SB84: Menhaden; limits on amount harvested annually.

SENATE BILL NO. 84
Offered January 11, 2006
Prefiled January 6, 2006
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 28.2-408.1, relating to the harvest quota for taking menhaden.
Patron-- Watkins
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 28.2-408.1 as follows:

§ 28.2-408.1. Harvest quota for menhaden.

A. Beginning 2006 through December 31, 2010, the annual harvest of menhaden taken by purse seine for reduction purposes within the lawful harvest areas of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, as described in this chapter, is limited to no greater than 105,783 metric tons. Annually, when the harvest limit of menhaden from the designated areas is projected to have been reached and has been announced as such by the National Marine Fisheries Service, purse seine fishing for menhaden for reduction purposes in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries shall cease. Upon announcement that the harvest limit has been reached, it shall be unlawful for any person to take menhaden by purse seine for reduction purposes in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

B. If the harvest of menhaden in any year, beginning 2006 through 2010, exceeds the limit prescribed in subsection A, then the amount by which the harvest exceeds the limit shall be subtracted from the harvest limit established for the following year. If the harvest does not exceed the limit, then no adjustment shall be made to the limit in the following year.