28.2-1000.2 - (Expires January 1, 2014) Annual closure of the Chesapeake Bay purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden.
§ 28.2-1000.2. (Expires January 1, 2014) Annual closure of the Chesapeake Baypurse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden.
A. For the purpose of this section:
"Chesapeake Bay" means the territorial waters of the Commonwealth lyingwest of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
"Purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden" means those vessels licensedpursuant to § 28.2-402 that harvest menhaden for the purpose of manufacturingthem into fertilizer, fish meal, or oil.
B. Upon notification by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the date onwhich the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden meets the annual menhadenharvest cap in the Chesapeake Bay, the Secretary of Natural Resources shallpromptly publish a notice in the Virginia Register announcing the date ofclosure. The Secretary of Natural Resources shall also notify the operatorsof the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden by the most convenient andexpeditious means available. The date of closure shall be based on mandatorydaily catch reports submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service by thepurse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden.
C. The annual menhaden harvest cap for the purse seine fishery for Atlanticmenhaden shall be 109,020 metric tons, subject to annual adjustment forunderages or overages as specified in subsection D. In no event, however,shall the harvest of this fishery exceed 122,740 metric tons in any one year.
D. If the harvest of the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden does notexceed 109,020 metric tons in any year to which the harvest cap applies, thenthe difference between the actual harvest and the harvest cap shall beapplied as a credit applicable to the allowable harvest for the purse seinefishery for Atlantic menhaden for the following year. The credit may be usedonly for the subsequent annual harvest and shall not be spread over multipleyears. Any annual harvest in excess of the harvest cap shall be deducted fromthe harvest cap, as modified pursuant to this subsection and subsection C forthe subsequent annual harvest.
E. The 2007 harvest cap for the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhadenshall be adjusted for any underage or overage, as specified in subsection D,from the actual 2006 harvest of the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden.
F. No person shall take Atlantic menhaden by purse seine for reductionpurposes from the Chesapeake Bay after the later of the date of closureimplemented pursuant to subsection B or the date that actual notice isprovided of such closure pursuant to subsection B. Any person violating thisprovision shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(2007, c. 41; 2010, cc. 178, 728.)