A. It shall be unlawful for any person to take oysters, from either public or private grounds, on Sunday or between sunset and sunrise; nor shall any person load any vessel or boat for such purpose with any oysters from any of the waters of the Commonwealth on Sunday or between sunset and sunrise.
B. Shucking oysters taken from the public grounds other than from designated seed areas may be unloaded on shore at packinghouses or loaded on trucks or motor vehicles one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise. Those oysters which have been inspected by an officer and purchased by the packer or planter, and the oysters owned by the packer or planter, may be unloaded at any time except Sunday within the discretion of the packer.
C. The provisions of subsection A shall not apply to (i) the taking or catching by hand during the prescribed hours of daylight on Sunday during the legally prescribed public oyster harvest season on public oyster grounds open for harvest or unleased bottom open for harvest, of not more than one bushel of oysters for personal use or (ii) the taking or catching of cultured oysters during the prescribed hours of daylight on Sunday. The presence on board a boat or other vehicle being used during any Sunday harvesting, except as part of an oyster aquaculture operation, of any gear normally associated with the harvesting of oysters other than by hand is prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of this section.
A violation of this section is a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Code 1950, § 28-195; 1958, c. 471; 1960, c. 517; 1962, c. 406, § 28.1-139; 1966, c. 684; 1975, c. 185; 1981, c. 119; 1992, c. 836; 1996, c. 434; 2016, c. 7.
Structure Code of Virginia
Title 28.2 - Fisheries and Habitat of the Tidal Waters
§ 28.2-500. Residency and certain oyster licenses
§ 28.2-501. Application for license to take or catch oysters or clams
§ 28.2-502. License fees for taking oysters or clams in tidal waters
§ 28.2-503. License for taking clams with tongs
§ 28.2-504. License fee graduated; penalty
§ 28.2-505. Sale of shells to Commission
§ 28.2-506. Season for taking oysters from public rocks; penalty
§ 28.2-507. Opening and closing public rocks
§ 28.2-508. Prohibited area for patent tongs; penalty
§ 28.2-509. Maximum weight for patent tongs; teeth length; penalty
§ 28.2-510. Buying, selling, or possessing unculled oysters; penalty
§ 28.2-511. Culling oysters; penalty
§ 28.2-512. Interfering with oyster inspections; penalty
§ 28.2-513. Prima facie evidence of culling violation; defense
§ 28.2-514. Possession of shucked oysters; penalty
§ 28.2-515. Dredging or scraping on private ground; permit required
§ 28.2-516. Oyster dredging or oyster dredging equipment on boat; penalty
§ 28.2-518. Dredging for oysters in James River; penalty
§ 28.2-519. Use of rakes or scrapes on ocean side of Eastern Shore; penalty
§ 28.2-520. Use of hydraulic dredges prohibited; exceptions; penalty
§ 28.2-521. Revocation of license or permit to dredge
§ 28.2-522. Prima facie evidence of violation
§ 28.2-524. Taking oysters or clams in certain areas; limitations
§ 28.2-525. Fishing in Chesapeake Bay immediately west of Tangier Island
§ 28.2-526. Oyster measures; standards; penalty
§ 28.2-527. Theft of oysters, clams, shells, etc.; penalty
§ 28.2-528. Revocation of licenses for theft of oysters
§ 28.2-529. Converting shells into lime; penalty
§ 28.2-530. Taking oysters or loading on vessel on Sunday or at night; penalty
§ 28.2-531. Taking clams on Sunday or at night; exception; penalty
§ 28.2-532. Protection of oysters and clams of Virginia; labeling; penalty
§ 28.2-533. Oysters on crab dredging boat; penalty
§ 28.2-534. Possession of oysters while taking clams; penalty
§ 28.2-535. Permit to buy or carry seed oysters from certain grounds; penalty
§ 28.2-536. Taking clams in certain areas; penalty
§ 28.2-537. Restriction on size of clams; penalty
§ 28.2-538. Record of oysters handled; penalty
§ 28.2-541. Oyster resource user fees
§ 28.2-542. Oyster Replenishment Fund
§ 28.2-546. Permit to carry oysters out of state
§ 28.2-547. Authority to inspect oysters when loaded on conveyance
§ 28.2-549. Violations; recovery of oyster resource user fees; penalties
§ 28.2-551. Surveys and reports as conclusive evidence
§ 28.2-551.1. Continuing or reestablishing historic Baylor Survey lines
§ 28.2-552. Resurvey on motion of Commission or on application of citizens
§ 28.2-553. Reestablishment of lines of Baylor survey; procedure; evidence of reestablished lines
§ 28.2-554. Sale of Baylor survey charts and plats
§ 28.2-555. Crossings of Baylor survey
§ 28.2-556. Erosion control devices within the Baylor survey
§ 28.2-557. Unlawful to threaten or hinder surveyor; rights of surveyor; penalty
§ 28.2-558. Placing permanent markers
§ 28.2-559. Removal of oysters planted by mistake
§ 28.2-560. Larceny of oysters and shells; penalty