Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-490. Pertaining to Sharks (amending 4VAC20-490-20, 4VAC20-490-40).

Statutory Authority: § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: November 1, 2022.

Agency Contact: Jennifer Farmer, Regulatory Coordinator, Marine Resources Commission, 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, telephone (757) 247-2248, FAX (757) 247-2002, or email jennifer.farmer@mrc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendments prohibit the retention of shortfin mako shark within Virginia state waters in order to align Virginia regulation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries final rule that no shortfin mako sharks may be landed or retained in any U.S. Atlantic highly migratory species fishery until further notice.

4VAC20-490-20. Definitions.

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

"Agent" means any person who possesses the Commercial Fisherman Registration License, fishing gear license, or fishing permit of a registered commercial fisherman in order to fish that commercial fisherman's gear or sell that commercial fisherman's harvest.

"Annual quota" means Virginia's 10.795% share of the annual coastwide commercial spiny dogfish quota managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

"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.

"Circle Hook" means a non-offset, non-stainless steel hook with the point turned sharply and straight back toward the shank.

"COLREGS Line" means the COLREGS Demarcation Line, as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (33 CFR 80.510 Chesapeake Bay Entrance, VA).

"Commercial shark fisherman" means any commercial fisherman permitted to land or possess sharks (excluding spiny dogfish) 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 aggregated large coastal shark" means any of the following species:

Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus

Bull, Carcharhinus leucas

Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris

Nurse, Ginglymostoma cirratum

Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis

Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna

Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvier

"Commercially permitted hammerhead shark" means any of the following species:

Great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran

Scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini

Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena

"Commercially permitted nonblacknose small coastal shark" means any of the following species:

Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae

Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo

Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon

"Commercially permitted pelagic shark" means any of the following species:

Blue, Prionace glauca

Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus

Porbeagle, Lamna nasus

Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus

Thresher, Alopias vulpinus

"Commercially prohibited shark" 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

Blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus

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

Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus

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 length of a fish measured from the most forward projection of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the fork of the tail along the midline, using a straight-line measure, not measured over the curve of the body.

"Large mesh gill net" means any gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than five 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.

"Movable gill net" means any gill net other than a staked gill net.

"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 neither 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 shark" 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 shark" 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

Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus

Sevengill, Heptranchias perlo

Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus

Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis

Sixgill, Hexanchus griseus

Smalltail, Carcharhinus porosus

Whale, Rhincodon typus

White, Carcharodon carcharias

"Research only shark" 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 with a stretched mesh of equal to or less than five inches.

"Smooth dogfish" means any shark of the species Mustelus canis. Smooth dogfish are also known as "smoothhound shark."

"Snout" means the most forward projection from a fish's head that includes the upper and lower jaw.

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

4VAC20-490-40. Recreational harvest limitations and gear restrictions.

A. Recreational fishing vessels are allowed a maximum possession limit of one recreationally permitted shark, 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 recreationally permitted shark, excluding smooth dogfish, or the possession of more than one Atlantic sharpnose shark or 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 recreationally permitted shark. 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 recreationally permitted shark, 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 recreationally permitted shark, 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 recreationally prohibited shark.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any recreationally permitted shark landed under the recreational harvest limitations described in this section that is less than 54 inches in fork length except as described in subdivisions 1, and 2, and 3 of this subsection:

1. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any recreationally caught female shortfin mako shark that is less than 83 inches in fork length or any male shortfin mako shark that is less than 71 inches in fork length.

2. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any recreationally caught great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, or smooth hammerhead shark that is less than 78 inches in fork length.

3. 2. Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth, blacknose, and smooth dogfish sharks are exempt from the recreational size limit described in this subsection.

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 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 any shark is prohibited until that shark is offloaded at the dock or on shore.

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

H. Any person fishing recreationally for sharks shall use non-offset, corrodible, non-stainless steel circle hooks except when fishing with flies or artificial lures.