Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 2 - TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT › Chapter 58 - OYSTERS, SHRIMP, AND FINFISH › Subchapter B - STATEWIDE SHRIMP FISHERY PROCLAMATION › Section 58.102 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
					 subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
					 indicates otherwise.
(1) Aquatic
				  products--Any aquatic life, alive or dead, uncooked, fresh or frozen, which is
				  intended to be used for human consumption or bait.
(2) Accelerator funnel--a device used to
				  accelerate the flow of water through a shrimp trawl.
(3) Bait bays--Bait bays are: major bays,
				  Chocolate Bay, West Bay south and west of Interstate Highway 45 Causeway bridge
				  and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway inclusive of the area south of a line
				  extending westward from the Interstate Highway 45 Causeway bridge at Virginia
				  Point, along the southern edge of Tiki Island to the northeastern tip of North
				  Deer Island at Channel Marker 48, Trinity Bay northward from a line extending
				  from the mouth of Double Bayou in Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel
				  Marker 14, to Separator C-2, to Point Barrow, Chambers County, the Old Brazos
				  River lying north of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Brazoria County, Upper
				  Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, Alazan Bay, Baroom Bay, Lower Laguna Madre including
				  the Brownsville ship channel, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway exclusive of
				  all tributaries.
(4) Bait-shrimp
				  dealer--A person who operates an established place of business in a coastal
				  county of the state for compensation or profit for the purpose of handling
				  shrimp caught for use as bait from the inside water of this state, but does not
				  include a person holding a wholesale fish dealer's license under Parks and
				  Wildlife Code, §
										47.009.
(5) Beam Trawl--A trawl, without wings, the
				  mouth of which is held open by a rigid beam of wood or metal.
(6) Bycatch Reduction Device (BRD)--a device
				  installed in the cod end (tail bag) of a shrimp trawl for the purpose of
				  excluding finfish from the net.
(7)
				  Centerline--the seam that runs along the top center of the trawl. In the
				  absence of a seam, the centerline runs from the center point of the length of
				  the head rope to the furthest distance on the top of the cod end of the
				  trawl.
(8) Coastal waters--All the
				  salt water of this state (as defined in §
										65.3 of
				  this title (relating to Definitions)), including that portion of the Gulf of
				  Mexico within the jurisdiction of the state extending nine nautical miles from
				  the Gulf shoreline.
(9) Cod end
				  (Tailbag)--the end of a trawl which acts as the receptacle for shrimp and other
				  organisms caught in the net. It is closed and secured, at the extreme end, with
				  a line.
(10) Commercial bait shrimp
				  boat--A boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the laws of
				  the United States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of taking
				  or attempting to take shrimp for use as bait and other aquatic products from
				  the inside water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or
				  exchange.
(11) Commercial bay
				  shrimp boat--A boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the
				  laws of the United States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of
				  taking or attempting to take shrimp and other aquatic products from the inside
				  water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or
				  exchange.
(12) Commercial gulf
				  shrimp boat--Any boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the
				  laws of the United States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of
				  taking or attempting to take shrimp and other aquatic products from the outside
				  water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange, or
				  from salt water outside the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter,
				  or exchange, and that unloads at a port or other point in the state without
				  having been previously unloaded in another state or foreign country.
(13) Contiguous zone--That area of the Gulf
				  of Mexico lying adjacent to and offshore of the jurisdiction of the State of
				  Texas and in which shrimp of the Family Penaeidae are found.
(14) Individual bait-shrimp trawl--An otter
				  trawl used for the purpose of catching shrimp for personal use.
(15) Inside waters--All bays, inlets,
				  outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water landward from the
				  shoreline of the state along the Gulf of Mexico and contiguous to, or connected
				  with, but not a part of, the Gulf of Mexico and within which the tide regularly
				  rises and falls and in which saltwater shrimp are found or into which saltwater
				  shrimp migrate.
(16) Major
				  bays--Major bays include the deeper, major bay areas of the inside water,
				  including Sabine Lake north of Cameron Causeway to south of a line marked by
				  the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (Sabine Neches Canal/Sabine river) between the
				  eastern most tip of Goat Island to the western most tip of Stewts Island,
				  Trinity Bay southward from a line extending from the mouth of Double Bayou in
				  Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel Marker 14, to Separator C-2, to Point
				  Barrow, Chambers County, Galveston Bay, East Bay westward from a line extending
				  from Frozen Point to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Marker 12, Matagorda Bay
				  (westward of a line extending from a location on the mainland (where a line
				  running immediately northwest (bearing 330 degrees) from Shellfish Marker A
				  intersects the mainland) thence southeasterly to Shellfish Marker A located
				  near the mainland, thence to Shellfish Marker B located near the end of Shell
				  Island Reef, thence to the tide gauge located near the Matagorda Peninsula, and
				  thence southeasterly (bearing 153 degrees) to the Matagorda Peninsula. East
				  Matagorda Bay, Tres Palacios Bay south of a line from Grassey Point to the
				  mouth of Pinkerton Bayou, Espiritu Santo Bay, Lavaca Bay southward of State
				  Highway 35, San Antonio Bay southward of a line from McDowell Point to Mosquito
				  Point, Aransas Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay exclusive of the area bounded by a
				  line extending from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at the southwest point of
				  the Dagger Island chain, along Dagger Island to the southeast tip of South
				  Ransom Island, then southeast to the westernmost point of land north of Marker
				  14 in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, all exclusive of tributary bays, bayous,
				  and inlets, lakes and rivers.
(17)
				  Northern Shrimp Zone--That portion of outside waters north of the Corpus
				  Christi Fish Pass Jetties from a line formed by Latitude 27° 40' 34" to the
				  Texas-Louisiana border.
(18)
				  Nursery areas--Includes tributary bays, bayous, inlets, lakes, and rivers,
				  which are proven to serve as significant growth and development environments
				  for postlarval and juvenile shrimp not including the outside waters, major
				  bays, or bait bays as defined in this section.
(19) Otter Trawl--A funnel-shaped trawl, with
				  wings, the mouth of which is held open by floats and weights and spread by
				  trawl doors fastened to the wings.
(20) Outside waters--All the salt water of
				  the state contiguous to and seaward from the shoreline of the state along the
				  Gulf of Mexico as the shoreline is projected and extended in a continuous and
				  unbroken line, following the contours of the shoreline, across bays, inlets,
				  outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water; and that portion
				  of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the shoreline seaward and within the
				  jurisdiction of the state.
(21)
				  Permanent structure--A building designed, planned, and constructed so as to
				  remain at one location.
(22) Place
				  of business--A permanent structure on the mainland or a barrier island where
				  aquatic products or orders for aquatic products are received, or where aquatic
				  products are sold or purchased, but does not include a vehicle, a boat, or any
				  type of floating device, a public cold storage vault, or the portion of a
				  structure that is used as a residence.
(23) Possess--The act of having in possession
				  or control, keeping, detaining, restraining or holding.
(24) Second offense and third and subsequent
				  offenses--Offenses for which convictions have been obtained within three years
				  prior to the date of the offense charged.
(25) Shrimping--The taking or attempting to
				  take shrimp from the public waters of this state.
(26) Shrimp house operator--A person who
				  operates a shrimp house, plant, or other establishment for compensation or
				  profit for the purpose of unloading and handling, from commercial gulf shrimp
				  boats or commercial bay shrimp boats, fresh shrimp and other edible aquatic
				  products caught or taken from the coastal water of the state or from salt water
				  outside the state and brought into the state without having been previously
				  unloaded in another state or foreign country, but does not include a person
				  holding a wholesale fish dealer's license under Parks and Wildlife Code, §
										47.009.
(27) Southern Shrimp Zone--That portion of
				  outside waters south of the Corpus Christi Fish Pass Jetties from a line formed
				  by Latitude 27° 40' 34" southward to the Texas-Mexico border.
(28) Tailbag (Cod end)--the end of a trawl
				  which acts as the receptacle for shrimp and other organisms caught in the net.
				  It is closed and secured, at the extreme end, with a line.
(29) Trawl--A beam trawl or otter trawl with
				  a bag-shaped net which is used to catch shrimp.
(30) Turtle Excluder Device (TED)--a device
				  designed to be installed in a shrimp trawl forward of the cod end (tail bag)
				  for the purpose of excluding sea turtles from the net and that meets the
				  dimensions and specifications of an approved device as described in 50 CFR Part
				  223 §
										223.207 on August
				  13, 2012 .