VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION
"PERTAINING TO DESIGNATION OF SEED AREAS AND CLEAN CULL AREAS"
REGULATION 4 VAC 20-260-10 ET SEQ.
PREAMBLE
This emergency chapter establishes clean cull and seed areas, size limits, culling requirements, and inspection procedures for oysters taken from public oyster beds, rocks and shoals in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and on all oyster grounds on the Seaside of Eastern Shore.
This emergency chapter is promulgated pursuant to authority contained in §§ 28.2-201, 28.2-507, 28.2-513 and 28.2-210 of the Code of Virginia. This emergency chapter amends and re-adopts previous Chapter 4VAC20-260-10 et seq., which was adopted on October 28, 2008 and made effective on November 1, 2008.
The effective date of this emergency chapter is June 1, 2009.
4VAC20-260-30. Minimum cull size.
In order to encourage a continued supply of marketable oysters, minimum size limits are hereby established. Undersized oysters or shells shall be returned immediately to their natural beds, rocks, or shoals where taken. When small oysters are adhering so closely to the shell of the marketable oyster as to render removal impossible without destroying the young oyster, then it shall not be necessary to remove it. Allowances for undersized oysters and shells incidentally retained during culling are found in 4VAC20-260-40.
1. Oysters taken from clean cull areas shall not have shells less than three inches in length.
2. In the James River seed areas, there shall be no size limit on oysters harvested for replanting as seed oysters and seed oysters shall not be marketed for direct consumption.
3. In the James River seed areas, the shells of oysters harvested for direct consumption shall not be less than three inches in length.
4. On the seaside of Eastern Shore seed area, the shells of oysters marketed for direct consumption shall not be less than three inches in length. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to oysters raised in caged aquaculture, by licensed aquaculture facilities.
5. In the Rappahannock River, the shells of oysters harvested for direct consumption, from the areas known as Russ' Rock and Carter's Rock, shall not be less than 2-½ inches in length.
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