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Fisheries and Habitat of the Tidal Waters

P Passed

P HB1572

Recreational eel pot license. Authorizes the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to establish a license for individuals who want to catch eels for noncommercial purposes. The license would allow a person to obtain a recreational gear license to use no more than two eel pots at a fee of not more than $10.
Patron - Pollard

P HB1699

Permits for piers on oyster and clam grounds; time limit for action. Requires the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to grant or deny permits for piers 100 feet or longer on oyster and clam grounds within 90 days of receipt of a complete application, unless information or circumstances materially alter the conditions under which the permit would be issued. If the Commission fails to act within such time, the application is deemed approved. Under current law, there is no time limit for action by the Commission.
Patron - Pollard

P HB1877

Erosion control devices within the Baylor survey. Provides that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission may allow construction of erosion control devices in the Baylor survey where it finds, along with other prescribed criteria, the proposed project to be technically and environmentally acceptable. However, if such Baylor ground is commercially productive as defined in the Code of Virginia, the environmentally preferred erosion control must be utilized. Under current law, such projects must be technically and environmentally preferable, whether or not the Baylor ground is productive.
Patron - Devolites

P HB2032

Exemptions from fishing licensing requirements. Provides that the exemption for the taking of as much as one bushel of hard crabs and two dozen peeler crabs in any one day for personal use may be modified by regulation by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Patron - Bloxom

P HB2033

Relaying seed-stock shellfish. Requires the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to promulgate regulations for the harvesting, transporting, handling and transplanting of wild and cultured seed oysters and clams from condemned planting areas to healthy waters.
Patron - Bloxom

P HB2294

Term of fishing licenses. Provides that upon implementation of automated point of sale licensing systems, recreational fishing licenses issued by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and hunting and trapping licenses and permits and fishing licenses issued by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries shall be valid for one year from their date of purchase. Under current law, such licenses and permits are valid from January 1, or their later date of purchase, and expire December 31 of the same year.
Patron - Blevins

P HB2417

Hydraulic dredges. Prohibits a person from (i) harvesting clams through the use of a hydraulic dredge or (ii) have on board his boat a hydraulic dredge designed for harvesting seafood unless the person has obtained a permit from the Marine Resources Commission. A person is exempted from the prohibitions if he is traveling to or from docks for maintenance or repair of his boat or equipment or when off-loading catches made in federal waters. The penalty for possessing this type of equipment without a permit is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron - Morgan

P HB2705

Marine Resources Commission; publication of proposed regulations. Allows the publication of proposed agency regulations that have only local application in either daily or weekly papers whichever have greater circulation in the locality in which the regulation applies.
Patron - Morgan

P SB784

Virginia Marine Patrol officers; powers. Clarifies that Virginia Marine Patrol officers have the same powers as sheriffs and other law-enforcement officers to enforce the criminal laws of the Commonwealth.
Patron - Stolle

P SB820

Potomac River Compact; storage, possession and marketing of lawfully harvested finfish and shellfish. Allows finfish and shellfish lawfully caught in the waters within the jurisdiction of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission to be possessed, stored, marketed and otherwise disposed of elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The language in the bill is almost identical to language in the Maryland statutes and was requested on behalf of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission.
Patron - Chichester

P SB837

Subaqueous permit exemption. Exempts landowners who withdraw water for agricultural, silvicultural, or horticultural irrigation on riparian lands, or the watering of animals on such lands, from having to obtain a permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, so long as (i) they do not place a permanent structure on the stream or river bed, (ii) they comply with any requirements administered by the Department of Environmental Quality under Title 62.1, and (iii) the activity does not have adverse impacts to instream beneficial users.
Patron - Watkins

F Failed

F HB2703

Saltwater recreational fishing license. Removes the seaside exemption from the requirement to have a saltwater fishing license when fishing in tidal waters. The bill exempts a person fishing from property he owns or rents, or his nonpaying guest or immediate family, from having to obtain a saltwater recreational fishing license. Currently, the exemption is limited to the person who owns property or his nonpaying guest or immediate family member. Persons fishing from a federal park or reserve located on the Eastern shore would also be exempted from having to obtain a license.
Patron - Bloxom

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