4VAC20-550-20: Fishing requirement; notification procedures

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to set any gill net or nonfixed finfishing device and let said net or device remain unfished.

B. If, upon visual observation, any Marine Patrol Officer determines on reasonable evidence that any gill net or nonfixed finfishing device has not been fished, he shall notify the licensee as established in subsection C of this section, and if the licensee fails to fish or remove said gill net or nonfixed finfishing device within 24 hours after notification, the licensee shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter and the Marine Patrol Officer is authorized to confiscate said gill net or nonfixed finfishing device.

C. A verbal warning by a Marine Patrol Officer to the licensee by telephone or in person, or the placement of a warning tag on the gill net or nonfixed device adjacent to the license tag shall constitute notification to the licensee of a potential violation. Warning tags shall explain that the gear must be fished or removed from the water within 24 hours or the gear will be confiscated.