Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 20 - MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION › Chapter 720 - PERTAINING TO RESTRICTIONS ON OYSTER HARVEST › Section 4VAC20-720-40 - Open oyster harvest season, harvest areas, and harvest limits

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. It shall be
				unlawful for any person to harvest oysters from public and unassigned grounds
				except within the dates and areas and with the harvest gears set forth in this
				section.
B. It shall be unlawful to
				harvest clean cull oysters from the public oyster grounds and unassigned
				grounds except within the seasons and areas and with the harvest gears as
				described in Table 1 in this subsection.
It shall be unlawful to exceed the daily individual bushel
				  harvest limit or the daily vessel bushel limit of clean cull oysters in Table 1
				  in this subsection.
Table 1
Clean Cull Oyster Harvest Area,
							 Harvest Dates, Harvest Gear, and Daily Bushel Limits
Harvest Area
Harvest Dates
Harvest Gear
Daily Individual Bushel Limit
Daily Vessel Bushel Limit
Great Wicomico River Rotation Area 1
December 1, 2023, through January 31, 2024, and
							 February 15, 2024, through February 29, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
James River Area 1 and 2
October 15, 2023, through February 29, 2024, and
							 March 16, 2024 through March 31, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
James River Area 3
November 1, 2023, through March 15, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
Middle Ground
November 1, 2023, through November 15, 2023
Hand Scrape
8
16
Rappahannock River Rotation Area 1
March 1, 2024, through March 15, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
Rappahannock River Area 8
January 1, 2024, through February 14, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
Rappahannock River Area 7
December 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Hand Scrape
8
16
Rappahannock River Rotation Area 2
February 15, 2024, through February 29, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
Rappahannock River Rotation Area 6
November 1, 2023, through November 30, 2023
Hand Scrape
8
16
Upper Chesapeake Bay - Blackberry Hangs Area
February 1, 2024, through February 29, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
York River Rotation Area 1
November 1, 2023, through November 30, 2023, and
							 February 15, 2024, through February 29, 2024
Hand Scrape
8
16
Coan River Area
October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Hand Tong
14
28
Corrotoman Hand Tong Area
October 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Indian Creek
March 1, 2024, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
James River Area 1 and 2
March 1, 2024, through March 15, 2024, and April 1,
							 2024, through April 30, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
James River Area 3
March 16, 2024, through April 30, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
James River Seed Area, including the James River Seed
							 Area, including the Deep Water Shoal State Replenishment Seed Area
October 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Little Wicomico River
October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Hand Tong
14
28
Milford Haven
November 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Nomini Creek Area
October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Hand Tong
14
28
Pocomoke Sound Area Public Ground 9 and 10
November 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Rappahannock River Area 9
October 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Yeocomico River Area
October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Hand Tong
14
28
York River Hand Tong Area
November 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
York River Rotation Area 1
October 1, 2023, through October 31, 2023, and
							 December 1, 2023, through February 15, 2024, and March 1, 2024, through March
							 31, 2024
Hand Tong
14
28
Beasley Bay Area
March 1, 2024, through March 15, 2024
Oyster Dredge
8
16
California Rock Area
November 15, 2023, through November 30, 2023
Oyster Dredge
8
16
Pocomoke Sound Rotation Area 1
December 1, 2023, through February 29, 2024
Oyster Dredge
8
16
Tangier Sound Rotation Area 1
December 1, 2023, through March 15, 2024
Oyster Dredge
8
16
Larsons Bay Area
December 1, 2023, through February 29, 2024
Patent Tong
8
16
Deep Rock Area
November 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Patent Tong
8
16
Rappahannock River Rotation Area 1
October 15, 2023, through February 29, 2024
Patent Tong
8
16
Seaside Eastern Shore
November 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
By Hand or Hand Tong
14
28
C.
				It shall be unlawful to harvest seed oysters from the public oyster grounds or
				unassigned grounds, except within the dates and areas and with the harvest
				gears described in Table 2 in this subsection.
Table 2.
Seed Oyster Harvest Area, Harvest
							 Dates, and Harvest Gear
Harvest Area
Harvest Dates
Harvest Gear
James River Seed Area, including the Deep Water Shoal
							 State Replenishment Seed Area
October 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024
Hand Tong
D.
				In the Pocomoke and Tangier Sounds Rotation Areas, it shall be unlawful to
				possess on board any vessel more than 250 hard clams.
E. It shall be unlawful to possess any blue
				crabs on board any vessel with an oyster scrape or oyster dredge.
F. It shall be unlawful for any person or
				vessel to harvest oysters with more than one gear type in any single day from
				the public oyster grounds or unassigned grounds in the waters of the
				Commonwealth of Virginia.
Statutory Authority: §
											28.2-201 of the Code of
					 Virginia.