2005-2006 Bill 4571: Saltwater Fishing Devices - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 4571 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Barfield, E.H. Pitts, Bailey, J. Brown, Hosey, Leach, Littlejohn, Loftis, Rhoad and 10 Young 11 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gjk\20760sd06.doc 12 13 Introduced in the House on February 1, 2006 14 Currently residing in the House Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental 15 Affairs 16 17 Summary: Saltwater fishing devices 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 2/1/2006 House Introduced and read first time HJ-11 24 2/1/2006 House Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental 25 Affairs HJ-12 26 27 28 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 29 30 2/1/2006 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 50-5-330, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE 13 USE OF CERTAIN FISHING DEVICES IN THE SALT 14 WATERS OF THIS STATE FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES 15 BY PERSONS NOT COMMERCIALLY LICENSED, SO AS TO 16 INCLUDE “GIGS” AND CERTAIN “GILL NETS” IN THE LIST 17 OF PERMITTED DEVICES; TO AMEND SECTION 50-5-345, 18 RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PERSON BE A 19 COMMERCIALLY LICENSED SALTWATER FISHERMAN IN 20 ORDER TO OBTAIN CERTAIN MARINE RESOURCE 21 PERMITS, SO AS TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS; TO AMEND 22 SECTION 50-5-1500, RELATING TO PERMITS FOR SHAD, 23 HERRING, AND STURGEON, SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE 24 FOR THE CONDITIONS OF THE PERMIT AS IT RELATES 25 TO COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN; TO 26 AMEND SECTION 50-5-1510, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 27 SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR SHAD AND HERRING, SO AS 28 TO ALLOW RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN TO USE A 29 CERTAIN GILL NET TO TAKE SHAD OR HERRING. 30 31 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 32 Carolina: 33 34 SECTION 1. Section 50-5-330 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 35 by Act 342 of 2002, is further amended to read: 36 37 “Section 50-5-330. (A) A person may fish or use the following 38 in the salt waters of this State solely for recreational purposes 39 without the person or gear being commercially licensed: 40 (1) shrimp seines; 41 (2) hand-operated tongs, rakes except bull rakes, and forks 42 except seed forks, used to harvest shellfish;

1 [4571] 1 1 (3) hook and line or rod and reel; 2 (4) minnow traps, drop nets, and dip nets; 3 (5) cast nets; however, the use must comply with all other 4 provisions of law; 5 (6) no more than two crab traps; 6 (7) no more than two trotlines with a cumulative total of not 7 more than fifty hooks or baits; 8 (8) no more than ten bush or pole lines with single hooks or 9 baits; 10 (9) gigs. 11 (B) A person may use a lawful gill net the following licensed 12 gill nets for other than commercial purposes without a commercial 13 saltwater fishing license: 14 (1) a single lawful gill net of not more than one hundred feet 15 in length; 16 (2) a single lawful shad gill net; 17 (3) a single lawful herring gill net. 18 (C) A person may use lawful minnow traps to take fish for a 19 commercial purpose for use as bait without a commercial saltwater 20 fishing license. 21 (D) No person may retrieve any unattended recreational 22 equipment used pursuant to this section unless the owner is 23 present. A person may retrieve equipment with the written 24 permission of the owner, but no fish may be retained. 25 (E) A person who violates this section by fishing or using 26 equipment in excess of the numbers allowed in this section or in 27 violation of subsection (D) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon 28 conviction, must be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor 29 more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than 30 thirty days.” 31 32 SECTION 2. Section 50-5-345 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 33 245 of 2000, is amended to read: 34 35 “Section 50-5-345. (A) In order to obtain any permit authorized 36 under this chapter for taking marine resources except scientific, 37 educational, and commercial display permits, a person must be a 38 licensed commercial saltwater fisherman, except as otherwise 39 provided, and hold all other required licenses. 40 (B) Any permit granted may be revoked by the department for 41 a violation of a condition of the permit or of a related conservation 42 law.” 43

1 [4571] 2 1 SECTION 3. Section 50-5-1500 of the 1976 Code, as added by 2 Act 245 of 2000, is amended to read: 3 4 “Section 50-5-1500. (A) This article governs specific 5 anadromous and catadromous fisheries in both freshwaters and salt 6 waters. 7 (B) The department may restrict the number of nets for taking 8 shad, herring, or sturgeon in any body of water where the numbers 9 of nets or fishermen must be limited due to statutory limitations on 10 placement of nets, to prevent congestion of nets or watercraft, or 11 for conservation purposes. The department may grant permits to 12 licensed commercial saltwater fishermen for this purpose. Permits 13 may be limited in number and may be conditioned so as to 14 designate areas, size and take limits, hours, type and amount of 15 equipment, and catch reporting requirements. 16 (C) A person taking or attempting to take shad, herring, or 17 sturgeon in the waters of this State with commercial equipment 18 must obtain a commercial saltwater fishing license and commercial 19 equipment license required under this chapter and any related 20 permits, provided a person may use one properly licensed shad gill 21 net or one properly licensed herring gill net for other than a 22 commercial purpose without obtaining a commercial saltwater 23 fishing license in either freshwaters or salt waters of this State. 24 (D) It is unlawful to take or attempt to take shad, herring, or 25 sturgeon with commercial equipment without obtaining the 26 required fishing licenses or permits. A person who violates this 27 section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be 28 fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than five hundred 29 dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.” 30 31 SECTION 4. Section 50-5-1510(A)(2) of the 1976 Code, as last 32 amended by Act 342 of 2002, is further amended to read: 33 34 “(2) It is unlawful for a recreational fisherman to take shad or 35 herring with any other fishing equipment except cast nets, 36 skim-bow nets, and hook and line which includes rod and reel, 37 provided that a recreational fisherman may use a properly licensed 38 gill net may be used to take shad or herring for recreational 39 purposes. Except from sanctuaries designated by the department, a 40 recreational fisherman may take shad or herring: 41 (a) by hook and line and cast net at any time of the year,; 42 (b) by skim-bow net from February 1 through April 30; and

1 [4571] 3 1 (c) by licensed gill net during those times as provided in this 2 article for commercial fishing.” 3 4 SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the 5 Governor. 6 ----XX---- 7

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