§ 4-1037. Areas where catching with gear other than hand tools prohibited

   A person may not catch or attempt to catch soft-shell clams with a hydraulic clam dredge or any other gear except hand-held tools, such as shovels and hoes, in the following areas:

   (1) Within 150 feet of a natural oyster bar or area leased under Subtitle 11A of this title and marked as required by that subtitle;

   (2) Within 1,000 feet of any occupied duck blind where decoys are set out during waterfowl hunting season;

   (3) Except for the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge and its parallel span, the Governor Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge, and the area of the Choptank River Bridge that is within Talbot County, within 50 feet of any bulkhead, structure, wharf, pier, or piling that is erected in, over, or under the waters of the State under a permit granted by the State or federal government;

   (4) Within 300 feet of any private bathing beach running not more than 300 feet along the shore which is marked as required by rule and regulation or within 1,000 feet of any public bathing beach from May 1 to September 30. However, the owner or lessee of a single property may not claim protection for more than one private bathing beach contiguous to this property;

   (5) (i) Within 50 feet of the mean high watermark of any shoreline in Queen Anne's, Talbot, or Somerset counties;

      (ii) Within 300 feet in Dorchester County; or

      (iii) Within 150 feet in Anne Arundel County, Calvert County, St. Mary's County, or Kent County downriver from Nichols Point at the eastern side of the mouth of Langford Creek and within 300 feet upriver from Nichols Point;

   (6) The Dorchester County waters of the Choptank River and its tributaries, east of a line running from Horn Point to Martin Point and west of a line running from Sharp's Island Light to Hill's Point; Brannock Bay; the Little Choptank River; Tar Bay; the Honga River; all waters east of a line running from the most southerly point of Holland Island to Holland Island Bar Light; all waters east of a line running from Richland Point to Okahanikan Point; and any areas reserved by the Department for production of seed oysters; and

   (7) In the Atlantic Coastal Bays, as defined in § 8-1802 of this article.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 66C, § 713; 1973, 1st Sp. Sess., ch. 4, § 1; 1981, chs. 177, 481; 1983, ch. 567; 1985, ch. 653; 1991, ch. 55, § 1; 2007, ch. 260, § 2; 2008, ch. 36, § 6; ch. 698; 2010, ch. 296; 2012, ch. 66, § 1.