CHAP. 107.--An ACT to amend and re-enact chapter 402, of the acts of 1897 and 1898, annulling and re-enacting section 2088 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact chapter 532 of the acts of assembly of 1895-9...
Approved February 29, 1908.
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact section two thousand and eighty eight of the Code of Virginia, in relation to hauling seines or setting traps in the waters of Accomac and Northampton, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and as amended by chapter five hundred and thirty-two of the acts of eighteen hundred and ninety five and eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and as amended by chapter four hundred and two of the acts of assembly of eighteen hundred and ninety-seven and eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, approved February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and as amended by chapter four hundred and two of the acts of assembly of eighteen hundred and ninety-seven and eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, approved January thirtieth, nineteen hundred, be still further amended and reenacted so as to read as follows:
§. Hauling seines and setting traps in the waters of Accomac and Northampton.--No person shall haul seines or set weirs or traps of any kind for the purpose of taking or catching fish in the waters of Accomac or Northampton counties at or within the mouth or inlet, or in any creek, stream or body of water, or in thoroughfares in said counties between the fifteenth day of May and the first day of September in any year: provided, it shall be lawful during said prohibited period to catch fish with draw seines in the waters of the Chincoteague inlet and its tributaries, Assawoman inlet and its tributaries, Gargatha inlet and its tributaries, Metompkin inlet
and its tributaries in Accomac county: and provided, the catch of fish shall be for home consumption and not for sale outside of the county. "Mouth" and "inlet," as used in this section, shall be construed as commencing one mile beyond headlands or marshes bordering on said creeks, streams or bodies of water. This section shall not apply to taking fish known as "fat back," nor be construed to prohibit the hauling of seines for family use in the waters of the north fork of Old Plantation creek, in the jurisdiction of Northampton county, within the limits prescribed in chapter two hundred and eleven of the acts of eighteen hundred and seventy-six and eighteen hundred and seventy-seven during the months of June, July and August, nor to interfere with the privilege of taking fish in Chesapeake Bay. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall for each offense be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, and all seines, boats and other appliances used in such violation shall be forfeited to the Commonwealth.
2. An emergency existing owing to the scarcity of fish for consumption, this act shall take effect from its passage.