(A) Commercial equipment, excluding vessels, used in the salt waters of this State and in fisheries for anadromous and catadromous species in any waters of this State must be licensed by the department. The owner and operator are responsible for obtaining a license:

(1) to use a trawl or trawls, and the cost is one hundred twenty-five dollars for residents and three hundred dollars for nonresidents;

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 50-5-325

  • Boat: means a vessel. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Channel net: means any conical-shaped, fixed, or stationary net used for taking shrimp which:

    (a) is attached to poles, stakes, anchors, buoys, or other fixed objects; and

    (b) has a mesh size of less than two and one-half inches when the mesh is stretched; and is also known as a set net. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Commercial equipment: means :

    (a) any trawl, haul seine, gill net, channel net, bull rake, seed fork, grabs, escalator, or dredge; and

    (b) any net, seine, trap, pot, tongs, rake, fork, trotline, or other device or appliance when used for taking or attempting to take fish for a commercial purpose. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources unless otherwise stated. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Dredge: means equipment used for harvesting bottom dwelling aquatic life which is not a trawl and is powered by mechanical means, and is designed to contact the bottom when in operation. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Gill net: means a net which is designed to hang vertically and capture fish by entanglement usually of the head, gill covers, or preopercles, and does not include gill net for taking shad unless specified. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Haul seine: means a net of twine no smaller than #9 with a stretched mesh size no smaller than two inches and no larger than two and seven-eighths inches, one end of which is anchored to the shore and the other end is moved through the water by a vessel to take fish by encircling the fish and then being mechanically drawn to the shore. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Herring: means all life stages of the river herrings being blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Operate: means to navigate, steer, drive, or be in control. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Operator: means the person who operates or has charge or command of the navigation or use of a vessel or watercraft. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, who claims lawful possession of a vessel or outboard motor by virtue of legal title or equitable interest in it which entitled him to possession. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Person: means an individual, a partnership, a firm, a corporation, an association, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Shad: means American or white shad (Alosa sapidissima) and hickory or skip-jack shad (Alosa mediocris). See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Shellfish: means oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and all nonmotile molluscan fish having shells. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Take: means to harass intentionally, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Trap: is a n enclosed device used for taking fish, constructed to facilitate entry but prohibit or restrict exit of fish and is also called "pot". See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Trawl: means a net, other than a haul seine, towed behind a boat. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Trawler: means a vessel rigged for towing a trawl. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Trawling: means fishing with a trawl or having part of a trawl door in the water. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Use: means operate, navigate, or employ. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Vessel: means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane regulated by the federal government, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10

(2) to use traps, and the cost is twenty-five dollars per fifty traps and one dollar for each trap thereafter for residents, and one hundred twenty-five dollars per fifty traps and five dollars for each trap thereafter for nonresidents;

(3) to use a channel net for taking shrimp, and the cost is two hundred fifty dollars for each net;

(4) to use a gill net for taking shad, herring, or sturgeon, and the cost is ten dollars per one hundred net yards or a fraction thereof for residents and fifty dollars per one hundred net yards or a fraction thereof for nonresidents, and to use any other gill net or haul seine the cost is ten dollars per one hundred net feet or a fraction thereof for residents and fifty dollars per one hundred net feet or a fraction thereof for nonresidents;

(5) to use hand-held equipment to take shellfish, including tongs, rakes, and forks, at no cost;

(6) to use a drag dredge, and the cost is seventy-five dollars for residents and three hundred seventy-five dollars for nonresidents;

(7) to use other mechanically operated or boat assisted equipment, other than equipment used to set or retrieve licensed equipment, and the cost is one hundred twenty-five dollars for residents and six hundred twenty-five dollars for nonresidents;

(8) to use trotlines with baits or hooks, and the cost is ten dollars for residents and fifty dollars for nonresidents for each line having not more than fifty baits or hooks per line;

(9) to use any other commercial equipment, and the cost is ten dollars for each type for residents and fifty dollars per type for nonresidents.

(B) The vessel on which a trawl or trawls is to be used must be specified on an application to the department and maintained current. The owner of a trawling vessel must furnish the name and address of the vessel master. Failure by the owner to supply or update the information required for the application so as to keep the information current at all times is a misdemeanor punishable as provided in this section.

(C) No person under the age of sixteen years may operate a trawler as master.

(D) No person may hold or apply for a separate license resulting in avoidance of a license fee differential specified in this section.

(E) Each net required to be licensed must be licensed separately.

(F) Other than vessels solely transiting the State in interstate commerce, any vessel on or from which commercial equipment is used or transported must display on its port and starboard sides current identification decals provided by the department.

(G) The department may require an owner or operator who uses commercial equipment without being present to affix an identification number and tag issued by the department to each piece of commercial equipment while the commercial equipment is in use. The owner and operator are responsible for assuring the number and tag are affixed.

(H) Only those types of commercial equipment specifically allowed by this chapter may be used for commercial purposes; provided, the department may grant permits for additional equipment types as stated in § 50-3-340.

(I) A person who violates subsection (A)(1), (A)(3), (A)(7), or (H) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days and must have his saltwater privileges suspended for twelve months.

(J) A person who violates subsection (A)(2), (A)(4), (A)(6), (A)(8), (A)(9), (D), (E), (F), or (G) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

(K) A person who violates subsection (A)(5), (B), or (C) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

(L) Any commercial equipment which is used while not properly licensed, permitted, or tagged or any equipment used for commercial purposes not specifically allowed for commercial purposes by this chapter is considered contraband and must be seized by the department and disposed of as provided by law.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 3 Contents