(A) The season for using channel nets shall be no longer than ninety days, and the department annually may set the channel net season between September 1 of any year and December 15 of the same year, inclusive.
(B) A person licensed to use a channel net must allow designated department personnel to board or accompany any vessel on or from which a channel net is used to observe fishing activities, fishing gear, catch, and discards.
(C) It is unlawful to possess a channel net aboard a boat during the closed channel net season.
(D) It is unlawful to possess an unlicensed channel net aboard a boat.
(E) The following requirements apply to channel nets used in the salt waters of this State:
(1) the width at the mouth measured across the float or head line must not exceed eighty feet;
(2) no channel net may be operated from a trawler;
(3) a channel net must be marked with three buoys, international orange in color, constructed of solid foam or polyvinylchloride and not less than forty inches in circumference so as to be clearly visible at all times above the water's surface, one attached to each staff and one having the name, address, and license number of the owner thereon attached outside of the tailbag or codend; and
(4) a channel net set at night must be marked by a white light clearly visible from a distance of one-quarter of a nautical mile.
(F) It is unlawful for a person to set, retrieve, or remove catch from a channel net unless the properly licensed owner of the net is present and has his license in his immediate possession.
(G) No channel net when set may be unattended for more than twenty-four hours. Any channel net not fished for more than twenty-four hours or which contains decomposed fish is contraband and must be seized and disposed of as provided in this chapter.
(H) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 245, Section 3; 2002 Act No. 342, Section 20.