4 Va. Admin. Code § 20-1270-30 - Total allowable landings for menhaden; allocation, accountability, overages, restrictions, closures, state-to-state transfers, and transfers between sectors
A. Total
allowable commercial landings for menhaden shall be equivalent to 75.21% of the
annual total allowable catch (TAC) set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission (ASMFC) after 1.0% of the TAC is set aside by the ASMFC for episodic
events.
B. Any portion of the 1.0%
of the coastwide TAC set aside by the ASMFC for episodic events that is unused
as of September 1 of any calendar year shall be returned to Virginia and other
states according to allocation guidelines established by the ASMFC. Any such
return of this portion of the coastwide TAC to Virginia shall increase the
total allowable commercial landings for that year.
C. Total amount of allowable commercial
landings in subsection A of this section shall be allocated as quotas among
three sectors of the menhaden fishery in proportion to each sector's share of
average landings from 2002 through 2011, as described in subdivisions 1, 2, and
3 of this subsection.
1. The purse seine
menhaden reduction sector shall be allocated a quota of 90.04% of allowable
commercial menhaden landings.
2.
The purse seine menhaden bait sector shall be allocated a quota of 8.38% of
allowable commercial menhaden landings.
3. The non-purse seine menhaden bait sector
shall be allocated a quota of 1.58% of allowable commercial menhaden
landings.
D. If the
total allowable commercial landings specified in subsection A of this section
are exceeded in any calendar year, the total allowable commercial landings for
the subsequent calendar year shall be reduced by the amount of the overage.
Such overage shall be deducted from the sector of the menhaden fishery that
exceeded the allocation specified in subsection C of this section, with the
exception of the non-purse seine menhaden bait sector, which shall move into
the incidental catch provision outlined in subdivision F 3 of this
section.
E. It shall be unlawful
for any person to take or catch menhaden using a purse seine net except in
accordance with the seasons, areas, and gear restrictions as set forth in
§§ 28.2-409 and 28.2-410 of the Code of Virginia.
F. It shall be unlawful to harvest or land in
Virginia any menhaden after the Commissioner of the Marine Resources Commission
(commissioner) projects and announces that 100% of the total allowable landings
for any sector has been taken. The commissioner may reopen a fishery sector if,
after all reports as described in
4VAC20-1270-60 have been received,
the portion of the total allowable landings has not been harvested by that
sector.
1. The commissioner shall announce
the date of closure when the total allowable landings for the purse seine
menhaden reduction sector is projected to be taken.
2. The commissioner shall announce the date
of closure when the total allowable landings for the purse seine menhaden bait
sector is projected to be taken.
3.
The commissioner shall announce the date of closure when the total allowable
commercial landings for the non-purse seine menhaden bait sector is projected
to be taken. Once this closure is announced, any person licensed in the
non-purse seine menhaden bait sector may possess and land up to 6,000 pounds of
menhaden per calendar day as bycatch. Any two persons licensed in the non-purse
seine menhaden bait sector may possess and land up to 12,000 pounds of menhaden
bycatch when working together from the same vessel using stationary
multi-species gear per the ASMFC incidental catch provision.
G. The commissioner may request a
transfer of menhaden quota from any other state that is a member of the ASMFC.
If Virginia receives a transfer of menhaden quota in any calendar year from
another state, the total allowable commercial landings for that calendar year
shall increase by the amount of transferred quota. It shall be unlawful for
this quota transfer to be applied to the Bay Cap quota as described in
4VAC20-1270-35. The commissioner
may transfer menhaden quota to another state only if there is unused menhaden
quota at the end of the calendar year.
H. The Marine Resources Commission shall
establish a reciprocal temporary transferable quota system between the purse
seine menhaden reduction sector and the purse seine menhaden bait sector. Any
transfer of menhaden quota between these sectors shall be limited by the
following conditions:
1. A transfer of quota
to the purse seine menhaden bait sector from the purse seine reduction sector
shall be allocated to each qualified licensee's percentage share of the purse
seine menhaden bait sector quota.
2. No transfer of quota to the purse seine
menhaden bait sector shall be authorized by the Marine Resources Commission
unless all qualified individuals of the purse seine menhaden bait sector and
the purse seine menhaden reduction sector agree to the transfer and document
the transfer on a form provided by the Marine Resources Commission, notarized
by a lawful notary public, and approved by the commissioner.
3. No transfer of quota to the purse seine
reduction sector shall be authorized by the Marine Resources Commission unless
at least one qualified individual of the purse seine menhaden bait sector and
the purse seine menhaden reduction sector agree to the transfer and document
the transfer on a form provided by the Marine Resources Commission, notarized
by a lawful notary public, and approved by the commissioner.
4. No transfer shall be authorized by the
Marine Resources Commission unless the transferring qualified individuals of
the purse seine menhaden bait sector and the purse seine menhaden reduction
sector have submitted up-to-date records of all commercial landings of menhaden
to the Marine Resources Commission prior to such transfer.
5. Quota transfers between the purse seine
menhaden reduction sector and purse seine menhaden bait sector shall be
effective only during the calendar year in which the transfer is
approved.
Notes
Statutory Authority: § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.
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