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

Any vessel, boat, or other craft found in the waters of the Commonwealth, or in the waters under the joint jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, equipped for trawling and having a trawling net, drag net, or a similar device aboard with fresh or live fish on deck or in any portion of …

Nothing in this article shall prohibit (i) the use of trawl nets to catch fish outside the territorial limits of Virginia or (ii) the transport of such fish into Virginia ports for sale.

Any net, pot, or other fishing device or gear used in violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be seized and forfeited to the Commonwealth. The forfeiture shall be enforced as provided in Chapter 22.1 (§ 19.2-386.1 et seq.) of Title 19.2. The officer or other pers…

A. Any nonresident owning or holding by lease or charter a purse net, seine, or vessel of any description used in the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, to catch menhaden shall apply to the Commissioner for a license. A resident s…

A. The Commission shall establish and administer a limited entry purse seine menhaden bait license that meets the requirements of this section. B. In order to qualify for a limited entry purse seine menhaden bait license, an applicant shall have held a purse seine license, as est…

A. A nonresident applicant who is an individual shall by written power of attorney appoint the Secretary of the Commonwealth his 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 behal…

Any person desiring to take or catch menhaden with purse nets shall pay to the officer or agent a license fee as follows or as subsequently revised by the Commission pursuant to § 28.2-201: 1. On each boat or vessel under 70 gross tons fishing for the purse seine menhaden reducti…

A. If the Commissioner is satisfied that the disclosures required by § 28.2-400 have been made and that the application conforms in other respects to the provisions of that section or to § 28.2-400.1, and upon payment of the license fee specified in § 28.2-402, the Commissioner, …

Any person aggrieved by any action of the Commissioner taken under the provisions of § 28.2-403 shall have the right to petition the circuit court of the county or city in which the factory where the fish were to be processed is located, or in which the applicant resides or has h…

It shall be unlawful for any captain or owner to carry or permit to be carried aboard his vessel, when fishing for menhaden, any scrape, dredge, or patent tongs. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Any net, pot, or other fishing device or gear used in violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be seized and forfeited to the Commonwealth. The forfeiture shall be enforced as provided in Chapter 22.1 (§ 19.2-386.1 et seq.) of Title 19.2. The officer or other pers…

A. It is unlawful to take, catch or round up with purse net, for any purpose, food fish in an amount greater than one percent of the whole catch. If food fish represent more than one percent of the whole catch, the net shall be opened immediately and the food fish released while …

A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, it shall be unlawful to take or catch menhaden with purse nets in the following waters: 1. In the Piankatank River and its tributaries above and west of a line beginning at the northernmost, as measured from the low-water mar…

Except as provided in § 28.2-409 or as otherwise provided by regulation, it is unlawful for any person to take or catch with a purse net in the waters of the Commonwealth, or waters within its jurisdiction, menhaden between the Saturday following the third Friday in November and …

No residence restriction shall prohibit any person from obtaining any required license for buying fish or shellfish or for shucking oysters. In dredging or scraping private planting grounds on permission of the Commissioner, the residence restriction shall not apply to the crew, …

A. Any resident of this Commonwealth who desires to take or catch oysters or clams by any device other than a scrape or dredge shall apply to the Commissioner for a license. B. Any resident desiring to dredge or scrape for oysters shall apply in writing to the officer assigned to…

Every resident who applies for a license to take or catch oysters and clams shall pay as follows or as subsequently revised by the Commission pursuant to § 28.2-201: 1. For each person taking or catching oysters by hand or with ordinary tongs, $10; 2. For each single-rigged paten…

The license for taking clams, by ordinary or patent tongs, shall entitle the holder to take only clams from the public bottoms in the waters of the Commonwealth but not from the public oyster rocks, beds, and shoals or from leased oyster grounds. Such a license does not permit th…

A. Every person engaged in the business of shucking or packing oysters in Virginia shall pay a license fee based on the amount of oysters shucked or packed by him during the previous year. B. The license fees to engage in the business of shucking or packing oysters are the follow…

A. Each shucker or packer of oysters shall sell to the Commission at the prevailing market price up to twenty percent of the shells, unless the shells are planted in Virginia waters. B. On or before December 1 of each year, the Commission shall notify each shucker or packer wheth…

A. The season for taking oysters by shaft tongs or by hand from the public oyster beds, rocks, or shoals shall be as follows: 1. James River seed area, from October 1 until July 1. The Commission may set an alternate date, no earlier than June 1, for the completion of this season…

The Commission, in order to protect or promote the growth of oysters, may (i) close and open any area or restrict the manner or method of taking oysters in any area of the public rocks, grounds, or shoals, (ii) establish seed beds and plant shells and other culch, or (iii) take a…

It is unlawful for any person to use or employ patent tongs to take or catch oysters from the public rocks, beds, or shoals in the following areas: 1. In the Piankatank River and its tributaries above a line beginning at the extreme westernmost point on a wooden jetty (point "A")…

It is unlawful for any person to use patent tongs exceeding 100 pounds in gross weight, including any attachments other than rope, for the taking or catching of oysters. The teeth of the patent tongs shall not exceed four inches in length. The possession of patent tongs exceeding…

It is unlawful for any person to buy, sell, or possess oysters under the prescribed size and over the shell allowance taken from the public rocks, beds, and shoals. If upon trial for this offense the accused person asserts the claim or defense that the unculled oysters were taken…

A. 1. In addition to any other penalty prescribed by law, any person charged with violating any regulation governing the culling of oysters shall be required, by the officer making the charge, to scatter the entire cargo of oysters on the public rocks under the supervision of the…

It is unlawful for any person possessing unshucked oysters to (i) resist or interfere with an officer while he examines oysters suspected of being unculled or (ii) refuse to admit an officer to a boat or oyster house for the purpose of such inspection. A violation of this section…

It is unlawful for a person to have any oysters or shells on the culling board, deck, washboard, or other receptacle above the hold of the boat or in the deckhouse of the boat when the boat is not at anchor, is off the public rocks, or is approaching a buy boat or a landing. The …

It is unlawful for any person to possess more than one-half gallon of shucked oysters on board a boat harvesting on the public rocks. A violation of this section is a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Any resident of the Commonwealth holding under legal assignment an oyster-planting ground of at least three acres in one tract or adjoining tracts and having paid the rent may dredge or scrape his tracts at any time from sunrise until sunset, except on Sunday if the resident has …

It is unlawful for any person to have on board a boat, a dredge or equipment normally used for dredging oysters, unless he has a license or permit to dredge. The license or permit shall be available for inspection on board the boat. It is unlawful to carry or transport an oyster …

A person shall not dredge or scrape his oyster-planting ground unless he has first properly designated and marked the oyster-planting ground as prescribed by the Commission in accordance with § 28.2-607. The initials of the lessee shall be displayed on all lease corners in black …

It shall be unlawful for any person to dredge for oysters in the James River during the open season for taking oysters from the public rocks and shoals. However, the Commission may grant a permit to applicants to dredge in specified areas. A violation of this section is a Class 6…

It shall be unlawful for any person to use dredges, scrapes, rakes other than hand rakes, or other like devices to take or catch crabs, clams, or shells from the public rocks, beds, or shoals on the ocean side of the Counties of Accomack and Northampton. A violation of this secti…

A. It shall be unlawful for any person, unless he has been issued a permit by the Commission pursuant to subsection B, to (i) take or catch clams through the use of a hydraulic dredge or (ii) have on board his boat a hydraulic dredge designed for harvesting seafood. B. The Commis…

The Commission, on testimony of an officer at a hearing that he has personally observed a person having dredging cable 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, may revoke al…

In any prosecution for the violation of any sections of this article against the captain or crew of a vessel or any person on board, proof that the vessel was equipped with a crank, dredge, or scrape shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of such section.

Any person who takes or catches oysters with a dredge, 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, or regulations of the Commission, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

The Commission, in order to protect and promote the oyster or clam fishery, may open and close the following areas, or any parts thereof, for the taking of oysters or clams or prescribe the manner, method, size, and season of oyster or clam catch: 1. That portion of Pocomoke Soun…

The Commission, in order to protect and promote the fishery in that area of the Chesapeake Bay described herein, may open and close such area or any part thereof, or prescribe the manner, method, size and season of catch. Such area is contained within the boundaries of a point be…

A. Except as provided in subsection B, C, or D, it is unlawful for any person to buy or sell oysters in the shell by any measure other than: 1. One-half bushel or one bushel metallic measures. Such containers shall be metallic circular tubs with straight sides and straight bottom…

Any person who steals, or takes or carries away without permission of the owner, (i) bedded, naturally occurring, or planted oysters or clams, (ii) oysters deposited by any person making up a cargo for market, or (iii) shells or seed planted for formation of oyster or clam beds b…

The Commission, without notice and hearing required by § 28.2-232, shall revoke all licenses and the fishing privileges within the Commonwealth's tidal waters to take or catch fish, shellfish, or marine organisms, issued to any person convicted of unlawfully taking oysters or oth…

It shall be unlawful for any person to take or catch oysters or shells for conversion into lime, unless the person has obtained permission from the Commission. A violation of this section is a Class 3 misdemeanor.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take oysters, from either public or private grounds, on Sunday or between 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 between s…

It shall be unlawful for any person to take clams from either public or private grounds, on Sunday or between sunset and sunrise. This section shall not apply to (i) the taking of clams on Sunday by hand or hand rake between sunrise and sunset if the clams are for personal use on…