Section 30. License requirements and exemptions

A. It shall be unlawful for any boat or vessel to land seafood in Virginia for commercial purposes without a Seafood Landing License provided from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission or its agent. The license shall be required of each boat or vessel used to land seafood for commercial purposes. Possession of any quantity of a marine seafood species which exceeds the recreational possession limit for that species shall be presumed to be for commercial purposes. Any boat or vessel so licensed shall display a Seafood Landing License decal provided by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. The decals shall be displayed on both the port and starboard sides of the pilot house.

B. It shall be unlawful for any buyer of seafood to receive any marine seafood from any boat or vessel which is not licensed for the landing of seafood unless that boat or vessel is exempt from the requirement to obtain a Seafood Landing License as described in this section.

C. Any boat or vessel which is both owned and operated by a person who holds a valid Virginia Commercial Fisherman Registration License shall be exempt from the requirement to obtain a Seafood Landing License.

D. Any boat or vessel operated by a person harvesting and landing marine seafood from the Potomac River who holds a valid Potomac River Fisheries Commission commercial license shall be exempt from the requirement to obtain a Seafood Landing License.

E. Any boat or vessel operated by a person harvesting and landing marine seafood from leased ground or reharvesting marine seafood as part of the shellfish relay process shall be exempt from the requirements to obtain a Seafood Landing License.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 13, Issue 01, eff. October 1, 1996; amended, Virginia Register Volume 22, Issue 04, eff. December 1, 2005.

Statutory Authority

§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.