Alewife's Illegal?

[mytoyzfishing]

possessionf this is the place to post this, moderators feel free to move if see fit.

I was looking around for something on the VA DGIF website and saw this at the bottom of the page:
It is now illegal for any person to have river herring in their possession—this includes blueback herring and alewife. All river herring inadvertently caught by anglers must be immediately released back into the water. In Virginia, regulations regarding the harvest and possession of river herring are set by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). On January 1, 2012, VMRC enacted a regulation which makes it unlawful for any person to be in possession of river herring in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Anglers with concerns or questions should contact the Virginia Marine Fisheries Commission (VMRC) in Newport News at 1-800-541-4646. Additional information can be found on the VMRC website.

www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/

So does that make catchingalewife'ss for bait on SMLillegale?

[CorneliaGale]

This was discussed last fall, seems like I remember it is salt water only that the law is in effect.
Will try and find a link when I have time.
Remember that MWard found a link to that effect, hopefully he will remember where he found it and repost it.

[CorneliaGale]

VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION
“PERTAINING TO RIVER HERRING”
CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-1260-10 ET SEQ.

PREAMBLE

This chapter establishes a moratorium on River Herring. This chapter is promulgated pursuant to the authority contained in §28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia. This chapter amends, and re-adopts, as amended, previous Chapter 4 VAC 20-1260-10 et seq. which was adopted on June 28, 2011 and made effective January 1, 2012. The effective date of this chapter is March 29, 2012.

4 VAC 20-1260-10. PURPOSE.

The purposes of this chapter are to rebuild the Virginia stocks of River Herring and to comply with the requirements of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring.

4 VAC 20-1260-20. DEFINITIONS.

The following term when used in this chapter shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

“Land” or “landing” means to (i) enter port with finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood on board any boat or vessel; (ii) begin offloading finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood; or (iii) offload finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood.

“River Herring” means any fish of the species Alosa aestivalis or Alosa pseudoharengus.

4 VAC-20-1260-30. Moratorium.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to catch and retain possession of any river herring from Virginia tidal waters.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess aboard a vessel, on Virginia tidal waters, or to land, in Virginia, any river herring.
C. Any river herring or its by-product, imported into Virginia, from another state or country, shall be accompanied by a bill of lading or commercial invoice that shall include the name of the seller, the date of sale, and the pounds of river herring product.

4 VAC 20-1260-40. PENALTY.

As set forth in §28.2-903 of the Code of Virginia, any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of any provision of this chapter committed by the same person within 12 months of a prior violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

[CorneliaGale]

I highlighted the reason it don't affect SML its only on tidal waters.

[BentRod]

Yeah, when they originally wrote it, it did affect SML and freshwaters, although nobody was enforcing it. But I think they rewrote it to affect just tidal waters after they realized the mistake.

[mytoyzfishing]

I was just checking since its posted on the freshwater reg page and the second to last line it just says Commonwealth of Virginia