Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-260. Pertaining to Designation of Seed Areas and Clean Cull Areas (amending 4VAC20-260-30, 4VAC20-260-50).

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

Effective Date: February 1, 2013.

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:

The amendments provide an alternate culling and inspection process that makes it lawful for oysters harvested by hand from seaside of the Eastern Shore to be maintained in bags, sacks, or baskets from time of harvest to time of sale without those oysters having to be placed in a loose pile aboard a vessel.

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, except as described in subdivision 5 of this section.

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 From the seaside of the Eastern Shore, 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 aquaculture cages 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.

4VAC20-260-50. Culling and inspection procedures.

A. All oysters taken from natural public beds, rocks, or shoals shall be placed on the culling board and culled by hand to the inside open part of the boat in a loose pile; however, when oysters are taken by hand and held in baskets or other containers they shall be culled as taken and transferred from the container to the inside open part of the boat in a loose pile, except as described in subsection B of this section, and subject to inspection by any Marine Resources Commission law-enforcement officer.

B. Any oysters taken lawfully by hand from natural public beds, rocks, or shoals from the seaside of the Eastern Shore, and held in sacks, bags, or containers, shall be culled when taken and placed in those sacks, bags, or containers for inspection by any Marine Resources Commission law-enforcement officer as described in subsection G of this section.

B. C. If oysters from leased grounds and oysters from public grounds are mixed in the same cargo on a boat or motor vehicle, the entire cargo shall be subject to inspection under this chapter.

C. D. All oysters taken from public grounds shall be sold or purchased in the regular oyster one-half bushel or one bushel measure as described in § 28.2-526 of the Code of Virginia, or the alternate container described in subsection D E of this section; except that on the seaside of the Eastern Shore oysters may be sold without being measured if both the buyer and the seller agree to the number of bushels of oysters in the transaction.

D. E. An alternate container produced by North Machine Shop in Mathews, Virginia, may be used for measuring oysters to be sold or purchased. The dimensions of this metallic cylindrical container shall be 18.5 inches inside diameter and 11 inches inside height.

E. F. In the inspection of oysters the law-enforcement officer shall, with a shovel, take at least one bushel of oysters at random, provided that the entire bushel shall be taken at one place in the open pile of oysters, except as described in subsection G of this section.

G. In the inspection of oysters harvested by hand from waters of the seaside of the Eastern Shore, the law-enforcement officer may select any sacks, bags, or containers at random to establish a full metallic measuring bushel for purposes of inspection.