RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SHRIMPING

TITLE 22 – MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES PART 2 RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SHRIMPING IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Chapter 01 Introduction Purpose 100 This Part provides for the regulation of the commercial and recreational shrimp fishery. Chapter 02 Justification and Authority 100 The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources (MCMR) has determined that shrimping regulations are necessary for the protection, conservation, and propagation of shrimp in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi. 101 The MCMR has determined that such regulations are in the best interest of the State of Mississippi and the seafood industry to promote the protection, conservation, and propagation of shrimp in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi. 102 The MCMR is authorized by § 49-15-15 of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended, to enact all regulations necessary for the protection, conservation or propagation of all seafood in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi. Chapter 03 Definitions 100 FOOTROPE shall mean leadline, footline, groundrope or that lower part of the trawl that the webbing is first attached, that also provides for the weighing down of the trawl by means of lead weights, chain or other means. 101 HEADROPE shall mean corkline, headline, floatline or that upper part of the trawl that the webbing is first attached, that also provides flotation by means of corks, floats or other means. 102 SALTBOX shall mean any container or similar device in which the salinity is greater than one hundred (100) parts per thousand and is used to aid in separating the shrimp from the bycatch. 103 BIB OR TONGUE shall mean an extension of the middle section of the upper part of the net with a triangular piece of webbing. The bib or tongue requires additional line(s), other than the lines attached to the trawl boards, which run from the bridle or boat to the bib or tongue. 104 PUSH TRAWL shall mean a trawl that is spread by poles suspended in a "V" configuration from the bow of the trawler. 105 SKIMMER TRAWL shall mean a trawl that extends from the outrigger of a vessel with a cable and a lead weight holding the trawl mouth open. 106 WING NET (BUTTERFLY TRAWL) shall mean a trawl with a rigid frame holding open the trawl mouth rather than using trawl doors. 107 SIAMESE TRAWL shall mean a trawl that has two tongues one on the headrope and one on the footrope at or near the center of the net which requires additional line(s), other than the lines attached to the trawl boards, which run from the bridle, outrigger or boat to the tongues. Chapter 04 Closure Areas 100 All waters north of a line beginning at a point one-half mile due South of the shoreline at the Mississippi-Alabama state boundary; thence running westerly following the meanderings of the shoreline one-half mile therefrom to Light "5" in the Bayou Casotte Channel; thence running northerly to Light "7" in the Bayou Casotte Channel; thence running westerly following the meanderings of the shoreline one-half mile therefrom to the intersection with the Pascagoula Channel; thence running northwesterly to Beacon "50" in the Pascagoula Channel; thence running southwesterly to Beacon "49" in the Pascagoula Channel; thence running in the most direct line to the northeast point of Singing River Island; thence running westerly along the north shoreline to the northwest point of Singing River Island; thence running northwesterly to a point one-half mile due south of the mouth of Graveline Bayou; thence running westerly following the meanderings of the shoreline one-half mile therefrom to Beacon "18" in the Biloxi Bay Channel; thence running northwesterly to Beacon "22" in the Biloxi Bay Channel; thence running northwesterly to Beacon "26" in the Biloxi Bay Channel; thence running westerly to Beacon "34", exclusive of the Biloxi Channel itself; thence running westerly to Beacon "30" in the Biloxi Channel, exclusive of the Biloxi Channel itself; and thence running due South to a point on the north shore of Deer Island; thence running westerly following the north shore of Deer Island to the westernmost tip; thence running westerly in the most direct line to Biloxi Beacon "8"; thence running westerly following the meandering of the shoreline at a distance of one-half mile therefrom to a point on the centerline of the CSX Railroad Bridge over St. Louis Bay; thence running westerly along the centerline of said bridge to a point one-half mile south of the western abutment; thence running southwesterly following the meanderings of the shoreline, at a distance of one-half mile therefrom, to a point one-half mile due East of the mouth of Bayou Caddy; thence running due West to the mouth of Bayou Caddy; thence running southwesterly following the meanderings of the shoreline to the southernmost point of the Mississippi shoreline on the east bank of the mouth of the Pearl River thence following the meanderings of the east bank of the Pearl River to a point where the east bank of the Pearl River intersects the centerline of the Highway 90 bridge; thence westerly along the centerline of the highway 90 bridge to a point that intersects the Mississippi/Louisiana State boundary, are hereby declared to be protective and staging areas for young shrimp, and as such permanently closed to commercial and recreational shrimping activities. The redesignation of beacon numbers by the United States Coast Guard shall not alter the description of the boundary described in this section. 101 Shrimping season in waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi north of the Intracoastal Waterway shall be closed in accordance with § 49-15-64.1 of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended, each year from January 1 until it is opened by the MCMR. For the purpose of this section only, the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway that extends from a point south of Long Beach to a point south of Point Clear is described as follows: Begin at Marianne Channel Lighted Buoy 1 (Fl G 2.5s) located approximately three (3) miles north of West Point on Cat Island, thence extending southwesterly to “LIGHT 4P” (Fl R 2.5s 17ft), thence southwesterly to “PASS MARIANNE WRECK LIGHT WR8A” (QR 17ft), thence southwesterly to “LIGHT 15P” (F G 4s 17ft) at the northernmost point of Merrill Coquille, thence southwesterly to “LIGHT 17P”(Fl G 4s 17ft), thence southwesterly to “ST JOSEPH ISLAND LIGHT 22” (Fl R 4s 17ft), thence westerly to Lighthouse Point and continuing westward following the meandering of the shoreline to the boundary line of the state. 102 Any person, licensed live bait dealers, licensed live bait shrimpers and licensed commercial shrimpers shall be allowed to take shrimp with cast nets or brille nets not exceeding twelve (12) feet (maximum radius or length) in the bays of Bay St. Louis, Biloxi and Pascagoula with a cast net or brille net, but shall not take more than fifty (50) pounds (heads-on) of shrimp per person per day. It shall be unlawful for any persons using said nets to remove the heads of the shrimp on site. 103 It shall be unlawful to recreationally trawl within the Gulf Islands National Seashore boundaries of Petit Bois, Horn and Ship islands. Chapter 05 Gear Regulations 100 Except for a test or try trawl, it shall be unlawful for any boat or vessel to use more than two (2) trawls provided that when two (2) trawls are used such trawls shall not exceed a length of twenty-five (25) feet on the headrope and thirty-two (32) feet on the footrope for each trawl and the trawl doors shall not exceed eight (8) feet in length and forty three (43) inches in height when employed in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi north of a line beginning at a point on the Louisiana-Mississippi border due south of the Intracoastal Waterway Grand Island Channel "LIGHT 1" (F1 G 4 Sec 17ft 3M), at the intersection of Grand Island Channel and Marianne Channel; thence running due north to said "LIGHT 1" thence northeasterly, along the Marianne Channel, through "Buoy 22", "LIGHT 18" (F1 R 4 Sec 17ft 3M), "Buoy 12", to "LIGHT 8" (F1 R 4 Sec 17ft 3M); thence northeasterly along, the most direct line, to "Light Buoy 7" (F1 G 6 Sec 4M); thence east- northeasterly, along the most direct line, to "CAT ISLAND WEST END CHANNEL LIGHT" (F1 W 4 Sec 30ft 5M), located approximately 2.2 miles due west of Cat Island; thence easterly, along the most direct line, to the westernmost point of Cat Island; thence running northeasterly, following the northern shore, to the northeastern-most point of Cat Island; thence southeasterly, along the most direct line, to the westernmost point of West Ship Island; thence easterly, following the northern shore, to the easternmost point of West Ship Island; thence easterly along the most direct line, to the westernmost point of East Ship Island; thence easterly following the northern shore to the easternmost point of East Ship Island; thence easterly, along the most direct line, to the westernmost point of Horn Island, thence easterly, following the northern shore, to the easternmost point of Horn Island; thence easterly, along the most direct line, to the westernmost point of Petit Bois Island; thence easterly, following the northern shore, to the easternmost point of Petit Bois Island; thence due east to a point on the Mississippi-Alabama border. This regulation shall not apply to the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi south of the line described herein. 101 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to use any single trawl for the catching or taking of shrimp in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi north of the line described in Chapter 5 of this Part with a measurement of more than fifty (50) feet along the headrope or more than sixty (60) feet along the footrope, continuous measurement. In addition to the aforesaid measurements, the wings of push-nets (trawls kept open by rigid supports or poles and pushed from behind) shall be secured to the rigid, supports or poles for a distance not to exceed twenty-four (24) feet on each side. 102 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to use skimmer trawls, wing nets (butterfly nets), Siamese trawls or any like contrivance which is in excess of twenty-five (25) feet on the headrope and thirty-two (32) feet on the footrope for each trawl when employed in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi. 103 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to use any saltbox on board any vessel within the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi. 104 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to use any test or try trawl for the catching or taking of shrimp in the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi north of the line described in Chapter 5 of this Part with a measurement of more than twelve (12) feet along the headrope or more than fifteen (15) feet along the footrope, or used with boards or doors more than thirty (30) inches in length. 105 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to catch or take, attempt to catch or take, or to possess any shrimp taken from the waters under the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi that are closed to shrimping by order of the MCMR or by state statute, provided, however, that this chapter shall not apply to shrimp caught legally by properly licensed live bait boats in areas opened to live bait shrimping. 106 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to drag, or pull a trawl or try net under the water with the bag tied or untied in any area of the territorial waters of the State of Mississippi which are closed to shrimping. Further, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to drag, or pull double or multiple rigs under the water with the bags tied or untied in any area of the territorial waters of the State of Mississippi which are closed to the use of double rigs, or in waters which are closed to the use of that size, type or number of rigs. Chapter 06 Determining Legal Shrimp Size 100 For enforcement purposes, in determining the legal size of shrimp, three (3) pounds of shrimp with the heads on shall be taken at random from the deck of each boat or vessel. Said three (3) pounds of shrimp shall be counted and the number of shrimp shall be divided by three (3). In the event the result totals more than sixty-eight (68), the entire catch shall be forfeited to the State of Mississippi and the operator of said boat or vessel shall be in violation of § 49-15-63 of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended. Chapter 07 Penalties 100 Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Part shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be penalized in accordance with § 49-15-63 of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended. Violations of more than one chapter or subsection of this Part, or parts thereof, shall be considered separate offenses and punished as such. Chapter 08 Chapters and Subchapters Declared Separable 100 Each chapter and subchapter of this Part is hereby declared separable, and if any chapter or subchapter or part thereof shall be held invalid or unconstitutional, the balance of said Title 22 Part 02 shall remain in full force and effect. 101 Violations of more than one chapter or subchapter of this Part or part thereof shall be considered separate offenses and punished as such. Chapter 09 Administrative Procedures Act 100 Pursuant to the amendments to the Administrative Procedures Act, § 25-43-1.101, et seq., of the Mississippi Code Ann. of 1972, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the Secretary of State; the former Ordinance 2.016 has been modified and the MCMR and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources have adopted the terminology and numbering system developed by the Secretary of State. Therefore, references to “ordinance” or to “Part” appearing in these regulations or the underlying statutes are used interchangeably and refer to the same instrument. TITLE 22 – MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES PART 2 RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SHRIMPING IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, shall be in effect and be in force from and after the 1st day of November 2015. Adopted this the 15th day of September 2015. MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON MARINE RESOURCES By: _/s/ Richard Gollott_________ Richard Gollott, Chairman MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES By: _/s/ Jamie M. Miller________ Jamie M. Miller, Executive Director