Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 20 - MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION › Chapter 252 - PERTAINING TO ATLANTIC STRIPED BASS › Section 4VAC20-252-20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Bait" means any whole or part of any marine or aquatic
				  organism, live or dead.
"Chesapeake Bay area" means the commercial fishing area that
				  includes the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and the Potomac River
				  tributaries.
"Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries" means all tidal waters
				  of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries within Virginia, westward of the
				  shoreward boundary of the Territorial Sea, excluding the coastal area and the
				  Potomac River tributaries as defined in this section.
"Circle hook" means a non-offset, non-stainless steel hook
				  with the point turned sharply and straight back toward the shank.
"Coastal area" means the area that includes Virginia's
				  portion of the Territorial Sea, plus all of the creeks, bays, inlets, and
				  tributaries on the seaside of Accomack County, Northampton County (including
				  areas east of the causeway from Fisherman Island to the mainland), and the City
				  of Virginia Beach (including federal areas and state parks, fronting on the
				  Atlantic Ocean and east and south of the point where the shoreward boundary of
				  the Territorial Sea joins the mainland at Cape Henry).
"Commercial fishing," "fishing commercially," or "commercial
				  fishery" means fishing by any person where the catch is or is intended for
				  sale, barter, trade, or any commercial purpose.
"Great Wicomico-Tangier Striped Bass Management Area" means
				  the area that includes the Great Wicomico River and those Virginia waters
				  bounded by a line beginning at Dameron Marsh at NAD 83 North Latitude
				  37-46.9535, West Longitude 76-17.1294; extending to the southernmost point of
				  Tangier Island, and north to a point on the Virginia-Maryland state boundary at
				  NAD 83 North Latitude 37-57.0407, West Longitude 75-58.5043, and then westerly
				  along the Virginia-Maryland state boundary to Smith Point.
"Potomac River tributaries" means all the tributaries of the
				  Potomac River that are within Virginia's jurisdiction beginning with, and
				  including, Flag Pond extending upstream to the District of Columbia
				  boundary.
"Recreational fishing," "fishing recreationally," or
				  "recreational fishery" means fishing by any person, whether licensed or
				  exempted from licensing, where the catch is not or is not intended for sale,
				  barter, trade, or any commercial purpose.
"Recreational vessel" means any vessel, kayak, charter
				  vessel, or headboat participating in the recreational striped bass
				  fishery.
"Share" means a percentage of the striped bass commercial
				  harvest quota.
"Snout" means the most forward projection from a fish's head
				  that includes the upper and lower jaw.
"Spawning reaches" means sections within the spawning rivers
				  as follows:
1. James River from a line connecting Dancing Point and New
				  Sunken Meadow Creek upstream to a line connecting City Point and Packs
				  Point.
2. Pamunkey River from the Route 33 Bridge at West Point
				  upstream to a line connecting Liberty Hall and the opposite shore.
3. Mattaponi River from the Route 33 Bridge at West Point
				  upstream to the Route 360 bridge at Aylett.
4. Rappahannock River from the Route 360 Bridge at
				  Tappahannock upstream to the Route 1 Falmouth Bridge.
"Spear" or "spearing" means to fish while the person is fully
				  submerged under the water's surface with a mechanically aided device designed
				  to accelerate a barbed spear.
"Striped bass" means any fish or any hybrid of the species
				  Morone saxatilis.
"Total length" means the length of a fish measured from the
				  most forward projection of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the tip of the
				  longer lobe of the tail (caudal) fin, measured with the tail compressed along
				  the midline, using a straight-line measure, not measured over the curve of the
				  body.
Statutory Authority: §
											28.2-201
					 of the Code of Virginia.