Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-610. Pertaining to Commercial Fishing and Mandatory Harvest Reporting (amending 4VAC20-610-20, 4VAC20-610-60).

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

Effective Date: January 1, 2022.

Agency Contact: Jennifer Farmer, Regulatory Coordinator, Marine Resources Commission, 380 Fenwick Road, Fort Monroe, VA 23551, telephone (757) 247-2248, or email jennifer.farmer@mrc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendment establishes mandatory commercial online harvest reporting for blue crabs.

4VAC20-610-20. 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.

"Blue crab" means any crustacean of the species Callinectes sapidus.

"Clam aquaculture harvester" means any person who harvests clams from leased, subleased, or fee simple ground or any aquaculture growing area, within or adjacent to Virginia tidal waters.

"Clam aquaculture product owner" means any person or firm that owns clams on leased, subleased, or fee simple ground, or any aquaculture growing area within or adjacent to Virginia tidal waters that are raised by any form of aquaculture. This does not include any riparian shellfish gardeners whose activities are authorized by 4VAC20-336, General Permit No. 3 Pertaining to Noncommercial Riparian Shellfish Growing Activities.

"Clam aquaculture product owner vessel" means any vessel, legally permitted through a no-cost permit, by a clam aquaculture product owner, used to transport clam aquaculture harvesters who do not possess an individual Clam Aquaculture Harvester Permit.

"Cobia" means any fish of the species Rachycentron canadum.

"Commercial fisherman" means any person who has obtained a Commercial Fisherman Registration License from the commission.

"Commission" means the Marine Resources Commission.

"Continuing business enterprise" means any business that is required to have a Virginia Seafood Buyer's License or is required to have a business license by county, city, or local ordinance.

"Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application" means the online web-based resource provided by the commission to report commercial harvest of seafood at https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/harvest/.

"Oyster" means any shellfish of the species Crassostrea virginica.

"Oyster aquaculture harvester" means any person who harvests oysters from leased, subleased, or fee simple ground or any aquaculture growing area, within or adjacent to Virginia tidal waters.

"Oyster aquaculture product owner" means any person or firm that owns oysters on leased, subleased, or fee simple ground or any aquaculture growing area within or adjacent to Virginia tidal waters that are raised by any form of aquaculture. This does not include any riparian shellfish gardeners whose activities are authorized by 4VAC20-336, General Permit No. 3 Pertaining to Noncommercial Riparian Shellfish Growing Activities.

"Oyster aquaculture product owner vessel" means any vessel, legally permitted through a no-cost permit, by an oyster aquaculture product owner, used to transport oyster aquaculture harvesters who do not possess an individual oyster aquaculture harvester permit.

"Seafood landing licensee" means any individual who has obtained a Seafood Landing License from the commission.

4VAC20-610-60. Mandatory harvest reporting.

A. It shall be unlawful for any valid commercial fisherman registration licensee, seafood landing licensee, oyster aquaculture product owner permittee, or clam aquaculture product owner permittee to fail to fully report harvests and related information as set forth in this chapter.

B. It shall be unlawful for any recreational fisherman, charter boat captain, head boat captain, commercial fishing pier operator, or owner of a private boat licensed pursuant to §§ 28.2-302.7 through 28.2-302.9 of the Code of Virginia, to fail to report recreational harvests, upon request, to those authorized by the commission.

C. All registered commercial fishermen and any valid seafood landing licensee shall complete a daily form accurately quantifying and legibly describing that day's harvest from Virginia tidal waters and federal waters. The forms used to record daily harvest shall be those provided by the commission or another form or method approved by the commission. Registered commercial fishermen and seafood landing licensees may use more than one form when selling to more than one buyer.

D. Any oyster aquaculture product owner permittee or clam aquaculture product owner permittee shall provide monthly harvest records accurately quantifying and legibly describing that month's harvest from Virginia tidal waters as described in subsection H of this section. All records shall only be submitted through the Online Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application.

E. Registered commercial fishermen, seafood landing licensees, valid oyster aquaculture product owner permittees, and valid clam aquaculture product owner permittees shall submit a monthly harvest report to the commission no later than the fifth day of the following month, except as described in subsection F of this section. This report shall be accompanied by the daily harvest records described in subsection H of this section. Completed forms shall be mailed or delivered to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, or be submitted through the Online Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application.

F. All reports of the commercial harvest of cobia shall only be submitted through the Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application. This report shall provide daily harvest records from Sunday through Saturday as described in subsection H of this section and be submitted on a weekly basis no later than Wednesday of the following week.

G. All reports of the commercial harvest of oysters or blue crabs shall only be submitted through the Online Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application. This report shall provide daily harvest records of oysters or blue crabs as described in subsection H of this section and be submitted no later than the fifth day of the following month.

H. The harvest report requirements shall be as follows:

1. Registered commercial fishermen shall be responsible for providing a harvest report and daily harvest records that include the name and signature of the registered commercial fisherman and the commercial fisherman's registration license number; the name and license registration number of any agent, if used; the license registration number of no more than five additional harvesters who were not serving as agents; any buyer or private sale information; the date of any harvest; the city or county of landing that harvest; the water body fished, gear type, and amount of gear used for that harvest; the number of hours any gear was fished and the number of hours the registered commercial fisherman fished; the number of crew on board, including captain; species harvested; market category; live weight or processed weight of species harvested; and vessel identification (Coast Guard documentation number, Virginia license number, or hull/VIN number). Any information on the price paid for the harvest may be provided voluntarily.

2. The harvest report from oyster aquaculture product owner permittees and clam aquaculture product owner permittees shall include the name, signature, permit number, lease number, date of the last day of the reporting month, city or county of landing, gear (growing technique) used, weight or amount of species harvested by market category, total number of individual crew members for the month, and buyer or private sale information.

3. The harvest report and daily harvest records from seafood landing licensees shall include the name and signature of the seafood landing licensee and the licensee's seafood landing license number; buyer or private sale information; date of harvest; city or county of landing; water body fished; gear type and amount used; number of hours gear fished; number of hours the seafood landing licensee fished; number of crew on board, including captain; non-federally permitted species harvested; market category; live weight or processed weight of species harvested; and vessel identification (Coast Guard documentation number, Virginia license number, or hull/VIN number).

I. Registered commercial fishermen, oyster aquaculture product owner permittees and clam aquaculture product owner permittees not fishing during a month, or seafood landing licensees not landing in Virginia during a month shall so notify the commission no later than the fifth of the following month by postage paid postal card provided by the commission or by calling the commission's toll free telephone line or through the Online Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program Web Application.

J. Any person licensed as a commercial seafood buyer pursuant to § 28.2-228 of the Code of Virginia shall maintain for a period of one year a copy of each fisherman's daily harvest record form for each purchase made. Such records shall be made available upon request to those authorized by the commission.

K. The reporting of the harvest of federally permitted species from beyond Virginia's tidal waters that are sold to a federally permitted dealer shall be exempt from the procedures described in this section.

L. The owner of any purse seine vessel or bait seine vessel (snapper rig) licensed under the provisions of § 28.2-402 of the Code of Virginia shall submit the Captain's Daily Fishing Reports to the National Marine Fisheries Service, in accordance with provisions of Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for Atlantic Menhaden, which became effective July 2001.

M. Registered commercial fishermen, seafood landing licensees, and licensed seafood buyers shall allow those authorized by the commission to sample harvest and seafood products to obtain biological information for scientific and management purposes only. Such sampling shall be conducted in a manner that does not hinder normal business operations.

N. Registered commercial fishermen, seafood landing licensees, oyster aquaculture product owner permittees, and clam aquaculture product owner permittees shall maintain their harvest records for one year and shall make them available upon request to those authorized by the commission.