Alabama Administrative Code › Title 220 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 220-3 - MARINE RESOURCES DIVISION › Section 220-3-.41 - Finfish Taken As Bait By Bait Purse Seine

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Bait Fishery Defined; Fishery
			 Restrictions: An experimental offshore bait purse seine fishery in Alabama's
			 territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico for schooling, pelagic fish species
			 (listed in paragraph (c) hereof) to be marketed exclusively as bait is herein
			 authorized. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to use a
			 bait purse seine in Alabama's territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico except
			 as follows:
(a) Gear Specifications: Purse
			 seines utilized in taking or attempting to take bait fish species in the
			 offshore territorial waters of the State of Alabama must b constructed entirely
			 of one-half (1/2) inch knot to knot mesh webbing. This gear will be referred to
			 in this rule as a "bait purse seine." The use of any purse seine in this bait
			 fishery constructed of webbing sized other than as provided herein is illegal,
			 and the possession on board in the waters of Alabama of a bait purse seine in
			 which the webbing is sized other than as specified in this rule is
			 prohibited.
(b) Waters Open to the
			 Fishery: The taking of finfish species as bait by bait purse seine shall be
			 permitted in all of Alabama's territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico south of
			 a line one-fourth (1/4) mile from the shoreline, including Pelican/Sand Island,
			 seaward to a distance of three (3) miles from shore. These waters shall be open
			 Monday through Friday except on state or national holidays. It shall be
			 unlawful to take or attempt to take bait species using a bait purse seine in
			 any inside waters of the State of Alabama defined by Rule
			 220-3-.04(1) or
			 in Pelican Bay (described as those waters encompassed by a line running south
			 from Mobile Point Light at Fort Morgan to Sand Island Tower (Lighthouse), then
			 northwesterly along the contour of Sand/Pelican Island, and then from the west
			 end of Pelican Island to the Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board pier, then
			 east along the shoreline of Dauphin Island to the most southeastern tip of
			 Dauphin Island and from this point southeastwardly across the mouth of Mobile
			 Bay to Mobile Point Light at Fort Morgan).
(c) Species Restrictions. A bait purse seine
			 may lawfully be used for taking or attempting to take only the following fishes
			 to be market expressly as bait:
Round scad Decapterus punctatus
Round scad Trachurus lathami
Bigeye scad Selar crumenopthalmus
Chub mackerel Scomber japonicus
Ladyfish Elops saurus
Blue runner Caranx crysos
(d) License Requirement: The operator of any
			 vessel upon which a bait purse seine is possessed must hold a valid Alabama
			 purse seine license.
(e) Observer
			 Requirement: Any vessel upon which a bait purse seine is possessed must have a
			 bona fide fishery observer on board or comply with reporting requirements as
			 determined by criteria established by the Director, ADCNR/Marine Resources
			 Division when such vessel is away from port and on the fishing
			 grounds.
(f) Landing Requirement:
			 All fish taken as bait by bait purse seine in Alabama waters by a duly licensed
			 bait purse seine vessel must be landed in the State of Alabama.
(g) Reporting Protocol: Each bait purse seine
			 vessel operator must submit reports in standardized form detailing catch,
			 fishing conditions, and fishing equipment by individual fishing trip to the
			 ADCNR/Marine Resources Division at weekly intervals. Reports will be submitted
			 each Tuesday, detailing fishing activities for the previous Monday through
			 Friday fishing week.
(h) The bait
			 purse seining activities conducted pursuant to this rule shall not be construed
			 as purse seining for the purpose of Section
			 9-12-115.1,
Code of
			 Ala. 1975
.