Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-490. Pertaining to Sharks (amending 4VAC20-490-20, 4VAC20-490-30, 4VAC20-490-40, 4VAC20-490-41).

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

Effective Date: March 1, 2009.

Agency Contact: Jane Warren, 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:

The amendments establish restrictions on the use of shortlines to harvest sharks, commercial catch limits on the harvest of large coastal sharks, and a recreational catch limit of one shark. The harvest of sharks from Virginia waters and the landing of sharks in Virginia is also prohibited when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries close the shark fishery in federal waters. All sharks harvested from state waters must be sold to a federally permitted shark dealer.

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.

"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 fisherman who 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.

"Large coastal shark group" means any of the following species:

Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus

Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis

Tiger, Galeocerdo cuvieri

Blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus

Bull, Carcharhinus leucas

Great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran

Lemon, Negaprion brevirostris

Nurse, Ginglymostoma cirratum

Scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini

Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena

Spinner, Carcharhinus brevipinna

"Large mesh gill net" means any gill net having a stretched mesh equal to or 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.

"Pelagic shark group" means any of the following species:

Blue, Prionace glauca

Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus

Porbeagle, Lamna nasus

Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus

Thresher, Alopias vulpinus.

"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

"Prohibited shark group" "Recreationally prohibited species" means any of the following species:

Atlantic angel, Squatina dumerili dumeril

Basking, Cetorhinus maximus

Bigeye sand tiger, Odontaspis noronhai

Bigeye sixgill, Hexanchus vitulus nakamurai

Bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus

Bignose, Carcharhinus altimus

Caribbean reef, Carcharhinus perezi perezii

Caribbean sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon porosus

Dusky, Carcharhinus obscurus

Galapagos, Carcharhinus galapagensis

Longfin mako, Isurus paucus

Narrowtooth, Carcharhinus brachyurus

Night, Carcharhinus signatus

Sand tiger, Odontaspis Carcharias taurus

Sandbar, Carcharhinus plumbeus

Sevengill, Heptranchias perlo

Silky, Carcharhinus falciformis

Sixgill, Hexanchus griseus

Smalltail, Carcharhinus porosus

Whale, Rhincodon typus

White, Carcharodon carcharias

"Small coastal shark group" means any of the following species:

Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae

Blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus

Bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo

Finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon

"Research only 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 five inches.

"Smooth dogfish" means any shark of the species Mustelus canis.

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

4VAC20-490-30. 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 nontarget 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.

4VAC20-490-40. 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 taking, catching, or possessing possession aboard a vessel of more than one shark from either the large coastal, small coastal, or pelagic group per day, 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 per day, 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 retain or possess any prohibited shark described in the recreationally prohibited species list.

C. D. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any large coastal, small coastal or pelagic 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 and, bonnethead sharks, landed under the recreational catch limitations described in this section, that is less than 54 inches fork length or 30 inches in carcass length 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.

4VAC20-490-41. Commercial catch limitations.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, harvest, land, or possess, for commercial purposes, any shark less than 58 inches in fork length or any shark carcass less than 31 inches in carcass length, from any waters west of the COLREGS Line.

B. A. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess on board a vessel or to land in Virginia more than 4,000 pounds, dressed weight, of 33 commercially permitted nonsandbar large coastal sharks per day in one 24-hour period. The person who owns or operates the vessel is responsible for compliance with the provisions of this subsection.

C. B. It shall be unlawful for any person to fillet a shark, except smooth dogfish, at sea. A licensed commercial fisherman may eviscerate and remove the head and fins of sharks, but shall retain the fins with the dressed carcasses. While on board and when offloaded, wet shark fins shall not exceed 5.0% of the dressed weight of the carcasses. Possession of wet shark fins on board a vessel or at offloading that exceeds 5.0% of the dressed weight of the carcasses shall constitute a violation of this regulation any shark, but the tail and all fins of any shark, except smooth dogfish, 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. 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.

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

E. 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.

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

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

H. 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.