Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 20 - MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION › Chapter 20 - PERTAINING TO THE LICENSING OF FIXED FISHING DEVICES › Section 4VAC20-20-50 - Priority rights; renewal by current licensee

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Applications for renewal of license for
				existing fixed fishing devices may be accepted by the officer beginning at 9
				a.m. on December 1 of the current license year through noon on January 10 of
				the next license year providing the applicant has met all requirements of law
				and this chapter. Any location not relicensed during the above period of time
				shall be considered vacant and available to any qualified applicant after noon
				on January 10.
B. Except as
				provided in subsections C and D of this section, a currently licensed fixed
				fishing device must have been fished during the current license year in order
				for the licensee to maintain his priority right to such location. It shall be
				mandatory for the licensee to notify the officer, on forms provided by the
				commission, when the fixed fishing device is ready to be fished in the location
				applied for, by a complete system of nets and poles, except as provided in
				subsection D of this section, for the purpose of visual inspection by the
				officer. Either the failure of the licensee to notify the officer when the
				fixed fishing device is ready to be fished or the failure by the licensee
				actually to fish the licensed device, by use of a complete system of nets and
				poles, except as provided in subsection D of this section, shall terminate his
				right or privilege to renew the license during the period set forth in
				subsection A of this section of this chapter, and he shall not become a
				qualified applicant for such location until 9 a.m. on February 1. Any
				application received from an unqualified applicant under this subsection shall
				be considered as received at 9 a.m. on February 1; however, in the event of the
				death of a current license holder, the priority right to renew the currently
				held locations of the deceased licensee shall not expire by reason of failure
				to fish said locations during the year for which they were licensed, but one
				additional year shall be and is hereby granted to the personal representative
				or lawful beneficiary of the deceased licensee to license the location in the
				name of the estate of the deceased licensee for purposes of fishing said
				location or making valid assignment thereof.
C. During the effective period of 4VAC20-530,
				which establishes a moratorium on the taking and possession of American shad in
				the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, any person licensed during 1993 to set
				a staked gill net who chooses not to set that net during the period of the
				moratorium may maintain his priority right to the stake net's 1993 location by
				completing an application for a fixed fishing device and submitting it to the
				officer. No license fee shall be charged for the application.
D. In order to maintain priority rights and
				renew a license to a specific pound net location, a pound net licensee shall be
				required to set and fish that pound net at least once during two consecutive
				calendar years starting with calendar year 2009.
Statutory Authority
§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.