VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION
"PERTAINING TO SHARKS"
CHAPTER 4VAC20-490-10 ET SEQ.
PREAMBLE
This chapter establishes gear restrictions, a possession limit, and
limitations on the taking and landing of sharks, and prohibits the transfer of
any spiny dogfish limited entry permit. This chapter is promulgated pursuant to
the authority contained in § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.
This
chapter amends and re-adopts, as amended, previous chapter 4 VAC 20-490-10 et
seq. which was promulgated April 26, 2016 and made effective on May 1, 2016. The
effective date of this chapter, as amended, is November 2, 2016.
4 VAC 20-490-10. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this chapter is to
ensure the conservation of shark resources, by preventing overfishing by
commercial and recreational fisheries, and to control the practice of finning.
4 VAC 20-490-20. DEFINITIONS.
The following
words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
“Agent” means
any person who possesses the Commercial Fisherman Registration License, fishing
gear license, or fishing permit of a registered commercial fisherman in order to
fish that commercial fisherman’s gear or sell that commercial fisherman’s
harvest.
“Carcass length” means that length measured in a
straight line from the anterior edge of the first dorsal fin to the posterior
end of the shark carcass.
“COLREGS line” means the COLREGS
Demarcation Line, as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (33 CFR 80.510
Chesapeake Bay Entrance, VA).
“Commercial shark fisherman” means
any commercial fisherman permitted to land or possess sharks (excluding spiny
dogfish) that has landed and sold one pound of shark or more (excludes spiny
dogfish) in that calendar year (January 1 through December 31).
“Commercially permitted aggregated large coastal shark” means any of the
following species:
Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus
Bull,
Carcharhinus leucas
Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris
Nurse,
Ginglymostoma cirratum
Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis
Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna
Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvier
“Commercially permitted hammerhead shark” means any of the
following species:
Great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran
Scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini
Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna
zygaena
“Commercially permitted nonblacknose small coastal
shark” means any of the following species:
Atlantic sharpnose,
Rhizoprionodon terraenovae
Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo
Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon
“Commercially permitted
pelagic shark” means any of the following species:
Blue,
Prionace glauca
Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus
Porbeagle, Lamna nasus
Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus
Thresher, Alopias vulpinus
“Commercially prohibited shark”
means any of the following species:
Atlantic angel, Squatina dumeril
Basking, Cetorhinus maximus
Bigeye sand tiger, Odontaspis
noronhai
Bigeye sixgill, Hexanchus nakamurai
Bigeye
thresher, Alopias superciliosus
Bignose, Carcharhinus altimus
Blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus
Caribbean reef,
Carcharhinus perezii
Caribbean sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon porosus
Dusky, Carcharhinus obscurus
Galapagos, Carcharhinus
galapagensis
Longfin mako, Isurus paucus
Narrowtooth,
Carcharhinus brachyurus
Night, Carcharhinus signatus
Sand
tiger, Carcharias taurus
Sevengill, Heptranchias perlo
Sixgill, Hexanchus griseus
Smalltail, Carcharhinus porosus
Whale, Rhincodon typus
White, Carcharodon carcharias
“Control rule” means a time-certain date, past, present or
future, used to establish participation in a limited entry fishery and may or
may not include specific past harvest amounts.
“Dressed weight”
means the result from processing a fish by removal of head, viscera, and fins,
but does not include removal of the backbone, halving, quartering, or otherwise
further reducing the carcass.
"Finning" means removing the fins
and returning the remainder of the shark to the sea.
"Fork length"
means the straight-line measurement of a fish from the tip of the snout to the
fork of the tail. The measurement is not made along the curve of the body.
“Large mesh gill net” means any gill net with a stretched mesh of
greater than five inches.
"Longline" means any fishing gear that
is set horizontally, either anchored, floating or attached to a vessel, and that
consists of a mainline or groundline, greater than 1,000 feet in length, with
multiple leaders (gangions) and hooks, whether retrieved by hand or mechanical
means.
“Movable gill net” means any gill net other than a staked
gill net.
“Permitted commercial gear” means rod and reel,
handlines, shark shortlines, small mesh gill nets, large mesh gill nets, pound
nets, and weirs.
“Recreational shore angler” means a person
neither fishing from a vessel nor transported to or from a fishing location by a
vessel.
“Recreational vessel angler” means a person fishing from
a vessel or transported to or from a fishing location by a vessel.
“Recreationally permitted shark” means any of the following species:
Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae
Blacknose,
Carcharhinus acronotus
Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus
Blue,
Prionace glauca
Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo
Bull,
Carcharhinus leucas
Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon
Great
hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran
Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris
Nurse, Ginglymostoma cirratum
Oceanic whitetip,
Carcharhinus longimanus
Porbeagle, Lamna nasus
Scalloped
hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini
Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus
Smooth Dogfish, Mustelus canis
Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna
zygaena
Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna
Thresher,
Alopias vulpinus
Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvier
“Recreationally prohibited shark” means any of the following species:
Atlantic angel, Squatina dumeril
Basking, Cetorhinus maximus
Bigeye sand tiger, Odontaspis noronhai
Bigeye sixgill,
Hexanchus nakamurai
Bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus
Bignose, Carcharhinus altimus
Caribbean reef, Carcharhinus
perezii
Caribbean sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon porosus
Dusky,
Carcharhinus obscurus
Galapagos, Carcharhinus galapagensis
Longfin mako, Isurus paucus
Narrowtooth, Carcharhinus
brachyurus
Night, Carcharhinus signatus
Sand tiger,
Carcharias taurus
Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus
Sevengill,
Heptranchias perlo
Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis
Sixgill, Hexanchus griseus
Smalltail, Carcharhinus porosus
Whale, Rhincodon typus
White, Carcharodon carcharias
“Research only shark” means any of the following species:
Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus
“Shark shortline”
means a fish trotline that is set horizontally, either anchored, floating or
attached to a vessel, and that consists of a mainline or groundline, 1,000 feet
in length or less, with multiple leaders (gangions) and no more than 50
corrodible circle hooks, whether retrieved by hand or mechanical means.
“Small mesh gill net” means any gill net with a stretched mesh of equal
to or less than five inches.
“Smooth Dogfish” means any shark of
the species Mustelus canis. Smooth dogfish are also known as "smoothhound
shark."
"Spiny dogfish" means any shark of the species Squalus
acanthias.
4 VAC 20-490-30. GEAR RESTRICTIONS.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set, or fish any longline in
Virginia's tidal waters.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to place,
set, or fish any shark shortline in Virginia's tidal waters with more than 50
hooks. All hooks must be corrodible circle hooks. In addition, any person aboard
a vessel fishing shortlines must practice the protocols and possess the
federally required release equipment, for pelagic and bottom longlines, for the
safe handling, release and disentanglement of sea turtles and other non-target
species; all captain and vessel owners must be certified in using handling and
release equipment.
C. It shall be unlawful for a person to possess more
than two shark shortlines on board a vessel.
D. It shall be unlawful for
any person fishing recreationally to take any shark using any gear other than
handline or rod and reel.
E. It shall be unlawful for any person fishing
for commercial purposes to possess any shark caught by means other than
permitted commercial gear.
F. Any commercial shark fisherman fishing for
sharks shall check all of his large mesh gill nets at least once every two
hours.
4 VAC 20-490-35. [Repealed]
4 VAC 20-490-40.
RECREATIONAL CATCH LIMITATIONS.
A. Recreational fishing vessels
are allowed a maximum possession limit of one recreationally permitted shark,
excluding smooth dogfish, per trip, regardless of the number of people on board
the vessel. In addition, each recreational vessel angler may possess one
bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose per trip. The possession aboard a vessel
of more than one recreationally permitted shark, excluding smooth dogfish, or
the possession of more than one Atlantic sharpnose shark or one bonnethead
shark, per person, shall constitute a violation of this regulation. When fishing
from any boat or vessel where the entire catch is held in a common hold or
container, the possession limits for Atlantic sharpnose shark or bonnethead
shark shall be for the boat or vessel and shall be equal to the number of
persons on board legally eligible to fish, plus one additional recreationally
permitted shark. The captain or operator of the boat or vessel shall be
responsible for any boat or vessel possession limits.
B. A recreational
shore angler is allowed a maximum possession limit of one recreationally
permitted shark, excluding smooth dogfish, per calendar day. In addition a
recreational shore angler may harvest one additional bonnethead and one
additional Atlantic sharpnose per calendar day. The possession of more than one
recreationally permitted shark, excluding smooth dogfish, or the possession of
more than one bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose, by any person, shall
constitute a violation of this regulation.
C. It shall be unlawful for
any person to possess any recreationally prohibited shark.
D. It shall be
unlawful for any person to possess any recreationally permitted shark landed
under the recreational catch limitations described in this section that is less
than 54 inches ¬in fork length except as described in subdivisions 1 and 2 of
this subsection:
1. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
recreationally caught great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, or smooth
hammerhead shark that is less than 78 inches in fork length.
2. Atlantic
sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth, blacknose, and smooth dogfish sharks are
exempt from the recreational size limit described in this subsection.
E. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, land, or possess any
blacktip, bull, great hammerhead, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, smooth
hammerhead, spinner or tiger shark from May 15 through July 15 of any calendar
year.
F. All sharks must have heads, tails and fins attached naturally to
the carcass. Anglers may gut and bleed the carcass as long as the head and tail
are not removed. Filleting any shark is prohibited, until that shark is
offloaded at the dock or on shore.
4 VAC 20-490-41. COMMERCIAL
CATCH LIMITATIONS.
A. Beginning January 1 of any given year it
shall be unlawful for any person to possess on board a vessel or to land in
Virginia more than a combined total of 36 commercially permitted aggregated
large coastal sharks¬ and commercially permitted hammerhead sharks in one
twenty-four hour period, unless the Commission has posted notice of any change
to possession limits on its website at
http://mrc.virginia.gov/Regulations/VA-commercial-shark-possession-limits.shtm.
The person who owns or operates the vessel is responsible for compliance with
the provisions of this subsection.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person
to fillet a shark, until that shark is offloaded at the dock or on shore, except
smooth dogfish as provided in subsection C of this section. A licensed
commercial fisherman may eviscerate and remove the head of any shark, but the
tail and all fins of any shark, except smooth dogfish as provided in subsection
C of this section, shall remain naturally attached to the carcass through
landing. The fins of any shark, except smooth dogfish, may be partially cut but
some portion of the fin shall remain attached, until the shark is landed.
C. Virginia licensed commercial fishermen may completely process smooth
dogfish at sea prior to landing when the harvest of smooth dogfish comprises at
least 25%, by weight, of the total retained harvest except that it shall be
unlawful for anyone to land or possess on board any vessel any amount of
processed smooth dogfish whereby the total weight of fins exceeds 12 percent of
the total dressed weight of any smooth dogfish.
D. It shall be unlawful
to possess, on board a vessel, or to land in Virginia any species of shark,
after NOAA Fisheries has closed the fishery for that species in Federal waters.
E. There are no commercial trip limits or possession limits for smooth
dogfish or sharks on the lists of commercially permitted pelagic species or
commercially permitted non-blacknose species.
F. Except as described in
this section, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, land, or
possess in Virginia any blacktip, bull, great hammerhead, lemon, nurse,
scalloped hammerhead, silky, smooth hammerhead, spinner or tiger shark from May
15 through July 15. These sharks may be transported by vessel, in Virginia
waters, during the closed season provided the sharks were caught in a legal
manner consistent with federal regulations outside Virginia waters and:
1) The vessel does not engage in fishing, in Virginia
waters, while possessing the species listed in this subsection; and
2)
All fishing gear aboard the vessel is stowed and not available for immediate
use.
G. It shall be unlawful for any person to retain, possess or purchase any
commercially prohibited shark or any research only shark, except as provided in
subsection I of this section.
H. All sharks harvested from state waters
or federal waters, for commercial purposes, shall only be sold to a federally
permitted shark dealer.
I. The commissioner may grant exemptions from the
seasonal closure, quota, possession limit, size limit, gear restrictions and
prohibited species restrictions. Exemptions shall be granted only for display or
research purposes. Any person granted an exemption for the harvest of any shark
for research or display shall report the species, weight, location caught and
gear used for each shark collected within 30 days. Any person granted a permit
to possess any shark for research or display shall provide the commissioner, on
an annual basis, information on the location and status of the shark throughout
the life of the shark.
4 VAC 20-490-42. SPINY DOGFISH COMMERCIAL
QUOTA AND CATCH LIMITATIONS.
A. For the 12-month period of May
1, 2016 through April 30, 2017, the spiny dogfish commercial landings quota
shall be limited to 4,356,944 pounds.
B. It shall be unlawful for any
person to take, harvest, or possess aboard any vessel or to land in Virginia any
spiny dogfish harvested from federal waters for commercial purposes after it has
been announced that the federal quota for spiny dogfish has been taken.
C. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, or possess aboard any
vessel or to land in Virginia more than 5,250 pounds of spiny dogfish per day
for commercial purposes. However, if landings are less than eighty percent of
the quota specified in subsection A of this section, by February 15, 2017, it
shall be unlawful to take, harvest, or possess aboard any vessel or to land in
Virginia more than 6,000 pounds of spiny dogfish per day for commercial
purposes.
D. It shall be unlawful for any person to harvest or to land in
Virginia any spiny dogfish for commercial purposes after the quota specified in
subsection A of this section has been landed and announced as such.
E.
Any spiny dogfish harvested from state waters or federal waters, for commercial
purposes, shall only be sold to a federally permitted dealer.
F. It shall
be unlawful for any buyer of seafood to receive any spiny dogfish after any
commercial harvest or landing quota described in this section has been attained
and announced as such.
4 VAC 20-490-43. LIMITED ACCESS CONTROL
RULE.
At such time the status of shark stocks or their fisheries
warrant the establishment of a limited access program for participation in the
commercial fishery for sharks, a control rule may be enacted that limits
participation in the commercial fisheries for sharks to those individuals who
participated in that fishery on and before December 31, 2004. The control rule
may also include eligibility requirements based on past harvest amounts.
4 VAC 20-490-44. SPINY DOGFISH LIMITED ENTRY FISHERY PERMIT AND PERMIT
TRANSFERS.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take,
catch, possess, or land any spiny dogfish without first having obtained a Spiny
Dogfish Limited Entry Fishery Permit from the Marine Resources Commission. Such
permit shall be completed in full by the permittee who shall keep a copy of that
permit in his possession while fishing for or selling spiny dogfish. Permits
shall only be issued to Virginia registered commercial fishermen meeting either
of the criteria described in subdivision 1 or 2 of this subsection:
1. Shall have documentation of (i) harvest from a movable
gill net for an average of at least 60 days from 2006 through 2008, (ii) a
minimum harvest of one pound of spiny dogfish at any time from 2006 through
2008, and (iii) harvest of at least one pound of spiny dogfish from May 1, 2010,
through April 30, 2012, in the Marine Resources Commission’s mandatory harvest
reporting system, except that federal dealer reports to the Standard Atlantic
Fisheries Information System can satisfy the one pound harvest requirement, for
May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2012.
2. Shall have documentation of (i)
harvests that total greater than 10,000 pounds of spiny dogfish in any one year
from 2006 through 2008, and (ii) harvest of at least one pound of spiny dogfish
from May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2012, in the Marine Resources Commission’s
mandatory harvest reporting system, except that federal dealer reports to the
Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System can satisfy the one pound harvest
requirement, for May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2012.
B. Any smooth dogfish or unidentified dogfish documented on Virginia
mandatory reporting forms as harvested during the months of November through
February 2006 through 2008 shall be classified as spiny dogfish when determining
eligibility for a Spiny Dogfish Limited Entry Fishery Permit as described in
subdivisions A 1 and A 2 of this section.
C. It is unlawful to transfer
any Spiny Dogfish Limited Entry Fishery permit after November 23, 2009.
D. The use of agents in the spiny dogfish fishery is prohibited.
E. The
commissioner or his designee may grant exceptions to the prohibition against
transfers of the Spiny Dogfish Limited Entry Fishery Permit as described in
subsection C of this section to any individual who meets any of the following
criteria:
1. Demonstrates a significant hardship on the basis of
health and provides the commissioner documentation, by an attending Physician,
of the medical condition.
2. Demonstrates a significant hardship on the
basis of a call to active military duty and provides the commissioner an
explanation, in writing, and copy of the military orders for active duty.
3. Documents the retirement or death of the immediate family member
permitted for the spiny dogfish limited entry fishery and possessing a legal
Commercial Fisherman Registration License.
4VAC20-490-45. [Repealed]
4VAC20-490-46.
SPINY DOGFISH MONITORING REQUIREMENTS.
A. Any Virginia seafood
buyer purchasing spiny dogfish shall provide written reports to the Marine
Resources Commission of weekly landings for each registered commercial fisherman
to include that commercial fisherman’s registration license number and exact
weight of the spiny dogfish landed, in pounds, until it is projected and
announced that 80% of Virginia spiny dogfish quota has been landed.
B.
When it has been projected and announced by the Marine Resources Commission that
80% of the Virginia spiny dogfish quota has been landed, each Virginia seafood
buyer shall call the Marine Resources Commission’s interactive voice recording
system on a daily basis to report the daily landings for each registered
commercial fisherman to include the commercial fisherman’s registration license
number and exact weight of spiny dogfish landed, in pounds, until it is
projected and announced that the Virginia spiny dogfish quota has been landed
and the fishery closed.
4VAC20-490-47. CONTROL DATE
The Marine Resources Commission hereby establishes April 30, 2011, as the
control date for management of all spiny dogfish licenses and fisheries in
Virginia. The harvest of any spiny dogfish or the participation by any
individual in any Virginia spiny dogfish fishery after the control date will not
be considered in the calculation of spiny dogfish rights should further entry
limitations be established. Any individual entering the spiny dogfish fishery
after the control date may forfeit any right to future participation in the
spiny dogfish fishery should further entry limitation be established.
4VAC20-490-48. SMOOTH DOGFISH COMMERCIAL QUOTA AND CATCH LIMITATIONS.
A. The annual commercial quota for smooth dogfish shall be 922,030 pounds in
dressed weight.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest,
or possess aboard any vessel or to land in Virginia any smooth dogfish harvested
from federal waters once NOAA Fisheries has determined and announced that 80% of
the smooth dogfish coastwide quota has been harvested.
C. It shall be
unlawful for any person to harvest or to land in Virginia any smooth dogfish for
commercial purposes after the quota specified in subsection A of this section
has been landed and announced as such.
D. Any smooth dogfish harvested
from state waters or federal waters, for commercial purposes, shall only be sold
to a federally permitted dealer.
E. It shall be unlawful for any buyer of
seafood to receive any smooth dogfish harvested from federal waters once NOAA
Fisheries has determined and announced that 80% of the smooth dogfish coastwide
quota has been harvested.
F. It shall be unlawful for any buyer of
seafood to receive any smooth dogfish after the commercial quota specified in
subsection A of this section has been attained and announced as such.
4VAC20-490-50. FINNING.
It shall be unlawful for any
person to engage in finning.
4VAC20-490-60. [Repealed]
4VAC20-490-70. PENALTY.
As set forth in §28.2-903 of the Code of
Virginia, any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of
a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of any provision of
this chapter committed by the same person within 12 months of a prior violation
is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
* * * * * * * * * *
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of the
chapter passed by the Marine Resources Commission, pursuant to authority vested
in the Commission by § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia, duly advertised
according to statute, and recorded in the Commission's minute book, at meeting
held in Newport News, Virginia, on November 1, 2016.
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