Section 60. Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size Striped Bass Recreational Fisheries

A. The open season for the Bay Spring Trophy-size Striped Bass Recreational Fishery shall be May 1 through June 15, inclusive.

B. The area open for the Bay Spring Trophy-size Striped Bass Recreational Fishery shall be the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, except the spawning reaches of the James, Pamunkey, Mattaponi, and Rappahannock Rivers.

C. The open season for the Coastal Spring Trophy-size Striped Bass Recreational Fishery shall be May 1 through May 15, inclusive.

D. The area open for the Coastal Spring Trophy-size Striped Bass Recreational Fishery is the coastal area as described in 4VAC20-252-20.

E. The minimum size limit for the fisheries described in this section shall be 36 inches total length.

F. The possession limit for the fisheries described in this section shall be one fish per person.

G. It shall be unlawful for any person participating in the Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size striped bass recreational fisheries to fail to obtain an Individual, Private Vessel, or Charter-Headboat Spring Recreational Striped Bass Trophy Permit.

H. It shall be unlawful for any spring recreational striped bass trophy permittee or any charter boat striped bass permittee to fail to report trips where striped bass are caught, whether harvest or released, or the possession of any trophy-size striped bass, as described in subsection E of this section, on forms provided by the commission within seven days after the trip occurred. It shall be unlawful for any permittee to fail to report trips where striped bass are targeted but not successfully caught by the 15th day after the close of the Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size striped bass recreational fisheries. The report requirements shall be as follows:

1. Any individual spring recreational striped bass trophy permittee shall provide his own commission permit identification number; the commission permit identification number of the recreational vessel the individual is fishing from, if applicable; the date of any harvest; the number of individuals on board; the water body where the trophy-size striped bass was caught; and number of trophy-size striped bass kept or released.

2. Any private vessel or charter-headboat spring recreational striped bass trophy permittee shall provide the recreational vessel's commission permit identification number, date of any harvest, number of individuals on board, and number of trophy-size striped bass kept or released. Any such permittee must report all trips made by the vessel to which the permit applies where trophy-size bass are caught or targeted even if the permittee was not on board the vessel during every such trip.

3. Any permittee who did not participate in the Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size striped bass recreational seasons shall notify the commission of his lack of participation by the 15th day after the close of the Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size striped bass recreational seasons on forms provided by the commission.

I. It shall be unlawful for any permittee, as described in 4VAC20-252-50 H and subsection G of this section, to fail to report either the harvest of trophy-size striped bass or no harvest activity within 15 days of the closing of the Bay and Coastal Spring Trophy-size striped bass recreational seasons.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 13, Issue 08, eff. December 6, 1996; amended, Virginia Register Volume 14, Issue 08, eff. January 1, 1998; Volume 15, Issue 18, eff. May 1, 1999; Volume 16, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2000; Volume 20, Issue 10, eff. January 5, 2004; Volume 31, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2015; Volume 31, Issue 17, eff. April 1, 2015; Volume 31, Issue 19, eff. May 1, 2015; Volume 33, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2017.

Statutory Authority

§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.