Virginia Administrative Code

A. The operation of a foxhound training preserve in the Commonwealth shall be lawful only when conducted in compliance with the requirements of a permit issued by the department. In accordance with § 29.1-525.2 of the Code of Virginia, a permit may only be issued for a location a…

Holders of permits issued under § 29.1-418 of the Code of Virginia to collect specimens of wild birds and their nests, with the eggs or young found therein, for scientific or museum purposes, shall report to the department on January 1 of each year the number of each species take…

Holders of permits issued under § 29.1-417 of the Code of Virginia to breed and rear captive bred game birds and to sell and ship them alive for propagation or stocking or to kill, sell and ship the same for use as food shall keep a record showing the number of each species on ha…

Packages containing captive bred game birds raised under a permit for propagation purposes shall bear labels showing the name and address of the breeder and the contents of the package. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-501 and 29.1-502 of the Code of Virginia.

Birds and animals raised under a permit for propagation purposes must be confined in a sanitary escape-proof enclosure. Such enclosure shall be open to inspection by representatives of the department at all times. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-103, 29.1-501, and 29.1-502 of the Code…

A. Where an exhibit is educational and purposeful in nature, wild animals may be exhibited with a permit provided for in § 29.1-417 of the Code of Virginia, under such restrictions and conditions as the board may prescribe. B. Elementary or secondary school teachers may possess a…

A holder of a permit to stuff and mount birds and animals or parts of them for compensation or sale, as provided for in § 29.1-415 of the Code of Virginia may have in possession for such purpose only birds and animals which were legally taken. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-103, 29.1…

A. A holder of a permit to stuff or mount birds and animals shall keep a complete record of all transactions as required by the permit. B. A holder of a permit shall affix to each specimen a tag bearing the designation of the species, the name and address of the customer, and the…

(Repealed.)

(Repealed.)

Under the authority of § 29.1-542 of the Code of Virginia, live wolves or coyotes, or birds or animals otherwise classed as predatory or undesirable, may not be imported into the Commonwealth or liberated therein, or possessed therein, except under a special permit of the board. …

This chapter does not prohibit the possession, importation, and sale of native or naturalized albino amphibians, native or naturalized albino reptiles, or those domestic animals as defined in 4VAC15-20-50. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-501 and 29.1-502 of the Code of Virginia.

A. Permit required. A special permit is required and may be issued by the department, if consistent with the department's fish and wildlife management program, to import, possess, or sell those nonnative (exotic) animals listed in the following table and in 4VAC15-20-210 that the…

Pursuant to § 29.1-413 of the Code of Virginia and under authority granted to the board in subdivision 12 of § 29.1-103 of the Code of Virginia, the board hereby confers authority upon the director to set the permit schedule, establish permit conditions, delegate signature author…

A. Department employees in the performance of their official duties; U.S. government agencies' employees whose responsibility includes fisheries and wildlife management; county, city, or town animal control officers in the performance of their official duties related to public he…

An applicant for a permit to propagate raptors pursuant to §§ 29.1-412, 29.1-521, and 29.1-542 of the Code of Virginia who possesses a valid Federal Raptor Propagation Permit shall submit to the department a completed State Propagation Permit application form and shall conduct th…

Provided that the issuance of a permit renewal by the department has been delayed past the expiration date of the permittee's previous permit at no fault of the applicant, the permittee may continue the specific activities authorized by the expired permit until the department has…

It shall be lawful to take weasels from December 1 through the last day of February, both dates inclusive. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-501 and 29.1-502 of the Code of Virginia.

(Repealed.)

(Repealed.)

Except as otherwise specifically provided by sections appearing in this chapter, there shall be a continuous open season for fishing to take all species of fish except anadromous (coastal) striped bass above the fall line in coastal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay, where the open se…

A. Motors and boats. Unless otherwise posted at each recognized entrance to any department-owned or department-controlled lake, pond, or stream, the use of boats propelled by a gasoline motor or sail is prohibited. Department employees and other government agency officials may us…

(Repealed.)

A. It shall be unlawful to fish in the portion of Big Tumbling Creek within the Clinch Mountain Wildlife Management Area, in Douthat State Park Lake and in Wilson Creek both above the lake to the park boundary and downstream to the lower USFS boundary, and in the Crooked Creek fe…

Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-501 and 29.1-502 of the Code of Virginia.

(Repealed.)

It shall be lawful for any person holding a current license to fish to shoot suckers, redhorse and carp with a rifle, during the hours of sunrise to sunset, from April 15 to May 31, both inclusive, in the waters of the Clinch River within the limits of Scott County; except, that …

It shall be unlawful for any person while fishing to remove the head or tail or otherwise change the appearance of any game fish (except bluegill sunfish and bream of the sunfish family) having a daily creel or size limit so as to obscure its species or render it impracticable to…

It shall be unlawful to fish or to collect bait March 1 through June 15 within 300 feet of Boshers Dam Fishway on the north bank of James River, or within 150 feet of Harvell Dam Fishway on the south bank of Appomattox River. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-501 and 29.1-502 of the Cod…

(Repealed.)

The creel limits, including live possession, and the length limits for the various species of fish shall be as follows, unless otherwise excepted by posted rules at department-owned or department-controlled waters (see 4VAC15-320-100 D).Type of fishSubtype or locationCreel and le…

(Repealed.)

Game fish, yellow perch, and catfish raised in a privately owned facility by the holder of a Permit to Propagate and Sell Certain Wildlife or Permit to Hold and Sell Certain Wildlife may be sold as follows: (i) game fish for stocking private waters; (ii) game fish for stocking pu…

It shall be unlawful to use any species of fish as bait in the waters and tributaries of Lick Creek in Smyth and Bland counties, Bear Creek in Smyth County, Laurel Creek in Tazewell and Bland counties, Big Stony Creek in Giles County, Dismal Creek in Bland and Giles Counties, Lau…

A. It shall be unlawful to stock any species of fish into any inland waters of the Commonwealth without first obtaining written approval to do so from the department. Nothing in this section shall be construed as restricting the use of native and naturalized species of fish in pr…

It shall be unlawful to dispatch a lure by means of any mechanical device other than rod and reel in the tail waters of Kerr Dam for a distance of 600 yards below that dam. Statutory Authority§§ 29.1-103, 29.1-501, and 29.1-502 of the Code of Virginia.

It shall be unlawful to fish, attempt to fish, assist others in fishing or collect or attempt to collect bait while wading in any of the waters of the Roanoke River from Leesville Dam downstream a distance of 840 feet to a permanent overhead cable; provided, that this shall not b…

A national forest permit, as provided for in § 29.1-408 of the Code of Virginia shall not be required to fish from national forest lands in the North and South forks of the Shenandoah River, in the James River, in Skidmore Lake in Rockingham County, in Lake Moomaw (Gathright Proj…

Except as otherwise specifically provided in the sections appearing in this chapter, there shall be a year-round season for taking trout. However, angling in designated stocked trout waters shall only be permitted from 5 a.m. until one hour after sunset, except for waters designa…

For the purposes of this chapter "artificial lure" shall include manufactured or handmade flies, spinners, plugs, spoons and facsimiles of live animals, but shall not be construed to include artificially produced organic baits and fish eggs that are intended to be ingested. Artif…

(Repealed.)

A. It shall be lawful year around to fish using only artificial lures with single hooks in that portion of Buffalo Creek in Rockbridge County from the confluence of Colliers Creek upstream 2.9 miles to the confluence of North and South Buffalo Creeks, in that portion of the Dan R…

It shall be lawful year around to fish using only artificial flies with single hooks in that portion of Mossy Creek in Augusta County upstream from the Augusta/Rockingham County line to a sign posted at the confluence of Joseph's Spring and in that portion of South River from the…

It shall be lawful to fish using only artificial lures with single hooks in that portion of the Conway River and its tributaries in Greene and Madison Counties within the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area, in that portion of Big and Little Wilson Creeks and their tributaries and C…

It shall be lawful year-round to fish for trout using only artificial lures with single hooks within: 1. The Stewarts Creek Trout Management Area in Carroll County. 2. The Rapidan and Staunton Rivers and their tributaries upstream from a sign at the Lower Shenandoah National Park…

It shall be lawful to fish from October 1 through May 31, both dates inclusive, using only artificial lures in Accotink Creek (Fairfax County) from King Arthur Road downstream 3.1 miles to Route 620 (Braddock Road), in Back Creek (Bath County) from the Route 600 bridge just below…

(Repealed.)