is the owner of the Potomac River bed and
waters to the low water mark of the southern shore thereof, as laid out on
the Mathews-Nelson survey of 1927, and that Virginia is the owner of
the Potomac River bed and waters southerly from said low water mark as
laid out, and that the citizens of Virginia have certain riparian rights
along the southern shore of the river, as shown on said Mathews-Nelson
Survey, and, in common with the citizens of Maryland, the right of fishing
In said river, Maryland and Virginia have agreed that the necessary con-
servation and improvement of the tidewater portion of the Potomac
fishery resources can be best achieved by a Commission comprised of
representatives of both Maryland and Virginia, charged with the estab-
lishment and maintenance of a program to conserve and improve these
resources, and

Whereas, at a meeting of the commissioners appointed by the Gover-
nors of the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia, to-wit:
Carlyle Barton, M. William Adelson, Stephen R. Collins, Edward 8. Dela-
plaine and William J. McWilliams, Esquires, on the part of the State of
Maryland, and Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Howard H. Adams, Robert Y. Button,
John Warren Cooke and Edward E. Lane, Esquires, on the part of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, at Mount Vernon, Virginia, on the twentieth
day of December, in the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight,
the following Potomac River Compact of 1958 between the Commonwealth
of Virginia and the State of Maryland was mutually agreed to by the said
Commissioners:

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Commissioners appointed by the
Governors of the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia,
Meeting in joint session, that they do unanimously recommend to the said
respective Governors that there be a new compact, to be designated as the
‘Potomac River Compact of 1958”, and that the said new compact be
referred as promptly as possible to the Legislatures of the State of Mary-
land and the Commonwealth of Virginia for appropriate action, and to the
end and after ratification and adoption by said Legislatures the same be
Submitted to the Congress of the United States for approval.

ARTICLE I
COMMISSION—-MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION
_ § 1. Commission Created.—The Potomac River Fisheries Commis-
sion, hereinafter designated as ‘“‘Commission’’,, is hereby created.

- Members.—The Commission shall consist of six members, three
from Maryland and three from Virginia. The Maryland members shall
be the members of the Tidewater Fisheries Commission of Maryland or
its successor agency and the Virginia members shall be the members of
the Virginia Fisheries Commission or its successor agency. If the member-
ship of either of the respective State Commissions exceeds three, then
the three Commission members from that State shall be selected by the
Governor thereof from the members of the State Commission; and if the
membership of either of the respective State Commissions is less than
three, the three Commission members from that State shall be the member
or members of the State Commission, and such additional person or per-
sons who shall be appointed by the Governor as may be necessary to
constitute a total of three Commissioners.

§ 3. Term, Vacancies.—The term of Commissioners who are mem-
bers of their respective State Commissions shall be conterminous with
their term on their State Commission. The term of Commissioners who
are not members of their State Commission shall be four years. Vacancies
on the Commission shall be filled by appointment of the Governor of the
State entitled to fill the vacancy, except that where the State Commission
has three members, the person filling a vacancy on the State Commission
shall ex officio become a member of the Commission.

§ 4. Chairman.—The Chairman of the Commission shall alternate
from year to year between the representatives of Maryland and Virginia.
Subject to such alternation, the Chairman shall be elected by the Commis-
sioners for a term of one year.

§ 5. Compensation, Expenses.—Commissioners shall be entitled to
receive from the General Fund of the Commission compensation of
twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each day or portion thereof spent in the
performance of their duties, and reimbursement of reasonable expenses
incident to the performance of their duties.

§ 6. Meetings, Quorum.—Commission meetings shall be held at least
once each quarter, and at such other times as the Commission may
determine.

In order to constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business
at least two of the three members from each State must be present and
must vote on the business being transacted.

§ 7. Office and employees——The Commission shall establish and
maintain an office at such locations as it may select, and may employ an
Executive Secretary who shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission,
and such other administrative, clerical, scientific, and legal personnel as
it deems necessary. The powers, duties and compensation of all employees
shall be as prescribed by the Commission, and the employees shall not be
subject to the provisions of Article 64A of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land nor to the provisions of the Virginia Personnel Act, as the same may
be from time to time in effect. The Commission may extend to any employee
or employees membership in the Virginia Supplemental Retirement System
or the Maryland Employees’ Retirement System, whichever is applicable,
subject to the laws relating to each such retirement system.

ARTICLE II
JURISDICTIONAL BOUNDARIES

The territory in which the Potomac River Fisheries Commission shall
have jurisdiction shall be those waters of the Potomac River enclosed
within the following described area:

Beginning at the intersection of mean low water mark at Point Look-
out and an established line running from Smiths Point to Point Lookout,
marking Chesapeake Bay waters; thence following the mean low water
line of the shore northwesterly across the respective mouths of all creeks
to Gray Point at the westerly entrance into Rowley Bay; thence in a
straight line northwesterly to the southerly extremity of Kitts Point;
thence along the mean low water line to the southwesterly point of St
Inigoes Neck; thence in a straight line westerly to the most easterly
point of St. Georges Island; thence following the mean low water line
in a general northwesterly direction, across the respective mouths of all
creeks and inlets to the southwesterly point of Huggins Point; thence in a
straight line southwesterly to the eastern extremity of the sand bar knowr
as Heron Island; thence northwesterly following the ridge of Heron Island
Bar to its westerly extremity; thence southwesterly in a straight line
to the most southerly point of Blackiston Island; thence in a straight line
northwesterly to the southern extremity of Colton’s Point; thence following
the mean low water line, westerly, excluding all creeks and inlets, to the
point marking the southeasterly entrance into St. Catherine Sound;
thence westerly in a straight line to the southern extremity of St. Catherine
Island Sandbar; thence northwesterly, along the westerly edge of said
sand bar continuing along the mean low water line of the southwesterly
side of St. Catherine Island to the northwesterly point of said island;
thence westerly in a straight line to Cobb Point Bar Lighthouse; thence
northwesterly along the ridge of Cobb Point Sandbar to the southerly
extremity of Cobb Point; thence following the mean low water line in
general northwesterly and northerly directions across the respective mouths
of all creeks and inlets to a point at the easterly entrance into Port
Tobacco River, due east of Windmill Point; thence in a straight line
westerly to Windmill Point; thence southwesterly following the mean
low water line across the respective mouths of all creeks and inlets to
Upper Cedar Point; thence southwesterly in a straight line across the
mouth of Nanjemoy Creek to a point on shore at the village of Riverside;
thence following the mean low water line, southwesterly, northwesterly
and northerly across the respective mouths of all creeks and inlets to
Smiths Point; thence northerly in a straight line to Liverpool Point;
thence northerly in a straight line to Sandy Point; thence following the
mean low water line northerly, across the respective mouths of all creeks
and inlets to Moss Point; thence northerly in a straight line across
Chicamuxen Creek to the southernmost point of Stump Neck; thence
following the mean low water line northeasterly, across the respective
mouths of all creeks and inlets, to a point at the southerly entrance into
Mattawoman Creek; thence in a straight line northeasterly across the
mouth of Mattawoman Creek to the southwesterly point of Cornwallis
Neck; thence following the mean low water line northeasterly, across the
respective mouths of all creeks and inlets, to Chapman Point; thence in
a straight line northeasterly to Pomonkey or Hillis Point; thence following
the mean low water line in a northerly direction across the respective
mouths of all creeks and inlets, to a point on Marshall Hall shore, due
south of Ferry Point; thence northeasterly in a straight line to Bryan
Point; thence northeasterly in a straight line to the northwest extremity
of Mockley Point; thence northeasterly in a straight line to Hatton Point;
thence northerly in a straight line to the southwesternmost point of
Indian Queen Bluff; thence following the mean low water line northerly
across the respective mouths of all creeks and inlets, to Rosier Bluff Point;
thence in a straight line northerly to the intersection with the District
of Columbia Line at Fox Ferry Point; thence following the boundary line
of the District of Columbia southwesterly to a point on the lower or
southern shore of the Potomac River, said point being the intersection of
the boundary line of the Commonwealth of Virginia with the boundary
line of the District of Columbia; thence following the mean low water
line of the Potomac River on the southern, or Virginia shore, as defined in
he Black-Jenkins Award of 1877 and as laid out in the Mathews-Nelson
Survey of 1927, beginning at the intersection of the Potomac River and
the District of Columbia line at Jones Point and running to Smiths Point;
and thence in a straight line across the mouth of the Potomac River on the
established line from Smiths Point to Point Lookout, to the mean low
water mark at Point Lookout, the place of beginning.

ARTICLE III
COMMISSION POWERS AND DUTIES

§ 1. Oyster Bars.—The Commission shall make a survey of the
oyster bars within its jurisdiction and may reseed and replant said oyster
bars as may from time to time be necessary.

_§ 2. Fish and Seafood.—_The Commission may by regulation pre-
scribe the type, size and description of all species of finfish, crabs, oysters,
clams and other shellfish which may be taken or caught, within its juris-
diction, the places where they may be taken or caught, and the manner of
taking or catching.

§ 3. Research.—The Commission shall maintain a program of re-
search relating to the conservation and repletion of the fishery resources
within its jurisdiction, and to that end may cooperate and contract with
scientists and public and private scientific agencies engaged in similar
work, and may purchase, construct, lease, borrow or otherwise acquire by
any lawful method such property, structures, facilities, or equipment as it
deems necessary.

§ 4. Licenses.—(a) The Commission shall issue such licenses as it
may prescribe which shall thereupon be required for the taking of finfish,
crabs, oysters, clams or other shellfish from the waters within the jurisdic-
tion of the Commission, and for boats, vessels and equipment used for such
taking. Recognizing that the right of fishing in the territory over which
the Commission shall have jurisdiction is and shall be common to and
equally enjoyed by the citizens of Virginia and Maryland, the Commission
shall make no distinction between the citizens of Virginia or Maryland
in any rule, regulation or the granting of any licenses, privileges, or rights
under this compact.

(b) Licenses for the taking of oysters and clams and the commercial
taking of finfish and crabs within the jurisdiction of the Commission shall
be granted only to citizens of Maryland or Virginia who have resided in
either or both states for at least twelve months immediately preceding the
application for the license. Within six months after the effective date of
this compact, the Commission shall adopt a schedule of licenses, the priv-
ileges granted thereby, and the fees therefor, which may be modified from
time to time in the discretion of the Commission.

(c) The licenses hereby authorized may be issued at such places, by
such persons, and in accordance with such procedures as the Commission
may determine.

§ 5. Expenditures——The Commission is authorized to expend funds
for the purposes of general administration, repletion of the fish and shell-
fish in the Potomac River, and the conservation and research programs
authorized under this compact, subject to the limitations provided in this
compact.

§ 6. Grants, Contributions, etc.—The Commission is authorized to
receive and accept (or to refuse) from any and all public and private
sources such grants, contributions, appropriations, donations, and gifts as
may be given to it, which shall be paid into and become part of the General
Fund of the Commission, except where the donor instructs that it shall be
used for a specific project, study, purpose, or program, in which event it
shall be placed in a special account, which shall be administered under the
same procedure as that prescribed for the General Fund.

§ 7. Cooperation of State Agencies.—The Commission may call upon
the resources and assistance of the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory, the
Maryland Department of Research and Education, and all other agencies,
institutions, and departments of Maryland and Virginia which shall coop-
erate fully with the Commission upon such request.

§ 8. Regulations—The Commission shall have the power to make
adopt and publish such rules and regulations as may be necessary or desir-
able for the conduct of its meetings, such hearings as it may from time to
time hold, and for the administration of its affairs. ;

§ 9. Inspection Tax.—The Commission may impose an inspection
tax, in an amount as fixed from time to time by the Commission, not
exceeding 25c per bushel, upon all oysters caught within the limits of the
Potomac River. The tax shall be paid by the buyer at the place in Mary-
land or Virginia where the oysters are unloaded from vessels and are to
be shipped no further in bulk in vessel, to an agent of the Commission, or
to such officer or employee of the Virginia Fisheries Commission or of the
Maryland Department of Tidewater Fisheries, as may be designated by
the Commission, and by him paid over to the Commission.

ARTICLE IV

COMMISSION REGULATIONS—
PROCEDURE AND REVIEW

§ 1. Notice, Hearing, Vote——No regulation shall be adopted by the
Commission unless:

(a) A public hearing is held thereon:

(b) Prior to the hearing the Commission has given notice of the
proposed regulation by publication thereof at least once a week for three
successive weeks in at least one newspaper published, or having a general
circulation in each county of Maryland and Virginia contiguous to the
waters within the Commission’s jurisdiction, the first such publication to
be at least thirty days but not more than forty-five days prior to the date
of the hearing;

(c) A copy of the proposed regulation is mailed at least thirty days
but not more than forty-five days prior to the hearing, to the clerk of the
court of each county of Maryland and Virginia contiguous to the waters
within the Commission’s jurisdiction, who shall post the same in a con-
spicuous place at or in the courthouse; and

_ (d) The regulation is approved by at least four members of the Com-
rnission.

§ 2. Recording, Effective Date—(a) Regulations of the Commis-
sion shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 1.1 (§ 9-6.1 et seq.)
of Title 9 of the Code of Virginia (1950 Edition, as amended from time to
time), and of section 9 of Article 41 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1957 Edition, as amended from time to time). Copies of Commission
regulations shall be kept on public file and available for public reference
in the offices of the Commission, the office of the clerk of court in each
county of Maryland and Virginia contiguous to the waters within the Com-
mission’s jurisdiction, the office of the Virginia Division of Statutory Re-
search and Drafting, the office of the Maryland Department of Legislative
Reference, the office of the Virginia Fisheries Commission, and the office
of the Maryland Department of Tidewater Fisheries.

(b) No regulation of the Commission shall become effective until
thirty (30) days after the date of its adoption, or such later date as may
be fixed by the Commission.

(c) Leasing, dredging or patent tonging shall be authorized by the
Commission only if such authorization is granted by joint action of the
Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia.

§ 3. Review.—Any person aggrieved by any regulation or order of
the Commission may at any time file a petition for declaratory judgment
with respect to the validity or construction thereof, in the circuit court of
any county in Maryland or Virginia contiguous to the waters within the
Commission’s jurisdiction. A review of the final judgment of the circuit
court may be appealed to the court of highest appellate jurisdiction of the
state in accordance with the rules of procedure in such state.

§ 4. Revision by Legislative Action.—Regulations of the Commis-
sion may be amended, modified, or rescinded by joint enactment of the
General Assembly of Maryland and the General Assembly of Virginia.

§ 5. Revision of Compact.—At any time subsequent to the adoption
of this compact the Governor or Legislature of either Maryland or Virginia
may call for the appointment of a Commission to make further study and
recommendations concerning revision and amendments to this compact, at
which time the Governors of the respective states shall act forthwith in
compliance with the request for the appointment of said Commission.

ARTICLE V

ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS:
PENALTIES

§ 1. Responsibility for enforcement.—The regulations and orders
of the Commission shall be enforced by the joint effort of the law enforce-
ment agencies and officers of Maryland and Virginia.

§ 2. Penalties.—The violation of any regulation of the Commission
shall be a misdemeanor. Unless a lesser punishment is provided by the
Commission, such violation shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one
thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or confinement in a penal institution for not
more than one (1) year, or both, in the discretion of the court, and any
vessel, boat, or equipment used in the taking of finfish, crabs, oysters,
clams, or other shellfish from the Potomac River in violation of any regu-
lation of the Commission or of applicable laws may be confiscated by the
court, upon the abandonment thereof or the conviction of the owner or
operator thereof.

§ 3. Jurisdiction of Court.—The officer making an arrest or prefer-
ring a charge for violation of a regulation of the Commission or an applic-
able state law respecting the waters within the Commission’s jurisdiction
shall take the alleged offender to a court of competent jurisdiction in either
state, in a county adjacent to the portion of the Potomac River where the
anced offense occurred, which shall thereupon have jurisdiction over the
offense.

§ 4. Disposition of fines and forfeitures.—All fines imposed for vio-
lation of regulations of the Commission or applicable state laws respecting
the waters within the Commission’s jurisdiction shall be paid into the
court in which the case is prosecuted, and accounted for under the laws
applicable to that court. Any property confiscated under the provisions of
this compact shall be turned over to the Commission, which may retain,
use or dispose of it as it deems best.

ARTICLE VI

COMMISSION FINANCES

§ 1. Budget.—The Commission shall approve and adopt a proposed
annual budget showing estimated income, revenues, appropriations, and
grants from all sources, and estimated necessary expenditures and shall
send a copy thereof to the Governors of Maryland and Virginia.

Appropriations.—The said Governors shall place in the pro-
posed budget of their respective states for each year the sum of not less
than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) for the expenses and the other
purposes of the Commission for that year, except that none of the sum sc
appropriated shall be used for law enforcement purposes; and the Genera
Assembly of each of the two states agrees to appropriate annually not less
than this sum to the Commission.
§ 3. General Fund.—(a) The General Fund shall consist of:

(1) All income and revenue received from the issuance of licenses
under this compact;

(2) The proceeds of the disposition of property confiscated pursuant
to the provisions of this compact;

(3) The proceeds of the inspection tax upon oysters imposed pursuant
to this compact; and

(4) The funds appropriated to the Commission by the two states.

(b) The General Fund of the Commission shall be kept in such bank
or depository as the Commission shall from time to time select. The Gen-
eral Fund shall be audited annually by the Auditor of Public Accounts of
Virginia and the State Auditor of Maryland acting jointly, and at such
other times as the Commission may request.

ARTICLE VII
EFFECT ON EXISTING LAWS AND PRIOR COMPACT

§ 1. Existing rights.—The rights, including the privilege of erect-
ing and maintaining wharves and other improvements, of the citizens of
each state along the shores of the Potomac River adjoining their lands
shall be neither diminished, restricted, enlarged, increased nor otherwise
altered by this compact, and the decisions of the courts construing that
portion of Article VII of the Compact of 1785 relating to the rights of
riparian owners shall be given full force and effect.

§ 2. Existing laws.—The laws of the State of Maryland relating to
finfish, crabs, oysters, and clams in the Potomac River, as set forth in
Article 66C of the Annotated Code of Maryland and as in effect on Decem-
ber 1, 1958, shall be and remain applicable in the Potomac River except to
the extent changed, amended, or modified by regulations of the Commis-
sion adopted in accordance with this compact.

§ 3. Existing licenses.—The rights and privileges of licensees to take
and catch finfish, crabs, oysters, clams, and other shellfish in the Potomac
River, which are in effect at the time this compact becomes effective, shall
continue in force for a period of six months at which time every such
license and every such right and privilege shall be abrogated.

ARTICLE VIII
EFFECT OF RATIFICATION

These articles shall be laid before the Legislatures of Virginia and
Maryland, and their approbation being obtained, shall be confirmed and
ratified by a law of each state, never to be repealed or altered by either,
without the consent of the other.

ARTICLE IX
EFFECTIVE DATE

This compact, which takes the place of the Compact of 1785 between
Maryland and Virginia, shall take effect at the expiration of sixty days
after the completion of the last act legally necessary to make it operative,
and qnereupon the said Compact of 1785 shall no longer have any force
or effect.

§ 28.1-203.1. Cooperation of agencies of Commonwealth; when effec-
tive-—All governmental agencies of the Commonwealth of Virginia are
authorized to cooperate with the Potomac River Fisheries Commission
created by the compact approved by this chapter, it being the policy of
this Commonwealth to perform and carry out the compact and accomplish
the purposes thereof.

The compact approved herein and other provisions of this chapter
dependent thereon shall become effective upon the ratification and approval
of the compact by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland and
upon approval of this compact by the Congress of the United States.
§ 28.1-204. Who may take fish, oysters or crabs.—It shall be lawful
for any citizen of the State of Maryland or of this State to take fish,
oysters or crabs from the Potomac River after complying with the require-
ments of the laws of the State of which he is a citizen for the taking of
fish, oysters, or crabs from the waters of such State.

It shall not be lawful for any person to take or catch fish, except by
hook and line, or oysters or crabs in any manner whatever in the waters
of the Potomac River unless he be a citizen of Maryland or of Virginia,
and shall have been a resident of the State of which he is a citizen for
twelve months immediately preceding. Any such nonresident violating this
section shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars; furthermore any
vessel, with its equipment and cargo, or any net or other appliances used
In violating this section, shall be deemed forfeited to the State.

§ 28.1-205. Restriction as to time and manner of taking oysters.—
It shall not be lawful:

(1) For any citizen of Maryland or Virginia to take or catch oysters
with a scoop, scrape, dredge or any such instrument in the waters of the
Potomac River between the fifteenth day of March and the first day of
November of each year;

(2) For any citizen of either State to take oysters with tongs from
the waters of the Potomac River between the fifteenth day of April and
or aiteenth day of September of each year, except as provided in

8.1-207;

(3) For any person to have in possession any oysters taken from the
waters of the Potomac River between the twentieth day of April and the
fifteenth day of September of each year, except as provided in § 28.1-206. |

Every person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this
section shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars for each offense, and the vessel, together with its equipment and
cargo, used in violating any such provisions, shall be forfeited to the State.

§ 28.1-206. Culling of oysters required; exception; procedure on
violation.—All oysters taken from any natural rocks, beds or shoals within
the Potomac River shall be 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, whether attached to a marketable
oyster or not, and all shells shall be included in such culling and replaced
on such rocks, beds or shoals; provided, that oysters once passed from
the culler less than the prohibited size and all shells shall be considered as
not having been culled according to the provisions of this section and for
the purpose of this section shall be declared to be unmerchantable oysters.
When oysters measuring less than three inches are adhering so closely to
the shell of a marketable oyster as to render removal impossible without
destroying the small oysters, then such oysters, including the marketable
oyster or oysters, shall be returned to the bed or bar from which they
were taken. And it shall be unlawful for any person to take, buy or sell
the small oysters and shells from the natural rocks, beds, and shoals as
aforesaid, or to take, buy, sell or have in possession oysters less than three
inches in length from hinge to mouth.

Whenever any inspector or other officer shall have reason to believe
that this section has been violated with reference to the culling of oysters,
such inspector or other officer is hereby authorized to examine the cargo
of any boat or vessel, and if upon examination of such cargo, the inspector
or other officer shall find that five per centum or more of the cargo shall
consist of shells and oysters whose shells measure less than three inches
in length, measuring from hinge to mouth, the captain of the boat or other
person in charge of the boat shall be deemed to have violated this section,
and upon conviction, if of a dredge boat or vendor of oysters, shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars, or confined in jail not less than
thirty days nor more than six months, either or both, and in addition to
such fine or imprisonment the cargo shall be confiscated and returned to
the natural beds under the supervision of the oyster inspector or other
officer making the arrest, and at the expense of the violator, which expense
shall be in addition to the fine imposed and collectible in the same manner,
and the boat or vessel on which such oysters are found shall be held as
security for the payment of the fine; if of a boat in which only oyster
tongs are used, the captain or other person in charge shall be fined not
less than fifty dollars or confined in jail not less than fifteen days nor more
than three months, either or both, and the cargo shall be confiscated and
returned to the natural beds under the supervision of the oyster inspector
or other officer making the arrest. The boat or vessel on which the oysters
are found shall be held as security for the payment of such fine, provided,
however, that when any person shall be found with oysters in violation
of this section, he shall be presumed to be a dredger or vendor of oysters,
and if he claims to be a tonger the burden shall be upon such person to
show that he is a tonger only.

In case there is an appeal or waiver of trial before a trial justice,
in order to provide for the disposition of any oysters that have been
declared unmerchantable, the cargo of oysters shall remain in the posses-
sion or custody of the deputy commander, inspector or other officer making
the arrest until the captain of the boat or vessel or the packer shall have
reculled the oysters in question; and the officer under whose supervision
the reculling is done, after ascertaining the quantity of unmerchantable
oysters and shells so culled out, shall give the captain or other person
in charge of the vessel or packing house, a certificate showing the number
of bushels of such unmerchantable oysters and the captain or other person
shall return the unmerchantable oysters so culled out to the natural beds or
bars under the supervision of the officer. The cost of reculling and expenses
incident to same shall be borne by the violator.

This section shall not apply to seed oysters or plants taken under
other provisions of this chapter from that portion of the Potomac River
above a straight line drawn from the north point at the mouth of Upper
Machodoc creek, in the county of King George, Virginia, to Lower Cedar
Point, in Charles county, Maryland.

§ 28.1-207. Taking oysters with tongs above certain line; dredging
or scraping with certain boats.—lIt shall be lawful between the first day
of October and the fifteenth day of April of each year and at no other time,
to take marketable oysters with ordinary or patent tongs, and in no other
manner, from the natural rocks, beds and shoals in the Potomac River
above a straight line drawn from North point at the mouth of Upper
Machodoc Creek in the county of King George, Virginia, to Lower Cedar
Point in Charles county, Maryland. Any citizen of Maryland or of Vir-
ginia, who has complied with all the requirements of the oyster laws of his
state entitling him to the privilege for a certain period of taking and
catching oysters with ordinary or patent tongs in such state, shall have
the right without further license tax to take marketable oysters with such
tongs above such line during the open season provided for in the waters
above the line.

It shall be unlawful to dredge or scrape on the natural rocks, beds, and
shoals of the Potomac River at any time with any boat propelled other
than by sail, or with a power boat from which the shaft and propeller
have not been withdrawn, and the penalties otherwise prescribed for
mai dredging shall be imposed under this section for any violation

ereof.

§ 28.1-208. Permit required for buying or carrying seed oysters.—
It shall be lawful for any citizen of Maryland or Virginia after having
obtained a permit as hereinafter provided, to buy and carry out of the
Potomac River to be planted in the waters of either Maryland or Virginia,
oysters whose shells measure less than two and one-half inches from hinge
to mouth taken from natural rocks, beds and shoals in such river above
a straight line drawn from the north point at the mouth of Upper Macho-
doc Creek, in the county of King George, Virginia, to Lower Cedar Point,
in Charles county, Maryland, during the period between the first day of
January and the first day of May in any year. The permit shall be obtained
from any oyster inspector, or any officer in charge of a Virginia or Mary-
land oyster police boat, for each boat or vessel to be used in carrying such
oysters as aforesaid, and shall state the name and tonnage (if registered
in the custom house) of the boat or vessel, the name of the owner, and
the master thereof, and to what waters in Maryland or Virginia such
cargo of oysters is to be carried.

Before such permit shall be granted, the owner or master of such boat
or vessel shall take and subscribe to an oath before such officer that the
boat or vessel will not be used for carrying the oysters to any state other
than Maryland or Virginia, or for any other purpose than for planting
the same in the waters of one or the other of the said states, and that he
will not sell the oysters to any other person for the purpose of carrying
the same to any state other than Maryland or Virginia. The oath so taken
and subscribed, together with a memorandum of the permit issued, shall
be returned by the officer to the commander of the state fishery force of
Maryland, if the officer be a Maryland official, or to the Secretary of the
Commission of Fisheries of Virginia, if the officer be a Virginia official,
to be filed by him in his office. Blank forms for such oath and permit shall
be furnished to the respective oyster inspectors, and the captains of the
oyster police boats by the Comptroller of Maryland and the Auditor of
Public Accounts of Virginia. For administering such oath and issuing the
permit, the inspector or officer issuing the same shall be entitled to receive
from the applicant a fee of twenty-five cents.

The owner or master of any boat or vessel found carrying or buying
such seed oysters without such permit shall be fined not less than twenty
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars. And any owner or master of
any boat or vessel violating the provisions of this section by buying or car-
rying or knowingly selling such seed oysters to be carried elsewhere, or for
any other purpose than to be planted in the waters of Maryland or Vir-
ginia, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one
thousand dollars, and in addition thereto the boat or vessel so used shall,
with its cargo and equipment, be forfeited to the state wherein such
offender is convicted.

No permit shall be granted to any person engaged in taking or catch-
ing, buying or carrying seed oysters or having in his possession oysters
measuring less than two and one-half inches from hinge to mouth, who
shall have any scoop, scrape or dredge or any part thereof, on any boat
or vessel to be used in taking, buying or carrying seed oysters; and it shall
be the duty of the officer who issues such permit to first inspect the boat
or vessel and satisfy himself that no such appliance is on such boat or
vessel before he issues any permit. Any person who shall have any scoop,
scrape or dredge or any part thereof on any boat or vessel engaged in
catching, buying or carrying seed oysters or oysters measuring less than
two and one-half inches from hinge to mouth, and any owner or master of
any boat or vessel violating the provisions of this section by having any
scrape, scoop or dredge or any part thereof on any boat or vessel engaged
in taking, catching, buying or carrying seed oysters shall be fined not less
than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars,
and in addition thereto, the boat or vessel so used with its cargo and
equipment shall be forfeited to the state wherein such offender is
convicted.

§ 28.1-209. Taking fish and crabs; how licenses procured.—Any
citizen of Maryland or Virginia desiring to fish for market or profit with
a pound net, fyke net, gill net, haul seine, sturgeon net, weir or other
device, in the waters of the Potomac River, shall first apply to the regu-
larly constituted officer as determined by the laws or regulations of the
state of which he is a resident and in the district or locality in which the
applicant resides, except that the applicant for license to fish with a fixed
device shall apply to the officer of the district or locality in which such
fixed device is proposed to be located, for a license, and state on oath, the
true name or names of the person or persons applying for such license,
that they are, and have been for twelve months next preceding, residents
of the state in which such application has been made, the place at which
the net, seine, fyke, weir or other device is to be fished, and that during
the period of the license he will not violate any of the laws of the state in
which he resides in relation to the taking and catching of fish; provided
nothing in this section shall apply to any person using a net solely for the
purpose of supplying his own table. Such oyster inspector or other author-
ized officer shall thereupon grant a license to use such net, or other device,
and state in such license the name or names of the person or persons who
shall use the same, the place at which it is to be located or used, the season
for which such license is granted, which season shall begin on the first
day of February in any year and end on the thirty-first day of January of
the year following, and the amount of tax as prescribed by the laws of the
state where issued.

Any citizen of either Maryland or Virginia desiring to take or catch
crabs from the waters of the Potomac River by any method, or any person
desiring to engage in the business of buying crabs for picking or canning
or shipping the same shall pay to the oyster inspector or other designated
official in the district in which he resides such specific license tax as is
prescribed by the state of which he is a resident.

If any person shall use or set, or cause to be used or set, any such net
or seine as aforesaid, or shall take or catch crabs, in the waters of the
Potomac River within the jurisdiction of the states of Maryland or
Virginia, without having first paid the tax and obtained the license pro-
vided for under the laws of the state in which such net is set, or crabs
are taken, he shall be deemed guilty of a violation of the provisions of this
section, and shall, for each such violation, be fined not less than ten dollars
nor more than two hundred dollars, and forfeit to the state such net or
other fishing devices used in such violation.

It shall be unlawful for any person to use a haul seine or pound net,
head or pocket having a smaller mesh than two inches, stretched measure,
for the purpose of catching food fish. Any net having a funnel-mouth,
round-mouth, or square-mouth, with head above water, shall be construed
as a pound net. Any person or persons using a net in violation of this
provision shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hun-
dred dollars for each offense, and such net or nets shall be forfeited to the
state.

§ 28.1-210. Concurrent jurisdiction for punishment of offenses.—All
offenses committed against the provisions of §§ 28.1-204 through 28.1-214
by persons not citizens and residents of either state be punished by any
of the magistrates or courts of either state having criminal jurisdiction.

§ 28.1-211. Right to examine into rights of persons taking fish, ete.;
arrest of offenders.—The authorities of either state shall have the right to
examine into the rights of any person taking fish, oysters or crabs in the
Potomac river, or having the same in his possession; and any person taking
fish, oysters or crabs in the Potomac river or having the same in his
possession shall exhibit his authority for so doing, whenever required by
the police or other legal authority of either state. The legal authorities of
either state shall have the right to arrest any such offender. oo

§ 28.1-212. Penalties not otherwise provided.—Any person violating
any preceding section of this chapter, where not otherwise provided, shall,
upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more
than three hundred dollars.

§ 28.1-213. Sale of forfeited boats or equipment.—When forfeiture
of boat, vessel, net or other equipment is provided for in any preceding
section of this chapter, the boat, vessel, net or other equipment shall be
sold at public auction by the sheriff of the county for cash after ten days’
notice. In case of appeal the appellant shall remain in custody, and the
boat, vessel, net or other equipment shall be sold as above provided, unless
a recognizance be entered into for double the amount of the fine and
double the value of the boat, vessel, net or other equipment, conditioned on
the performance of the final judgment of the court. Upon such recognizance
being ziven the party convicted and the aforesaid property shall be dis-

arged.

§ 28.1-214. Failure of officer to perform duty; penalty.—If any oys-
ter inspector or other officer empowered with the duties of enforcing the
preceding provisions of this chapter knowingly fail to report violations of
the same or to perform any of the duties therein required of him, he shall,
for every such offense, be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars, to be
applied to the oyster fund of his state.

§ 28.1-215. Compact with Maryland not affected—Nothing in the
eleven preceding sections shall be construed in any way to impair, alter
or abridge any rights which either state or the citizens thereof may be
entitled to, either by, through, under or against the compact entered into
between the States of Maryland and Virginia on March twenty-eighth,
seventeen hundred and eighty-five.

§ 28.1-216. Statutes not affecting preceding sections; when effective.
—Nothing contained in any of the provisions of chapters 4 to 7 of this
title shall be construed to repeal, alter, modify or impair the twelve pre-
ceding sections, or any part of the same.

The preceding sections of this chapter shall be effective from April
second, nineteen hundred forty-eight, provided concurrent legislation has
been passed by the General Assembly of Maryland, or if not passed, then
immediately upon the passage thereof. Upon the taking effect in the State
of Maryland of the provisions prescribed in such sections, the Governor
of Virginia shall issue his proclamation declaring such provisions to be
effective. .

§ 28.1-217. Other provisions as to culling oysters.—(1) Oysters to
be culled.—All oysters taken from any natural rocks, beds or shoals, within
the Potomac River shall be 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 unmarket-
able oysters, and all shells, shall be included in such cullings and replaced
on such rocks, beds or shoals as taken; provided, that unmarketable oys-
ters 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 section; 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 un-
marketable oysters need not be removed and need not be included in the
cullings.

(2) Unlawful to buy, sell or possess unmarketable oysters and shells.
—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. .

(3) Right of inspection—For the purpose of ascertaining whether
this section has been violated, any oyster inspector, or other officer author-
ized 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 accumu-
lated in any place, conveyance or thing.

(4) Amount of unmarketable oysters and shells allowed.—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 or more of unmarketable oysters and shells, or of five per cent
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 in violation of this sec-

ion.

(5) Penalties for violations.—Any owner, captain or person in charge
of any boat, except a market boat, who is found guilty of being in posses-
sion of or selling oysters in violation of this section shall, upon conviction,
be fined (a) for the first offense, fifty dollars, (b) for the second offense,
one hundred dollars and (c) for each subsequent offense, two hundred
dollars. 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.

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 con-
veyance, place or thing, other than a boat as specified in the preceding
paragraph, who is found guilty of being in violation of this section shall,
upon conviction, be fined (a) for the first offense, one hundred dollars,
(b) for the second offense, two hundred dollars, and (c) for each subse-
quent offense, five hundred dollars.

(6) Market boat defined.—For the purposes of this section, a market
boat is defined as any boat which engages at any time in buying, storing
‘id transporting oysters which have been taken from the water by another

at.

(7) Imprisonment for failure to pay fine——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 confined in jail for more than ninety days
for any single offense.

(8) Confiscation of cargo.—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 imprison-
ment, and any boat or other conveyance on which such oysters are found
shall be held as security for the payment of the fine and expense.

(9) Disposition of unmarketable oysters in case of appeal, etc.; re-
culling.—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
possession 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 ascertaining
the quantity of unmarketable oysters and shells so culled and the quantity
of marketable oysters remaining, shall give the violator a certificate
showing the number of bushels of such unmarketable oysters and shells
and the quantity of such marketable oysters remaining, and the un-
marketable oysters and shells shall then be returned to the natural rocks,
beds or shoals under the supervision of such inspector or other officer. The
cost of reculling and returning such unmarketable oysters and shells to the
water and expenses incidental thereto shall be borne by the violator.

(10) Exemption from section.—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, Virginia, to Lower Cedar Point in Charles county, Maryland.

(11) When Governor to issue proclamation.—Upon the taking effect
in the State of Maryland of the provisions of this section, the Governor
of Virginia shall issue his proclamation declaring the provisions to be
effective, upon which being done, § 28.1-206 shall become and thereafter
be null and void.

§ 28.1-218. Fishing season for herring.—The fishing season for
herring in the waters of the Potomac River shall begin the first day of
March and end the first day of June of each year.

§ 28.1-219. Fishing within regularly hauled fishing landing, or on
Sunday.—No person shall haul, drift or fish any seine or gill net within
the waters, bounds or berth of any regularly hauled fishing land, or
opposite to any part of the shore of the owner or occupier of any fishery,
between the first day of March and the first day of June in each year,
without the permission of the owner or occupier of such fishing landing;
nor shall any such owner or occupier, or any other person or persons, lay
out and fish with any seine or net in the Potomac River or its tributaries,
between five o’clock on Sunday morning and five o’clock on Monday morn-
ing. Any person offending against any provisions of this section shall be
subject to the penalties and forfeitures prescribed by the next succeeding
section and to the other provisions of such section; and the same shall be
in force during the existence of a similar law in the State of Maryland.

§ 28.1-220. How two preceding sections enforced.—The owners or
occupiers of the regularly hauled fishing landings are authorized to render
any sheriff or other officer assistance necessary to arrest any person
violating the provisions of the two preceding sections; and such officer
shall seize all boats, seines, and fixtures in the possession of such person,
and carry the person so arrested before some justice of the peace, to be
dealt with as herein directed; and the officer may summon a posse
comitatus to aid him in making arrests or seizure authorized by this
section, and may, for that purpose, also press, at the expense of the
prosecutor, any steamboat or other vessel belonging to any citizen of
the State not actually engaged in carrying the United States mail.

§ 28.1-221. Restrictions on fishing with gill nets or seines.—No per-
son shall fish in the Potomac River or its tributaries during the months
of March, April and May with gill nets or seines of any kind, other than
such nets or seines as may be laid out from and hauled to and landed upon
the shores of the river and its tributaries; nor shall any person, with gill
nets or seines of any kind, fish in such river or its tributaries from the
first day of June until the twentieth day of October; and every person
offending against either of the aforesaid provisions shall, upon conviction
thereof, forfeit to the State all the vessels, boats, seines, ropes, and
fixtures used in such fishing, and moreover shall pay a sum of not less
than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, one-half of which sum
shall be to the informer and the other half to the State. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to prevent bona fide citizens of the counties
bordering on the aforesaid waters from fishing the shores they own or
occupy as they have hitherto been in the habit of doing. And this section
shall be in force during the existence of a similar law in the State of
Maryland.

§ 28.1-222. Protection and preservation of freshwater fish.—It shall
not be lawful for any person to catch or kill any black bass, green bass,
rock bass, pike (or pickerel), or walleyed pike (commonly known as
salmon), in the Potomac River between the fifteenth day of April and
the first day of June each year; nor to catch or kill any such species of
fish at any other time during the year save only with a rod, hook and line
or dip net. Trot lines are forbidden.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable, on conviction, by imprisonment
in the county jail not exceeding six months or by a fine not exceeding two
hundred dollars, or both; and it shall be the duty of the courts for the
counties abutting on the Potomac River above the Little Falls, near Wash-
ington, at each session of the grand jury to call its attention to the pro-
visions of this law.

The provisions of this section shall not be applicable below such Little
Falls, nor shall the same be effective unless they are in force in the states
of West Virginia and Maryland.

§ 28.1-223. Process and jurisdiction for enforcing penalties.—If any
person shall violate the preceding sections of this chapter relative to fish-
ing in or on the Potomac River, the process and jurisdiction to enforce the
penalties or recover damages therefor shall be according to the compact
between Virginia and Maryland, so far as therein provided for, and so far
as not so provided for, according to the other laws of this State.

§ 28.1-224. Beam trawl, trammel net, troll net, etc., prohibited.—
It shall be unlawful to use any beam trawl, trammel net, troll net, or any
per device in the waters of the Potomac River or of any of its tribu-

ries.

Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this sec-
tion shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall for-
feit such net or nets or device, together with all boats, vessels and tackle
used in the violation of this section or shall be fined not less than fifty nor
more than one hundred dollars, or shall be subject to both such forfeiture
and fine; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed
in any manner to prohibit the catching of fish through the method of seine
hauling and pound net and gill net fishing as heretofore permitted, by
license or otherwise, under the laws of the State of Virginia.

§ 28.1-225. Catching fish with certain gill nets prohibited.—The use
of any sunken anchored gill nets is absolutely prohibited in the waters of
the Potomac River at all times; and the use of all gill nets, known as float-
ing or drift nets, other than stake gill nets, is prohibited at all times of
the year except during the shad and herring season. The use of all stake
gill nets is prohibited at all times of the year except during the months
of February through May in each year. Any person, firm or corporation
violating the provisions of this section shall on conviction therefor before
the trial justice of any county of this State, most accessible, forfeit such
net or nets, or device, together with all boats, vessels and tackle used in
the violation of this section and be fined a sum of not less than three hun-
dred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars, or be subject to both
such fine and forfeiture, in the discretion of the trial justice trying the

e.
Nothing in this section shall be construed in any way to impair, alter
or abridge any rights which either state, or the citizens thereof, may be
entitled to, either by, through, under or against the compact entered into
between the States of Virginia and Maryland on March twenty-eighth,
seventeen hundred and eighty-five. .

The provisions of this section shall not take effect until a similar act
becomes effective in the State of Maryland, whereupon the Governor of
Virginia shall issue a proclamation declaring the provisions of this section
to be effective.

§ 28.1-226. Dredges and scrapes generally.—It shall be unlawful for
any person to take or catch oysters from the Potomac River by means of
a dredge or scrape, or any instrument other than ordinary shaft or patent
tongs, at any season of the year. Any person violating the provisions of
this section, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary
for not less than one year nor more than three years, or may be confined in
jail not exceeding one year, and fined not less than one hundred dollars,
nor more than one thousand dollars, either or both, in the discretion of the
court or jury trying the case. In any prosecution for the violation of this
section against the master or commander of a vessel, or any of his crew,
or any person on board thereof, proof that such vessel was equipped with a
crank, dredge or scrape shall be prima facie evidence of such violation.
Any vessel, boat or other craft, her tackle, apparel, anchor, cables, sails,
rigging and appurtenances, and any dredge, scrape or other instrument
used in violation of this section, shall, together with the cargo of such
vessel, boat or craft, be condemned as forfeited to the Commonwealth in
proceedings as provided for the enforcement of forfeitures.