§ 4-728. Fishing restrictions -- Chesapeake Bay

   (a) Use of nets generally. --

   (1) In this subsection, "connected line of nets" means a series of connected nets set in single file.

   (2) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person may not set:

      (i) A fish pot, fyke net, or connected line of fyke nets within 500 feet in any direction of any other net or connected line of nets;

      (ii) A fyke net or connected line of fyke nets that exceeds 1,500 feet in length, including the net's leaders, hedges, or wings; or

      (iii) A fish pot, fyke net, or connected line of fyke nets at a distance greater than one-fourth the distance across the bay, measured from the low water mark.

   (3) In the waters in the part of the Chesapeake Bay which lies between a straight line drawn from Drum Point Lighthouse in Calvert County to Hog Point in St. Mary's County, and a straight line drawn from Cove Point Lighthouse in Calvert County to Cedar Point Lighthouse in St. Mary's County, a person may not set any kind of net:

      (i) Nearer than 500 yards in every direction from any other net;

      (ii) Of a total length of more than 550 yards including the net's leaders, hedges, or wings; or

      (iii) At a greater distance than one-fourth the distance across these waters measured from the low water mark on either side.

(b) Use of any pound net or stake net in headwaters. -- A person may not set any pound net or stake net in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, except those areas within 2,400 feet from the natural shoreline in Cecil County, the bay shore of Kent County up to Howell Point, and those areas within 2,400 feet from the shore on the west side of the bay from Pooles Island north to one-half mile north of Spesutie Island. For the purpose of this subsection the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay are defined as the waters embraced in the area marked by the following line:

Beginning at Concord Point and running in a northeasterly direction, crossing Susquehanna River to Stump Point, then to Carpenter's Point, then to Turkey Point, then to Grove Point, all in Cecil County, then to Howell Point, Kent County, continuing in a straight line from Howell Point in a southwesterly direction across the bay to Abbey Point, the northernmost point at the entrance of Bush River, then northerly by a line following the bay shore of Harford County to Mulberry Point, then to Bear Point, Sandy Point, and to Locust Point on Spesutie Island, then to the southernmost point at the entrance of Swan Creek, and then crossing Swan Creek and continuing in a northerly direction following the bay shore to Concord Point, the place of beginning.

(c) Use of anchored gill nets. --

   (1) A person may not set an anchored gill net in the area of Chesapeake Bay bounded on the north by a line drawn from Turkey Point on the eastern shore to Sandy Point in Harford County, and on the south by a line drawn from Abbey Point to channel buoy Number 29, following the channel northward to buoy Number 1, off Grove Point, thence to Grove Point. This paragraph does not apply to the commercial fishing area within the Aberdeen Proving Grounds as specified by the Proving Ground.

   (2) A person may not set or fish with any gill net within 1,200 feet of any pier that supports either span of the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge between May 1 and October 31, inclusive.

   (3) A person may not set or fish with any gill net in the Chesapeake Bay, excluding its tributaries, south of a line drawn from Howell Point to Taylor Island Point in the upper bay to a line drawn from Kent Point to Curtis Point in the mouth of West River between June 1 and October 31, inclusive.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 66C, § 286-288; 1973, 1st Sp. Sess., ch. 4, § 1; 1978, chs. 467, 581; 1979, ch. 396; 1980, ch. 672; 1981, ch. 487; 1982, ch. 465; 1990, ch. 42; 1994, ch. 230; 1998, ch. 21, § 1; 2008, ch. 321.