Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-260. Pertaining to Designation of Seed Areas and Clean Cull Areas (amending 4VAC20-260-30).

Statutory Authority: §§ 28.2-201 and 28.2-210 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Dates: June 1, 2009, through June 30, 2009.

Agency Contact: Jane Warren, Agency Regulatory Coordinator, Marine Resources Commission, 2600 Washington Avenue, 3rd Floor, Newport News, VA 23607, telephone (757) 247-2248, FAX (757) 247-2002, or email betty.warren@mrc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

This emergency amendment establishes that oysters raised in caged aquaculture by licensed aquaculture facilities on the seaside of Eastern Shore seed areas shall be exempt from the requirement to be at least three inches in shell height.

4VAC20-260-30. Minimum cull size.

In order to encourage a continued supply of marketable oysters, minimum size limits are hereby established. Undersized oysters or shells shall be returned immediately to their natural beds, rocks, or shoals where taken. When small oysters are adhering so closely to the shell of the marketable oyster as to render removal impossible without destroying the young oyster, then it shall not be necessary to remove it. Allowances for undersized oysters and shells incidentally retained during culling are found in 4VAC20-260-40.

1. Oysters taken from clean cull areas shall not have shells less than three inches in length.

2. In the James River seed areas, there shall be no size limit on oysters harvested for replanting as seed oysters and seed oysters shall not be marketed for direct consumption.

3. In the James River seed areas, the shells of oysters harvested for direct consumption shall not be less than three inches in length.

4. On the seaside of Eastern Shore seed area, the shells of oysters marketed for direct consumption shall not be less than three inches in length. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to oysters raised in caged aquaculture by licensed aquaculture facilities.

5. In the Rappahannock River, the shells of oysters harvested for direct consumption, from the areas known as Russ' Rock and Carter's Rock, shall not be less than 2-1/2 inches in length.