Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 90 - Marine Fisheries › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 4 - Shellfish › Section 250-RICR-90-00-4.20 - Shellfish Transplant Regulations

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The Director is
				  authorized and directed, after requiring all necessary safeguards, to transfer
				  shellfish from uncertified waters of the State to approved areas. The Director
				  may make Rules and Regulations governing the re-harvest of those shellfish to
				  the best economic benefit of the State after all necessary safeguards to insure
				  their cleanliness.
B. Any person
				  participating in the transplant program shall surrender his commercial license
				  to the conservation officer or DEM employee afloat on the transplant bed or
				  otherwise stationed to collect licenses. The license must be surrendered before
				  the participant commences digging shellfish.
C. The boundaries of the transplanting area
				  shall be marked with designated corner markers. All shellfishermen
				  participating in the transplant program shall harvest shellfish only within the
				  boundaries of the transplant area so marked.
D. No shellfisherman shall commence
				  harvesting shellfish in the transplant area before the hour at which the
				  transplant program is scheduled to commence. Hours of transplanting shall be
				  publicized in advance.
E.
				  Shellfishermen participating in the transplant program shall bring no shellfish
				  into the transplant area before beginning the transplant. Any shellfish on
				  board a participant's boat shall be considered transplant shellfish, dug from
				  the transplanting area.
F. Any
				  participant in the transplant program shall be considered to have completed his
				  participation in the program when he presents his shellfish to the "buy
				  boat/buy station" for counting/weighing. If the method of transplanting
				  involves diggers planting their own catch in the transplant bed, the
				  shellfisherman shall first present his catch to the authorized DEM officer for
				  counting/weighing, and shall then proceed directly to the planting area. Once
				  the shellfisherman commences to remove the shellfish from his boat to the "buy
				  boat/buy station" or into the transplant bed, he shall remove all shellfish
				  from his boat before changing location. Any change of location shall indicate
				  that the shellfisherman has cleared his boat of shellfish and is ready for
				  inspection and return of license by DEM officers. No shellfish shall be aboard
				  any participant's boat at the time of inspection.
G. Temporary creation of a transplanting area
				  shall in no way affect the polluted status of the waters therein, or of any
				  waters surrounding the transplanting area and declared polluted.
H. Violation of any of these provisions shall
				  be punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) and/or up to
				  thirty (30) days in jail.
I. Agents
				  of the DEM may limit the maximum allowable harvest by each participant in a
				  transplant. Agents of the DEM may limit the number of participants in a
				  shellfish transplant program provided that the limit is determined in a fair
				  and equitable manner.
J. Dredging,
				  Raking, and Tonging in Transplant Beds: Those areas to which the shellfish are
				  transferred shall be marked out, and dredging, raking, or tonging on them shall
				  be prohibited except under the special direction of the Director.