Section 48. Individual fishery quotas; bycatch limit; at sea harvesters; exceptions

A. Each person possessing a directed fishery permit shall be assigned an individual fishery quota, in pounds, for each calendar year. A person's individual fishery quota shall be equal to that person's percentage of the total landings of black sea bass in Virginia from July 1, 1997, through December 31, 2001, multiplied by the directed commercial fishery black sea bass quota for the calendar year. Any directed fishery permittee shall be limited to landings in Virginia in the amount of his individual fishery quota, in pounds, in any calendar year and it shall be unlawful for any permittee to exceed his individual fishery quota. In addition to the penalties prescribed by law, any overages of an individual's fishery quota shall be deducted from that permittee's individual fishery quota for the following year.

B. In the determination of a person's percentage of total landings, the commission shall use the greater amount of landings from either the National Marine Fisheries Service Dealer Weigh-Out Reports or National Marine Fisheries Service Vessel Trip Reports that have been reported and filed as of November 26, 2002. If a person's percentage of the total landings of black sea bass is determined by using the Vessel Trip Reports as the greater amount, then the person shall provide documentation to the Marine Resources Commission to verify the Vessel Trip Reports as accurate. This documentation may include dealer receipts of sales or other pertinent documentation, and such documentation shall be submitted to the commission by December 1, 2004. In the event the commission is not able to verify the full amount of the person's Vessel Trip Reports for the qualifying period, the commission shall use the greater amount of landings, from either the Dealer Weigh-Out Reports or the verified portion of the Vessel Trip Reports to establish that person's share of the quota.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person harvesting black sea bass to possess aboard any vessel in Virginia waters any amount of black sea bass that exceeds the combined total of any portion of the Virginia permitted landing limit, as described in subsection A of this section, and the North Carolina legal landing limit.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person permitted for the bycatch fishery to do any of the following:

1. Possess aboard a vessel or land in Virginia more than 200 pounds of black sea bass in addition to the North Carolina legal landing limit or trip limit, in any one day, except as provided in subdivision 2 of this subsection;

2. Possess aboard a vessel or land in Virginia more than 1,000 pounds of black sea bass in addition to the North Carolina legal landing limit or trip limit, in any one day, provided that the total weight of black sea bass on board the vessel does not exceed 10%, by weight, of the total weight of summer flounder, scup, Longfin squid, and Atlantic mackerel on board the vessel; or

3. Possess aboard a vessel or land in Virginia more than 100 pounds of black sea bass in addition to the North Carolina legal landing limit or trip limit, when it is projected and announced that 75% of the bycatch fishery quota has been taken.

E. It shall be unlawful for any person to transfer black sea bass from one vessel to another while at sea.

F. Any hardship exception quota granted by the commission prior to October 27, 2009, shall be converted to a percentage of the directed fishery quota based on the year in which that hardship exception quota was originally granted. The hardship exception quota shall not be transferred for a period of five years from the date the commission granted that hardship exception quota.

G. An individual fishery quota, as described in subsection A of this section, shall be equal to an individual's current percentage share of the directed fishery quota, as described in 4VAC20-950-47 A.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 19, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2003; amended, Virginia Register Volume 20, Issue 06, eff. November 1, 2003; Volume 21, Issue 05, eff. October 29, 2004; Volume 21, Issue 13, eff. February 2, 2005; Volume 22, Issue 06, eff. November 1, 2005; Volume 22, Issue 12, eff. February 1, 2006; Volume 23, Issue 17, eff. March 30, 2007; Volume 24, Issue 15, eff. March 1, 2008; Volume 25, Issue 08, eff. January 1, 2009; Volume 26, Issue 06, eff. November 1, 2009; Volume 26, Issue 14, eff. March 1, 2010; Volume 27, Issue 14, eff. February 24, 2011; Volume 28, Issue 19, eff. April 28, 2012; Volume 29, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2013; Volume 30, Issue 17, eff. April 1, 2014.

Statutory Authority

§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia