{"data":{"id":"us-va/4vac20-430-65","jurisdiction":"us-va","citation":"4VAC20-430-65","heading":"Maximum mesh size and tending requirements","body":"A. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set or fish any gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches in Virginia waters east of the COLREGS Line and north of the North Carolina-Virginia border and south of Wachapreague Inlet (37° 34.6' N) from April 1 through January 14, except as described in 4VAC20-320-65 and 4VAC20-252-135.\n\nB. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set or fish any gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches in Virginia waters east of the COLREGS Line and north of Wachapreague Inlet (37° 34.6' N) and south of Chincoteague (37° 56.0' N) from April 16 through January 14, except as described in 4VAC20-320-65 and 4VAC20-252-135.\n\nC. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set or fish any anchored gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches east of the COLREGS Line and north of the North Carolina-Virginia border and south of the Maryland-Virginia border in Virginia waters from sunset to sunrise from June 1 through October 31 unless that fisherman remains within 0.5 nautical miles of the closest portion of each anchored gill net, except as described in 4VAC20-320-65.\n\nD. Any anchored gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches set east of the COLREGS Line and north of the North Carolina-Virginia border in Virginia waters and south of the Maryland-Virginia border and fished from sunset to sunrise from June 1 through October 31, must be brought back to port with the vessel, except as described in 4VAC20-320-65.\n\nE. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, set or fish any gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches east of the COLREGS Line and north of the North Carolina-Virginia border and south of the Maryland-Virginia border in Virginia waters from sunset to sunrise from November 1 through December 31, except as described in 4VAC20-252-135.\n\nF. Any gill net with a stretched mesh of greater than or equal to seven inches set east of the COLREGS Line and north of the North Carolina-Virginia border and south of the Maryland-Virginia border in Virginia waters and fished from sunset to sunrise from November 1 through December 31, must be brought back to port with the vessel, except as described in 4VAC20-252-135.\n\nG. Mesh measurement is defined as the inside stretched distance between two knots on opposite sides of the same mesh.","path":["Title 4. Conservation And Natural Resources","Agency 20. Marine Resources Commission","Chapter 430. Pertaining to the Marking and Minimum Mesh Size of Gill Nets"],"source_url":"https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title4/agency20/chapter430/section65/","current_through":"2026 Regular Session (effective July 1, 2026)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:45:34Z","sha256":"946d8237419103468de8e9b081055167bb9957b3ffc44bbd0887d12efa04b51c","source_id":"us-va-vac","stale":false,"prev":"us-va/4vac20-430-60","next":"us-va/4vac20-430-70"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}