Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 22 - MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES › Part 5 - RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT ESTABLISH RESTRICTIONS GOVERNING THE USE OF NETS, FISH TRAPS AND POTS WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL WATERS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI AND ESTABLISHING CERTAIN CATCH LIMITATIONS AND QUOTAS › Chapter 04 - Commercial Net Closure Areas and Gear Size Restrictions › Section 22-5-04-101

Current through June 25, 2024
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to
				  catch, take or carry away any saltwater fish by or with any gill nets, trammel
				  nets, purse seines, seines, haul seines, fish traps, and other like
				  contrivances except permitted eel traps in the following areas of the State of
				  Mississippi:
101.01 Within any river,
				bayou, creek, canal, stream, tributary, lake, bay, or inlet, or other water
				source entering into areas defined as salt waters under the jurisdiction of the
				MCMR, except Pt. aux Chenes Bay, Middle Bay, Jose Bay, L'Isle Chaude, Heron
				Bay, Pascagoula Bay, south of a line beginning at a point on the shoreline at
				the southern terminus of range lines R7W and R6W near Camp Lamotte; thence
				southeasterly along the most direct line to the southernmost point of Twin
				Islands; thence easterly along the most direct line to the southern point of
				Rabbit Island; thence easterly along the most direct line to the beacon "Occ R
				4 sec 100 ft" on the eastern side of Litton Shipbuilding; thence southeasterly
				following the shoreline to the southeastern most point of Litton Shipbuilding;
				thence easterly along the most direct line to the southernmost point of land
				adjoining the entrance to Yazoo Lake) and South Rigolets and Biloxi Bay south
				of a line drawn between Marsh Point and Grand Bayou. These restrictions in
				subsection 101.01 shall not apply to mullet fishing in Pascagoula Bay south of
				the CSX Railroad bridge.
101.02
				Within fifteen hundred (1500) feet from the shoreline between the U.S. Highway
				90 bridge and the north shore of Bayou Caddy in Hancock County.
101.03 Within an area that would block the
				mouth of any river, bayou, creek, canal, stream, tributary, lake, bay, inlet,
				channel, or other water source entering into areas defined as salt waters under
				the jurisdiction of the MCMR. Areas defined as salt waters under the
				jurisdiction of the MCMR are specified by Mississippi Commission on Wildlife,
				Fisheries and Parks Public Notice Number 2276 in accordance with §
									49-15-23
				of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended.
101.04 Within an area formed by a line
				running one (1) mile from the shoreline of Cat, Ship, Horn, Petit Bois, and
				Round Island, or from the shoals of Telegraph Keys and Telegraph Reef (Merrill
				Coquille), during the period from May 15 to September 15 of each year.
101.05 Within twelve hundred
				(1,200) feet of any private piers which extend a distance of seventy-five (75)
				feet or more from the shoreline, except when mullet fishing.
101.06 Within three-hundred (300) feet of any
				private piers which extend a distance of seventy-five (75) feet or more from
				the shoreline when mullet fishing.
101.07 All of the aforementioned piers must
				be in usable condition with boards spaced in such a way that persons can walk
				the entire distance of the pier.
101.08 It shall be unlawful for any person,
				firm, or corporation to use at any time trammel nets, gill nets, seines, haul
				seines, or any other like contrivances in excess of twelve-hundred (1200) feet
				in length. Except when fishing gill and trammel nets between October 15 through
				December 15 of each year, nets must be of a mesh size of one and one half
				(1-1/2) inch square, three (3) inch stretch or larger, and it shall be unlawful
				for any boat to use more than one (1) such net. Between October 15 through
				December 15 of each year, gill and trammel nets must be of a mesh size of one
				and three-fourths (1 3/4) inch square, three and one-half (3 ½) inch
				stretch or larger, and it shall be unlawful for any boat to use more than one
				(1) such net.
101.09 It shall be
				unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation other than licensed menhaden
				vessels engaged in menhaden fishing, to use or have in possession purse
				seine(s) in excess of fifteen hundred (1500) feet in length. Said nets must be
				of a mesh size of one-half (½) inch square, one (1) inch stretch or
				larger.
101.10 It shall be unlawful
				for any person, firm, or corporation to leave a gill net, trammel net, purse
				seine, seine, haul seine, or any other net like contrivance governed by the
				restrictions set forth in this Part unattended in the waters of this state. It
				shall further be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to use or have
				in their possession a gill net, trammel net, seine, haul seine, or like
				contrivance on the waters of this state without a visible buoy attached every
				one hundred (100) feet clearly marked with the license number or owner's full
				name thereon.