Md. Code Regs. 08.02.05.21 - Black Sea Bass
A. Recreational. The
recreational size limit, catch limit, and season for black sea bass shall be
established and may be modified through a public notice issued in accordance with
§F of this regulation.
B.
Commercial.
(1) Minimum Size. An individual who
harvests black sea bass for commercial purposes may not catch or possess a black sea
bass less than 11 inches in total length, excluding the tail filament.
(2) Quotas.
(a)
Statewide Quota.
(i) The annual total allowable
landings of black sea bass for the commercial fishery is set by the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission and shall be published through a public notice issued in
accordance with §F of this regulation.
(ii) Any annual overages of the quota will be
deducted from the subsequent year's quota.
(b) Quota Allocation.
(i) The total pounds of black sea bass that may be
harvested by a black sea bass landing permit holder who applies for a permit for
2011 and subsequent years shall be based on the proportion of the total black sea
bass harvest allocated to the permit holder in the previous year.
(ii) In addition to the quota allocation, as
described in §B(2)(b)(i) of this regulation, the Department shall reallocate
equitably among permit holders the quota of any permit holder who fails to apply for
a permit for the following year, or who leaves the fishery without transferring the
permit.
(c) A Maryland black
sea bass landing permit holder (permittee) may annually transfer up to 100 percent
of the permittee's individual quota to another permittee upon notification of and
approval by the Department. However, an individual may not hold more than 20 percent
of the total fishery allocation.
(d) An
individual who possesses a Maryland black sea bass landing permit in accordance with
§C of this regulation and lands more than the assigned permit allocation,
including any quota transfers, shall have the overage deducted from the permit
allocation for the following year.
(3) Daily Catch Limits. A vessel that does not
have an individual on board who possesses a valid Maryland black sea bass landing
permit may not catch, possess, or land more than 50 pounds of black sea bass per
day.
(4) Black sea bass harvested for
commercial purposes from Maryland waters of the Atlantic Ocean or from the waters of
the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and landed in Maryland shall be sold to a
federally permitted dealer.
C.
Licenses and Permits.
(1) A person shall be
licensed to fish for commercial purposes in accordance with Natural Resources
Article, §
4-701, Annotated Code of
Maryland, in order to catch, possess, or land black sea bass.
(2) A vessel which is used to catch, possess, or
land black sea bass for commercial purposes from the waters of the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Atlantic Ocean shall be permitted by the National Marine
Fisheries Service in accordance with
50 CFR §
648.4.
(3) A permittee may catch, possess, or land black
sea bass for commercial purposes on a vessel other than the vessel declared on the
permittee's permit if in possession of the permit issued to the permittee, and the
undeclared vessel is permitted by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
(4) Declaration.
(a) A tidal fish licensee shall declare their
intent to fish for black sea bass by August 31 of each year.
(b) A tidal fish licensee who has not declared by
August 31 of the current year, and who has not declared late in any of the 3
preceding years, may apply until September 14 of the current year, or the next
business day if September 14 occurs on a weekend, to the Director of Fisheries
Service, provided the licensee shows good reason why the application should be
processed.
(c) An exception to the
September 14 deadline will be considered only for an individual who can provide
satisfactory documentation of a physical or mental incapacity that prevented that
individual from meeting the declaration time period established in this
subsection.
(d) The federally registered
name or the State registration numbers of the permitted vessels owned by the
permittee shall be indicated at the time of application for the permit and declared
on the Maryland black sea bass landing permit.
(e) Any change in vessel ownership shall be
reported to the Department so that a revised permit card may be issued.
(5) Black Sea Bass Landing Permit.
(a) No more than 14 black sea bass landing permits
may be issued by the Department. The number of black sea bass landing permits is
based on the reported catch and landing records of black sea bass in Maryland during
1996-2001.
(b) The Department may issue
a permit to catch and land black sea bass in Maryland to a person who is licensed in
accordance with Natural Resources Article, §
4-701, Annotated Code of
Maryland, owns or has a share of ownership in a federally permitted vessel, and:
(i) Declared or was eligible to declare, in the
previous year, an intent to fish for black sea bass in accordance with §C(4) of
this regulation and has not transferred the permit; or
(ii) Received a black sea bass landing permit
through a permanent business transfer in accordance with §C(6) of this
regulation.
(6)
Permanent Transfer of a Landing Permit. The Department may approve a permanent
transfer of a Maryland black sea bass landing permit to an individual who applies to
the Department requesting the transfer on forms provided by the
Department.
(7) Temporary transfers of
black sea bass landing permits are not permitted.
(8) Operators.
(a) An operator means an individual who is not a
permittee and acts as an agent of a permittee.
(b) The name of the vessel on which the operator
is working shall be declared on the Maryland black sea bass landing
permit.
(c) An operator may catch,
possess, or land black sea bass for commercial purposes on a vessel owned by a
permittee and in possession of that permittee's permit.
(9) Regardless of the number of authorized
individuals with Maryland black sea bass landing permits on board a federally
permitted vessel, no more than two black sea bass quotas may be fished from one
vessel per trip.
D. Gear
Restrictions.
(1) Trawls.
(a) Except for an individual landing less than a
total of 500 pounds of black sea bass from January 1 through March 31 or 100 pounds
of black sea bass from April 1 through December 31, a person may not use a trawl
with mesh less than 4-1/2 inch diamond mesh applied throughout the:
(i) Codend for at least 75 continuous meshes
forward of the end of the net; or
(ii)
Entire net for codends with fewer than 75 meshes.
(b) An individual may not use a roller rig trawl
with a roller diameter in excess of 18 inches.
(2) Pots and Traps. A pot or trap used to catch
black sea bass shall have:
(a) Two unobstructed
escape vents located in the parlor portion of the trap that are each at least a:
(i) 2-1/2 inch diameter circular
opening;
(ii) 2 inch by 2 inch square
opening; or
(iii) 1-3/8 inch by 5-3/4
inch rectangular opening; and
(b) One panel or door that is a minimum of 3
inches by 6 inches that has hinges and fasteners made of one of the following
degradable materials:
(i) Untreated hemp or jute
string of 3/16 inch in diameter or less;
(ii) Magnesium alloy fasteners; or
(iii) Ungalvanized, uncoated iron wire of 0.094
inch diameter or smaller.
E. Reporting and Penalties.
(1) In addition to the requirements of Natural
Resources Article, §
4-206, Annotated Code of
Maryland, an individual in possession of a Maryland black sea bass landing permit
shall record the harvest of black sea bass on the permit daily and submit the
completed permit to the Department within 14 days from the end of the black sea bass
season.
(2) A dealer shall transmit
information weekly, or as requested, on each black sea bass transaction through the
Department-approved reporting system.
(3) The Department may withhold quota allocation
for a black sea bass landing permit for failing to comply with §E(1) of this
regulation during the previous season.
(4) The Department may deny an application for a
black sea bass landing permit for failing to comply with §E(1) of this
regulation during the previous season.
F. General.
(1)
The Secretary may establish or modify catch limits, size limits, quotas, and seasons
for black sea bass in order to implement the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Black Sea Bass, by issuing a
public notice on the Fisheries Service website.
(2) The public notice shall state its effective
hour and date and shall be published on the Fisheries Service website at least 48
hours in advance of the effective hour and date.
(3) The Secretary shall make a reasonable effort
to disseminate a public notice through various other media so that an affected
individual has a reasonable opportunity to be informed.
(4) The Department shall make a reasonable effort
to modify quotas to ensure that the Maryland portion of the coastwide quota is
harvested and not exceeded.
(5) A
violation of the restrictions set by the Secretary in accordance with §F of
this regulation is a violation of this regulation.
Notes
Regulation .21 adopted effective October 20, 1997 (24:21 Md. R. 1447)
Regulation .21A amended as an emergency provision effective August 14, 1998 (25:18 Md. R. 1430), amended permanently effective October 19, 1998 (25:21 Md. R. 1573)
Regulation .21 amended effective September 2, 2002 (29:17 Md. R. 1379)
Regulation .21 amended as an emergency provision effective June 9, 2003 (30:13 Md. R. 850); amended permanently effective August 18, 2003 (30:16 Md. R. 1074)
Regulation .21 amended as an emergency provision effective February 17, 2004 (31:5 Md. R. 445); amended permanently effective April 26, 2004 (31:8 Md. R. 645)
Regulation .21 amended effective March 27, 2006 (33:6 Md. R. 577)
Regulation .21A amended effective February 11, 2008 (35:3 Md. R. 288); March 9, 2009 (36:5 Md. R. 422)
Regulation .21A amended as an emergency provision effective April 11, 2009 (36:10 Md. R. 713); amended permanently effective June 29, 2009 (36:13 Md. R. 898)
Regulation .21A amended as an emergency provision effective September 15, 2010 (37:21 Md. R. 1435); emergency provision expired March 11, 2011
Regulation .21 amended effective November 12, 2012 (39:22 Md. R. 1428)
Regulation .21A amended effective August 22, 2011 (38:17 Md. R. 1012);40:15 Md. R. 1228, eff.
Regulation .21B amended effective March 9, 2009 (36:5 Md. R. 422); December 14, 2009 (36:25 Md. R. 1953)
Regulation .21D amended effective December 14, 2009 (36:25 Md. R. 1953); February 22, 2010 (37:4 Md. R. 338)
Regulation .21E amended effective October 19, 2009 (36:21 Md. R. 1590)
Regulation .21F amended effective 40:15 Md. R. 1228, eff.
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.