Title 28.2, Title 28.2. Fisheries and Habitat of the Tidal Waters

The Commission shall, pursuant to its authority to regulate marine fisheries and commercial fishing, establish a general permit regulation authorizing the use of temporary protective enclosures to grow shellfish on grounds leased pursuant to § 28.2-603. In developing the general …

A. At least 30 days before placing temporary protective enclosures on a leasehold pursuant to § 28.2-603.1, the leaseholder shall provide written notification to the Commissioner that identifies the leasehold, the approximate maximum number of enclosures to be placed on the lease…

Application for assignment of general oyster-planting ground may be made by (i) any resident of the Commonwealth, (ii) any county, municipality, or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or (iii) any firm, or corporation chartered under the laws of this Commonwealth for the p…

All applications for assignment of general oyster-planting grounds shall be made in writing, in duplicate, to the Commission. Applications shall be considered in the same order in which they are received, except that no application for any ground then under lease shall be valid f…

A. Notice of the application shall be posted by the Commission for not less than 30 days on its website and the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website. The Commission shall provide by registered or certified mail written notice of its receipt of the application to (i) the mailing …

If a protest is not filed in the Commission office within 60 days after posting of the notice of application, the Commissioner shall select a surveyor to survey the grounds and make a plat in duplicate. The surveyor shall forward the plat of survey to the Commissioner. If no prot…

Any applicant for general oyster-planting ground or for riparian oyster ground shall pay (i) an application fee of $300 if the application is for less than five acres, $500 if the application is for five to 25 acres, and $1,000 if the application is for more than 25 acres; and (i…

No assignment, except in the Chesapeake Bay, shall exceed 250 acres. An applicant, after having 250 acres of general oyster-planting ground assigned to him, shall not apply for another assignment of oyster grounds within six months from the day his assignment was recorded and com…

No person shall own or operate more than 3,000 acres of general oyster-planting grounds in the waters of this Commonwealth other than in the Chesapeake Bay. If ground in excess of 3,000 acres is acquired, the person has a right to lawfully hold the ground for one year and shall h…

Application for general planting ground in the Chesapeake Bay in waters from fifteen feet deep or more shall be made to the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall have the right to accept or reject any application. No more than 5,000 acres may be assigned to any applicant. The assi…

The applicant shall pay to the Commission annual rent of $1.50 per acre or any fraction thereof, except as provided for the Chesapeake Bay and for bathing ground. Such payment shall be due on September 1 of each year after the date of assignment, plus a ten percent penalty if not…

Each assignment of general oyster-planting ground shall continue in force for 10 years from the date of assignment, unless the assignment is terminated. The interest in such ground is chattel real. Upon the death of the renter, testate as to the lease, it shall vest in the named …

If the Commissioner determines that in any past assignment of or in any attempt to transfer oyster ground, a survey, or a recorded plat, does not accurately describe the metes and bounds of the leased ground, the Commissioner shall require the lessee, the transferor, or both to h…

The cost of the surveys and recording fees required by § 28.2-614 shall be borne by the lessee or transferor and the cost and fees shall be the same as for surveys made by the Commission.

Any person in possession of any general oyster-planting ground which has not been assigned according to law shall have no preference as to having it assigned to him. The ground shall be open to the first applicant.

The plat and assignment, as soon as practicable after completion, and after the ground has been assigned to the applicant, shall be filed for record in the office of the Commission.

A. The Commonwealth shall guarantee to any person who has complied with ground assignment requirements the absolute right to continue to use and occupy the ground for the term of the lease, including the right to propagate shellfish by whatever legal means necessary. B. The right…

When the Commission finds that a lessee is dead or unknown, and no one claims such property as an heir or assignee, the ground shall become vacant and open to assignment.

Any ground or area which becomes delinquent shall be open and available to be leased, after the following conditions have been met: 1. The Commissioner has notified the person in writing on or about September 1 of that year of the amount of rent due; 2. If the rent becomes delinq…

When the Commissioner receives information that the Secretary of the Army has been authorized by congressional action to conduct a survey on a specified navigation improvement project, the Commissioner shall obtain the consent and approval of the Governor before leasing any publi…

Upon written request by a leaseholder, the Commission may consolidate into one lease contiguous leases held by the same leaseholder. The consolidation, upon approval by the Commission, shall be considered a new lease.

Whenever leased oyster ground in the Lynnhaven River and its tributaries has been condemned by the Commissioner of the State Department of Health for not less than 180 consecutive days, other than regular seasonal condemnation, the lessee, after prior written notice to the Commis…

It is unlawful for any person to stake, use, or occupy for the purpose of propagating or planting oysters or shells any public oyster bed, rock, or shoal, or any bottom which has not been assigned to him, or any public clamming grounds which have been set aside as such. The offic…

A person holding an existing lease of oyster-planting ground may transfer or assign all or any part of the lease to another under the following conditions and provisions: 1. The transfer or assignment may be made only to a resident of the Commonwealth, or a firm or corporation au…

Whenever the Commissioner finds that a person has mistakenly paid to the Commonwealth any money that he is not legally obligated to pay, the Commissioner may refund the money. All amounts refunded under this section shall be paid out of the then current appropriations made for th…

The Commissioner 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 …

There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Oyster Leasing, Conservation, and Repletion Programs Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All oyster planting gr…

The Department of Transportation, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, and any locality 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 necessary for the pu…

If any creek, cove, or inlet within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth flows 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, as defined in § 28.2-1202, such person or othe…

All assignments or leases of oyster or clam grounds under this chapter shall be subject to the rights vested in riparian claimants under Article 1 (§ 28.2-600 et seq.) of this chapter and also to the following condition: That any landowner who desires to erect a bulkhead or wharf…

The provisions in this chapter referring or relating to the leasing of oyster grounds include the right of the Commissioner to lease grounds for planting, growing, storing, and harvesting clams. The Commissioner may use the same application and assignment forms and procedures for…

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 officer assigned to the district in which the land lies, laid off and designated as public clamming grounds; or the Commi…

Any person desiring to obtain a location for bathing grounds shall apply to the Commissioner to have the location designated, surveyed, and assigned. An annual rental fee of $7.50 per acre shall be charged for obtaining such a location. The cost for the assignment of bathing grou…

If any person other than a resident, as defined in § 28.2-200, takes or catches oysters or clams in any of the waters of this Commonwealth, or in any of the waters under the Commonwealth's jurisdiction, for market or profit, he is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If any person ot…

Any resident who is associated for market or profit with any nonresident in taking or catching oysters or clams in any of the waters of the Commonwealth, or in waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, or in planting oysters or clams, or who knowingly participates with a…

No part of the bottom of the Rappahannock River, lying in or near the center of the river and running from the mouth of the river to and including Morattico bar, which is designated on the Baylor survey and resurveys as assignable bottom and is commonly known as "deep water plant…

When the approval, consent, or authorization of the Commonwealth is necessary or expedient for any person to dredge a channel of any navigable stream, the bed of which is owned by the Commonwealth, for the purpose of deepening, widening, or relocating such channel and making rela…

Russ' Rock and Little Carter's Rock are declared to be public 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 rocks, beds, and shoals had been within the original Baylor survey.

The following grounds in Mobjack Bay, in the County of Gloucester, to wit: First, a lot of oyster-planting ground containing 218.75 acres surveyed by Fred E. Reudiger, civil engineer, and assigned to F. W. Darling by George B. Taliaferro, oyster inspector, by an assignment record…

The following ground in Hill's Bay on the west side of Gwynn's Island, Mathews County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use: Beginning at corner No. 8, Public Ground No. 5 …

The following ground in Hill's Bay, Mathews County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use. The point of beginning is located at the low-tide line on the west side of the Gwy…

The following ground in Chesapeake Bay, Mathews County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public 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…

The following ground near Hole in the Wall, Mathews County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals and unassignable to any person for private use: 1. Beginning at Virginia Marine Resources Commission's survey Station Mars…

The following area in Pocomoke Sound, Accomack County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public 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, sa…

The following area, in the Piankatank River around and near Stove Point, Middlesex County, is declared to be public 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 …

The following ground near the mouth of the Poquoson River in York County, contained within the following boundaries is declared to be public 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…