REGULATION: PERTAINING TO SHARKS

CHAPTER: PERTAINING TO SHARKS

VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION
"PERTAINING TO SHARKS"
CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-490-10 ET SEQ.

PREAMBLE

This chapter establishes gear restrictions, a possession limit, and limitations on the taking and landing of sharks, and prohibits the transfer of any spiny dogfish limited entry permit. This chapter is promulgated pursuant to authority contained in § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.

This chapter amends and re-adopts, as amended, previous chapter 4 VAC 20-490-10 which was promulgated October 27, 2009 and made effective on November 1, 2009. The effective date of this chapter, as amended, is December 23, 2009.

4 VAC 20-490-10. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the conservation of shark resources by preventing overfishing by commercial and recreational fisheries and to control the practice of finning.

4 VAC 20-490-20. DEFINITIONS.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Carcass Length" means that length measured in a straight line from the anterior edge of the first dorsal fin to the posterior end of the shark carcass.

“COLREGS Line” means the COLREGS Demarcation lines, as specified in Coastal Pilot, 35th and 36th editions by Lighthouse Press.

“Commercial shark fishermen” means any commercially permitted fishermen that has landed and sold one pound of shark or more (excludes spiny dogfish) in that calendar year (January 1 through December 31).

“Commercially Permitted NonSandbar Large coastal shark species” means any of the following species:

    Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus
    Bull, Carcharhinus leucas
    Great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran
    Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris
    Nurse, Ginglymostoma cirratum
    Scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini
    Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis
    Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena
    Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna
    Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvier

“Commercially Permitted Pelagic species” means any of the following species:

    Blue, Prionace glauca
    Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus
    Porbeagle, Lamna nasus
    Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus
    Thresher, Alopias vulpinus

“Commercially Permitted Small coastal shark species” means any of the following species:

    Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae
    Blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus
    Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo
    Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon

“Commercially Prohibited Species” means any of the following species:

    Atlantic angel, Squatina dumeril
    Basking, Cetorhinus maximus
    Bigeye sand tiger, Odontaspis noronhai
    Bigeye sixgill, Hexanchus nakamurai
    Bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus
    Bignose, Carcharhinus altimus
    Caribbean reef, Carcharhinus perezii
    Caribbean sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon porosus
    Dusky, Carcharhinus obscurus
    Galapagos, Carcharhinus galapagensis
    Longfin mako, Isurus paucus
    Narrowtooth, Carcharhinus brachyurus
    Night, Carcharhinus signatus
    Sand tiger, Carcharias taurus
    Sevengill, Heptranchias perlo
    Sixgill, Hexanchus griseus
    Smalltail, Carcharhinus porosus
    Whale, Rhincodon typus
    White, Carcharodon carcharias

“Control rule” means a time-certain date, past, present or future, used to establish participation in a limited entry fishery and may or may not include specific past harvest amounts.

“Dressed weight” means the result from processing a fish by removal of head, viscera, and fins, but does not include removal of the backbone, halving, quartering, or otherwise further reducing the carcass.

"Finning" means removing the fins and returning the remainder of the shark to the sea.

"Fork length" means the straight-line measurement of a fish from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail. The measurement is not made along the curve of the body.

“Movable Gill Net” means any gill net other than a staked gill net.

“Large mesh gill net” means any gill net having a stretched mesh equal to or greater than 5 inches.

"Longline" means any fishing gear that is set horizontally, either anchored, floating or attached to a vessel, and that consists of a mainline or groundline, greater than 1,000 feet in length, with multiple leaders (gangions) and hooks, whether retrieved by hand or mechanical means.

“Permitted commercial gear” means rod and reel, handlines, shark shortlines, small mesh gill nets, large mesh gill nets, pound nets, and weirs.

“Recreational Shore Angler” means a person not fishing from a vessel nor transported to or from a fishing location by a vessel.

“Recreational Vessel Angler” means a person fishing from a vessel or transported to or from a fishing location by a vessel.

“Recreationally Permitted Species” means any of the following species:

    Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae
    Blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus
    Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus
    Blue, Prionace glauca
    Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo
    Bull, Carcharhinus leucas
    Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon
    Great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran
    Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris
    Nurse, Ginglymostoma cirratum
    Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus
    Porbeagle, Lamna nasus
    Scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini
    Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus
    Smooth Dogfish, Mustelus canis
    Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena
    Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna
    Thresher, Alopias vulpinus
    Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvier

“Recreationally Prohibited Species” means any of the following species:

Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus

“Shark Shortline” means a fish trotline that is set horizontally, either anchored, floating or attached to a vessel, and that consists of a mainline or groundline, 1,000 feet in length or less, with multiple leaders (gangions) and no more than 50 corrodible circle hooks, whether retrieved by hand or mechanical means.

“Small mesh gill net” means any gill net having a stretched mesh less than 5 inches.

“Smooth Dogfish” means any shark of the species Mustelus canis.

"Spiny Dogfish" means any shark of the species Squalus acanthias.

4 VAC-20-490-30. GEAR RESTRICTIONS.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set, or fish any longline in Virginia's tidal waters.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set, or fish any shark shortline in Virginia's tidal waters with more than 50 hooks. All hooks must be corrodible circle hooks. In addition, any person aboard a vessel fishing shortlines must practice the protocols and possess the federally required release equipment, for pelagic and bottom longlines, for the safe handling, release and disentanglement of sea turtles and other non-target species; all captain and vessel owners must be certified in using handling and release equipment.

C. It shall be unlawful for a person to have more than two shark shortlines on board a vessel.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person fishing recreationally to take any shark using any gear other than handline or rod and reel.

E. It shall be unlawful for any person fishing for commercial purposes to possess any shark caught in state waters by means other than permitted commercial gear.

F. Any commercial shark fisherman fishing for sharks, shall check all of his large mesh gill nets, at least once every two hours.

4 VAC 20-490-35. SPINY DOGFISH QUOTA: (Repealed)

4 VAC 20-490-40. RECREATIONAL CATCH LIMITATIONS.

A. Recreational fishing vessels are allowed a maximum possession limit of one shark described in the recreationally permitted species list, excluding smooth dogfish, per trip, regardless of the number of people on board the vessel. In addition, each recreational vessel angler may possess one bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose per trip. The possession aboard a vessel of more than one shark described in the recreationally permitted species list, excluding smooth dogfish, or the possession of more than one Atlantic sharpnose shark and one bonnethead shark per person, shall constitute a violation of this regulation. When fishing from any boat or vessel where the entire catch is held in a common hold or container, the possession limits for Atlantic sharpnose shark or bonnethead shark shall be for the boat or vessel and shall be equal to the number of persons on board legally eligible to fish, plus one additional shark described in the recreationally permitted species list. The captain or operator of the boat or vessel shall be responsible for any boat or vessel possession limits.

B. A recreational shore angler is allowed a maximum possession limit of one shark described in the recreationally permitted species list, excluding smooth dogfish, per calendar day. In addition a recreational shore angler may harvest one additional bonnethead and one additional Atlantic sharpnose per calendar day. The possession of more than one shark described in the recreationally permitted species list, excluding smooth dogfish, or the possession of more than one bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose, by any person, shall constitute a violation of this regulation.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any shark described in the recreationally prohibited species list.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any shark, described in the recreationally permitted species list, landed under the recreational catch limitations described in this section that is less than 54 inches fork length except Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth, blacknose, and smooth dogfish.

E. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, land, or possess any blacktip, bull, great hammerhead, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, spinner or tiger shark from May 15 through July 15 of any calendar year.

F. All sharks, except smooth dogfish, must have heads, tails and fins attached naturally to the carcass. Anglers may gut and bleed the carcass as long as the head and tail are not removed. Filleting sharks, except smooth dogfish, at sea is prohibited.

4 VAC 20-490-41. COMMERCIAL CATCH LIMITATIONS.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess on board a vessel or to land in Virginia more than 33 commercially permitted non Sandbar large coastal sharks in one twenty-four hour period. The person who owns or operates the vessel is responsible for compliance with the provisions of this subsection.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to fillet a shark, at sea, except smooth dogfish as provided in subsection C. A licensed commercial fisherman may eviscerate and remove the head of any shark, but the tail and all fins of any shark, except smooth dogfish as provided in subsection C, shall remain naturally attached to the carcass through landing. The fins of any shark, except smooth dogfish, may be partially cut but some portion of the fin shall remain attached, until the shark is landed.

C. From July 1 through the end of February, commercial fishermen may process smooth dogfish at sea, except the first dorsal fin shall remain attached naturally to the carcass until landed. From March 1 through June 30, commercial fishermen may completely process smooth dogfish, at sea, prior to landing.

D. It shall be unlawful to possess, on board a vessel, or to land in Virginia any species of shark, after NOAA Fisheries has closed the fishery for that species in Federal waters.

E. There are no commercial trip limits or possession limits for smooth dogfish or sharks on the lists of commercially permitted pelagic species or commercially permitted small coastal species.

F. Except as described in this section, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, land, or possess, in Virginia, any blacktip, bull, great hammerhead, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, silky, smooth hammerhead, spinner or tiger shark from May 15 through July 15. These sharks may be transported by vessel, in Virginia waters, during the closed season provided the sharks were caught in a legal manner consistent with federal regulations outside Virginia waters and:

1) The vessel does not engage in fishing, in Virginia waters, while possessing the above species; and

2) All fishing gear aboard the vessel is stowed and not available for immediate use.

G. It shall be unlawful for any person to retain, possess or purchase any shark described in the commercially prohibited species list.

H. All sharks harvested from state waters or federal waters, for commercial purposes, shall be sold to a federally permitted shark dealer.

I. The Commissioner may grant exemptions from the seasonal closure, quota, possession limit, size limit, gear restrictions and prohibited species restrictions. Exemptions shall only be granted for display or research purposes. The exempted fishermen or owner of the fishing vessel shall report the species, weight, location caught and gear used for each shark collected for research or display within 30 days.

4 VAC 20-490-42. SPINY DOGFISH CATCH LIMITATIONS.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess aboard any vessel or land in Virginia any spiny dogfish harvested from federal waters (Exclusive Economic Zone (3-200 miles)), for commercial purposes after it has been announced that the federal quota for spiny dogfish has been taken.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess aboard any vessel or land in Virginia more than 3,000 pounds of spiny dogfish per day for commercial purposes.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person to harvest any spiny dogfish for commercial purposes from state waters after it has been announced that the interstate quota for spiny dogfish has been taken.

D. All spiny dogfish harvested from state waters or federal waters, for commercial purposes, must be sold to a federally permitted dealer.

E. It shall be unlawful for any buyer of seafood to receive any spiny dogfish after any commercial harvest or landing quota described in this section has been attained and announced as such.

4 VAC 20-490-43. LIMITED ACCESS CONTROL RULE.

At such time the status of shark stocks or their fisheries warrant the establishment of a limited access program for participation in the commercial fishery for sharks, a control rule may be enacted that limits participation in the commercial fisheries for sharks to those individuals who participated in that fishery on and before December 31, 2004. The control rule may also include eligibility requirements based on past harvest amounts.

4 VAC 20-490-44. SPINY DOGFISH LIMITED ENTRY PERMIT AND PERMIT TRANSFERS.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, catch, possess or land any spiny dogfish, without first having obtained a Spiny Dogfish Limited Entry Permit from the Marine Resources Commission. Such permit shall be completed in full by the permittee who shall keep a copy of that permit in his possession, while fishing for or selling spiny dogfish. Permits shall only be issued to Virginia registered commercial fishermen meeting either of the following criteria:

1. Shall have documented on Virginia mandatory harvest reporting forms harvest from a legally licensed, movable gill net, for an average of at least 60 days, from 2006 through 2008, and a minimum harvest of 1 pound of spiny dogfish at any time from 2006 through 2008.

2. Shall have documented on Virginia mandatory reporting forms harvests that total greater than 10,000 pounds of spiny dogfish, in any one year, from 2006 through 2008.

B. It shall be unlawful to transfer any Spiny Dogfish Limited Entry permit, after November 23, 2009.

4 VAC 20-490-45. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (Repealed)

4 VAC 20-490-50. FINNING.

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in finning.

4 VAC 20-490-70. PENALTY.

As set forth in §28.2-903 of the Code of Virginia, any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of any provision of this chapter committed by the same person within 12 months of a prior violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

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