(A) The department may grant permits to licensed commercial saltwater fishermen to trawl or dredge for finfish, blue crabs, whelks (conchs), or other marine resources in any portion of the General Trawling Zone and for horseshoe crabs in the salt waters of this State. A captain engaged in the activity must possess a valid permit for the purpose granted by the department. A vessel lawfully engaged in taking shrimp with trawl nets having stretched mesh of less than two and one-half inches does not require a permit to retain lawful finfish, blue crabs, whelks, or other marine resource.

(B) Permits granted under this section may be limited and may include conditions as to minimum size requirements, mesh size of nets and other devices, fishing times or periods, fishing areas, species which may be retained for sale, catch limitations, catch reporting requirements, and other matters which it considers necessary. Unless permitted under this section, no net having a mesh of less than four inches stretched mesh may be aboard a boat trawling during the closed season for shrimp unless the net is stored below deck or secured in a locked bin or container.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 50-5-755

  • Boat: means a vessel. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • 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
  • Fishing: means all activity and effort involved in taking or attempting to take fish. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Marine resource: means any live, fresh, processed, or frozen whole, part, or portion of any marine organism, anadromous fish, or catadromous fish, to include shell deposits occurring upon or within state-owned bottoms and those lying above the mean high water mark if created by processes of natural accretion upon state-owned lands or bottoms. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
  • Person: means an individual, a partnership, a firm, a corporation, an association, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
  • Trawl: means a net, other than a haul seine, towed behind a boat. 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

(C) The provisions of this section do not apply to the use of equipment permitted for taking oysters and hard clams in accordance with other provisions of law and regulations.

(D) A person who violates this section by failing to acquire a permit, trawling at a time other than times allowed by law or under permit, or trawling in a nonpermitted area is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

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