30 Pa.C.S. Ch. 73

in effect

30 Pa.C.S. § 7301 Legislative findings and declarations.

The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: (1) Since fish at large in the waters of this Commonwealth are a natural resource, protection and conservation of this resource in the public interest is the obligation of the Commonwealth. (2) The shad which inhabit the waters of the Delaware River system constitute a potentially valuable source of food and raw materials and, under proper management, are capable of producing a constant and abundant harvest without depletion of the species and consequent shortages of supply. The important shad fishery of the Delaware River has been depleted so that the actual harvest is far below the potential yield of this resource which at one time yielded as much as 16,000,000 fish yearly but in recent years has yielded only a few hundred thousand pounds. This depletion has caused a denial to the consuming public of a constant and adequate supply of these vitamin rich foods within a reasonable price range that consistent and abundant supply would make possible, and has caused decline and instability in the fishing industry in this river system. The restoration of this species in the Delaware River has become an enterprise of vast economic importance to this Commonwealth. (3) It is a matter of public interest and for the public welfare and health for the Commonwealth to take such measures as are necessary to control the intensity of fishing pressure in order that the restoration of this valuable species may be accomplished and that the species may attain the maximum sustained yield consistent with the preservation of an adequate brood stock. Legislative limitation of the size of the mesh of nets, size limits and other like measures are not effective in conserving this species. (4) In accordance with the purposes of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact to which this Commonwealth is a party and in order to carry out the policy of the Commonwealth as it relates to the shad inhabiting the waters of the Delaware River and in order to restore this depleted fishery, it is necessary, proper and expedient to establish a system of licensing designed to control increases in the intensity of fishing pressure so that increases in fishing pressure will be brought into balance with the population of shad in the Delaware, to the end that the shad fisheries of the waters of the Delaware River and its tributaries will be restored and will produce the maximum sustained yield consistent with the conservation of that species. Since the stabilization of fishing operations is an activity promoting the public interest, the payment of license fees and the imposing and controlling of the restrictive provisions of this chapter upon the general public is an equitable contribution on its part arising from the privileges of harvesting this natural resource.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7302 Delaware River and Bay defined.

For the purpose of regulating the shad fishery of the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries: (1) The Delaware River includes all that part of the river and its tributaries above a line drawn from the monument on the Delaware shore at or near Listons Point and the corresponding monument at or near the mouth of New Hope Creek on the New Jersey shore, as established by the Commissioners of the States of New Jersey and Delaware under the Compact of 1905 and subsequent enabling legislation of the two states. (2) The Delaware Bay includes all the waters of the Delaware Bay south of such line and the tributaries emptying therein down to a line connecting the Harbor of Refuge Light at Cape Henlopen, Delaware, with the lighthouse at Cape May, New Jersey.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7303 Interstate cooperation.

The commission shall meet and confer with the pertinent officials of the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, constituting the Middle Atlantic Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and may enter into such agreements with respect to the coordination of research, enforcement or any other operations or facilities as may be necessary to secure joint management of the shad fishery of the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7304 Permitted nets and devices.

(a) Unauthorized nets or devices prohibited.--The use of any net or device other than those set forth in subsection (b) for the catching of shad in the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries is prohibited. (b) Nets and devices which may be used.--The following nets and devices may be used in the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries: (1) Haul seines not less than five and one-fourth inches stretched mesh while being fished and not to exceed 420 feet in length, whether singly or attached. (2) Fyke or hoop nets with leaders not exceeding 180 feet in length with no part of the net or leaders to be less than two and one-half inches stretched mesh while being fished. (3) Stake gill nets, either staked or anchored, the smallest stretched mesh of which shall be three inches while being fished and shall not exceed 180 feet in length. A shad net with minimum stretched mesh of five and one-fourth inches while being fished may exceed 180 feet but may not be greater than 300 feet in length. (4) Drift gill nets (run around or stab nets) the smallest mesh of which shall be two and three-fourths inches stretched while being fished and the length of which shall not exceed 1200 feet. (5) Hand line, including rod and reel. Cross References. Section 7304 is referred to in section 7306 of this title.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7305 Season and lift period.

(a) Season.--The taking of shad in the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries is prohibited except between March 1 and June 10. (b) Lift period.--During the season when shad may be caught under subsection (a) it is unlawful for any nets to be in operation between 2 p.m. on Saturday and 12 midnight Sunday.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7306 License required for catching shad with nets.

(a) General rule.--The commission shall, by a special shad license, permit the use in the waters of the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries within this Commonwealth of the nets specified in section 7304 (relating to permitted nets and devices) for the taking of shad. No person shall use any net to take shad in these waters without first procuring a shad license from the commission. (b) Duration and renewal.--All shad licenses shall be issued annually for the duration of a fishing season beginning on March 1 and expiring on June 10 and shall be renewable annually for the same period except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (c) License to list gear and location.--All shad licenses shall list specifically the number and type of units of gear or the length of gear authorized and the area in which they are licensed to operate if the operations authorized are limited as to area.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7307 Limitations on issuance of license.

(a) General rule.--Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no license shall be issued: (1) To a person not engaged in such operations during the season immediately preceding that for which application for the shad license is made. (2) To extend operations of the applicant beyond those of the last year in which those operations were carried on either by increasing the fishing capacity or the size or number of units of gear employed at that time. (3) To operate a fixed net on a location already occupied by another licensee or within 1500 feet thereof, measured at right angles to the line of stakes, unless the other licensee has failed to apply for renewal of his license on or before January 1 of the year for which the license is to be issued. (b) Renewal of license.--A licensee who does not engage in any or some of the fishing operations licensed may renew his license for those operations in the following season, but if he fails to engage in some or all of the operations licensed for two successive seasons he shall lose his right to renew and must apply for any further license as a new applicant with respect to those operations licensed but not engaged in.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7308 Issuance of additional licenses.

(a) When authorized.--When the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or its successor certifies that the catch of shad in the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries for the preceding year totals 500,000 fish, the executive director shall consult with the pertinent administrative and other officials of the states of New York, New Jersey and Delaware, constituting the Middle Atlantic Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and with the technical advisers of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or its successor and, after such consultation and on the basis of all the scientific evidence available to the commission through these and other sources, if the commission finds that a limited number of additional operators or increased units of gear may be licensed for the following season without impairing the annual yield of the fishery it may authorize additional licenses. (b) Determining number of licenses.--In determining the number of additional licenses, the commission shall give due consideration to the findings of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or its successor. The commission may enter into such administrative agreements with the pertinent administrative officials of any of the other states enumerated in subsection (a) as may be necessary to establish a joint limitation of licenses and such cooperative programs as may be deemed necessary for the re-establishment of the shad fishery of the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries in such manner as to promote the maximum sustained annual yield therefrom. (c) Notice of proposed additional licenses.--When additional units of gear are to be licensed, the executive director shall give public notice, by advertisement once a week for two successive weeks in at least two daily newspapers of the counties of the state bordering on the Delaware River, of the additional units of gear to be licensed and the areas where they may be operated, and shall state that applications may be received up to January 1 next succeeding the publication of the notice. (d) Grounds for refusing license.--The executive director may decline to receive any application for an additional license when, after due notice and opportunity for hearing, he finds that the applicant is not qualified by character, experience, financial responsibility and equipment to conduct properly the fishing operation applied for, or when, after due notice and opportunity for hearing, he finds that it is necessary, in order to maintain the stability of the industry or prevent conditions leading to monopoly, to prefer the applications of new operators over the extension of the operations of previous licenses, or, in the licensing of extended operations, to prefer small over large operators. (e) Time and method of issuance.--On January 1 of each year, the commission shall issue such additional licenses as may be authorized for that year under the provisions of this section, the recipients of such licenses and the locations of fixed nets to be chosen by lot from among the applications received whenever there are more applicants than available licenses or more than one applicant for any location. Cross References. Section 7308 is referred to in section 7312 of this title.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7309 License fees.

The commission may issue the following shad fishing licenses which shall be valid only during the shad fishing season for which issued, as provided in this chapter, upon written application therefor, signed by the applicant, and upon payment to said commission of the following fees: (1) Commercial shad fishing license, $10. (2) Noncommercial shad fishing license under which applicant is not permitted to catch more than ten shad in any one day, $1.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7310 Records and reports by licensees.

Each shad licensee shall keep a daily record of his catch on forms provided by the commission and shall provide a copy of his record for the commission at weekly intervals during the fishing season.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7311 Transfer of license.

(a) When authorized.--A shad license to operate any nets permitted under this chapter may be transferred whenever the owner of the nets, boats, gear and other equipment sells or conveys them by bill of sale for a bona fide consideration to any person who is eligible under the provisions of this chapter. (b) Application, fee and issuance.--The transfer shall be made only upon surrender of the outstanding shad license and the execution of an application by the new owner or owners as in the case of an original application and the payment of the sum of $2.50 as a transfer fee, whereupon the commission shall issue a new shad license for the remainder of the license season.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7312 Withdrawal of licenses issued in prior year.

(a) General rule.--When the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or its successor certifies, on the basis of scientific evidence, that the catch of shad in the Delaware River and Bay and their tributaries has declined 100,000 fish or more under the previous year's catch in such waters and that there is evidence of prospective depletion, or when the commission, after investigation and on the basis of scientific evidence, finds that the fishery is threatened by depletion or that the fishing rate is too high to permit the continuance of a constant annual yield or that present exploitation threatens the future maximum yield of that fishery, it shall provide for the withdrawal in the following season of some or all of the licenses previously issued. In this connection, it may enter into administrative agreements with the pertinent administrative officials of the other states mentioned in section 7308 (relating to issuance of additional licenses) for the purpose of arranging a joint reduction of units of gear. (b) Notice of intention.--When units of gear are to be reduced, the commission shall give public notice, in the manner set forth in section 7308, of intention to do so and of the number and character of units of gear to be withdrawn and from which areas. (c) Method of withdrawal.--In effecting a reduction of fishing effort under the provisions of this section the commission shall withdraw shad licenses to be affected in the inverse order in which the shad licenses were issued except that if reduction of fishing intensity is sought with respect to a particular area or a particular operation license, withdrawals shall be in the inverse order in which the licenses were issued for that area or operation. In all instances where this procedure cannot be followed, resort shall be had to lots.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7313 Suspension or revocation of license.

(a) Suspension.--The commission, after due notice and hearing, may suspend for a suitable period the shad license of any person who is found by them to have done any of the following: (1) Made a false statement in the application for a license. (2) Violated any shad regulation contained in this chapter. (3) Failed to make required shad reports. (b) Revocation.--For a second infraction, the commission may, after due notice and hearing, revoke the shad license of the offender. (c) Judicial review.--Any applicant or licensee aggrieved by an adjudication of the commission may appeal in accordance with Title 2 (relating to administrative law and procedure). Whether or not a supersedeas is granted, the licensee may continue to fish for shad up to the date of the final decision of the court without being held to have violated the provisions of this chapter.

30 Pa.C.S. § 7314 Penalty.

Any person violating the provisions of this chapter commits a summary offense of the second degree. (Dec. 22, 1989, P.L.735, No.102, eff. Jan. 1, 1990) APPENDIX TO TITLE 30 FISH ------- Supplementary Provisions of Amendatory Statutes ------- 1991, DECEMBER 12, P.L.368, NO.39

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.palegis.us/statutes/consolidated/view-statute?txtType=HTM&ttl=30Fetched: 10/16/2026