4VAC20-1040-20: License sales moratorium and license ineligibility conditions

A. For any lawful crab fishery season, commercial licenses for crab pot, peeler pot, crab scrape, crab trap, ordinary trot line, patent trot line, and dip net shall be sold only to those registered commercial fishermen who have been determined by the commission to be eligible to purchase any of these licenses in 2010, except as described in subsection B of this section.

B. For any lawful commercial crab fishery season, those registered commercial fishermen who were eligible from 2004 through 2008 for any crab pot or peeler pot licenses but reported no harvest from 2004 through 2007 were placed on a waiting list in 2009 and shall remain ineligible to purchase a commercial crab pot or peeler pot license in accordance with subsection C of this section.

C. At such time as results from the Bay-wide Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey indicate that an abundance of 215 million age 1+ female blue crabs (blue crabs 2.4 inches and greater, in carapace width) has been attained in three consecutive, seasonal (December – March) Bay-wide Blue Crab Winter Dredge Surveys, those registered commercial fishermen on the waiting list as described in subsection B of this section shall resume their eligibility to purchase their commercial crab pot or peeler pot licenses according to a limited and delayed access system established by the commission.

D. Any person receiving a commercial crab license by lawful transfer also establishes his eligibility to purchase that specific license; however, any person either failing to register as a commercial fisherman in any year or lawfully transferring his commercial crab license to another person shall forfeit his eligibility to purchase that specific crab license.

E. Any person eligible to purchase any commercial crab license as described in subsection A of this section may transfer that eligibility to an immediate family member of that eligible licensee at any time. In the case of death or incapacitation of the eligible licensee, eligibility for any and all commercial crab licenses may be transferred to a registered commercial fisherman at any time. Eligibility for commercial crab licenses may also be transferred to another registered commercial fisherman, except that not more than 100 licenses shall be transferred in any current year. All such transfers shall be documented on forms provided by the commission and shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner or his designee.

F. Any commercial crab pot or peeler pot license that was purchased by the commission through the 2008 Federal Crab Disaster Relief Program shall be permanently retired and shall not be available for sale to any fisherman at any time. Any person whose license was purchased under the 2008 Federal Crab Disaster Relief Program may re-enter the fishery only through the transfer of another commercial crab pot or peeler pot license as authorized by regulations in effect at the time of the transfer.