Section 20. License sales moratorium and license ineligibility conditions

A. For any lawful crabbing season, commercial licenses for crab pot, peeler pot, crab scrape, crab trap, ordinary trot line, patent trot line, and dip net shall be sold only to those registered commercial fishermen who have been determined by the commission to be eligible to purchase any of these licenses in 2010, except as described in subsection B of this section.

B. For any lawful crabbing season, those registered commercial fishermen who were eligible from 2004 through 2008 for any crab pot or peeler pot licenses, but reported no harvest from 2004 through 2007, were placed on a waiting list in 2009 and shall remain ineligible to purchase a crab pot or peeler pot license, in accordance with subsection C of this section.

C. At such time results from the Chesapeake Bay Winter Dredge Survey indicate that an abundance of 215 million age 1+ female blue crabs (blue crabs 2.4 inches and greater, in carapace width) has been attained in three consecutive, seasonal (December – March) surveys, those registered commercial fishermen on the waiting list shall resume their eligibility to purchase their crab pot or peeler pot licenses according to a limited and delayed access system established by the Commission.

D. Any person receiving a crab license by lawful transfer also establishes his eligibility to purchase that specific license; however, any person either failing to register as a commercial fisherman in any year or lawfully transferring his crab license to another person shall forfeit his eligibility to purchase that specific crab license.

E. Commercial licenses for crab pots, peeler pots, crab scrapes, crab traps, ordinary trot lines, patent trot lines, and crab dip nets may be transferred to an immediate family member of the licensee at any time and, in the case of death or incapacitation of the licensee, may be transferred to a registered commercial fisherman at any time. Crabbing licenses also may be transferred to another registered commercial fisherman, except that not more than 100 licenses shall be transferred in the current year. All such transfers shall be documented on forms provided by the commission and shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner.

F. Any crab pot or peeler pot license that is purchased by the commission through the Federal Crab Disaster Relief Program shall be permanently retired and shall not be available for sale to any fisherman at any time. Any person whose license is purchased under the Crab Disaster Relief Program may re-enter the fishery only through the transfer of another crab pot or peeler pot license as authorized by regulations in effect at the time of the transfer.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 15, Issue 20, eff. May 26, 1999; amended, Virginia Register Volume 16, Issue 20, eff. May 26, 2000; Volume 17, Issue 20, eff. May 26, 2001; Volume 20, Issue 19, eff. May 1, 2004; Volume 22, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2006; Volume 24, Issue 08, eff. January 1, 2008; Volume 25, Issue 08, eff. November 30, 2008; Volume 26, Issue 01, eff. September 1, 2009; Volume 26, Issue 21, eff. June 1, 2010; Volume 28, Issue 03, eff. October 1, 2011.

Statutory Authority

§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.