Delaware Code
Chapter 9. FINFISHING IN TIDAL WATERS
§ 901. Purpose of chapter; policy of State; interstate fishery management plan; advisory committee.

(a) The purpose of this chapter is to effectuate the State's policy toward the management and conservation of coastal finfishery resources in cooperation with the federal government, local governments of this State and the governments of other states. This chapter provides the legal framework by which the users of this State's finfishery resource can participate in the State's responsibility of governing fishing for, and the taking of, finfish in a manner that is both biologically and socioeconomically sound.
(b) It shall be the policy of the State to manage tidal water finfisheries in accordance with the development and maintenance of a management strategy that perpetuates the historic significance of recreational and commercial fisheries with priority for development of interstate management plans given to those species that are of foremost interest to recreational fishers. These species shall include the weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, striped bass, Morone saxatilis, summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, Atlantic croaker, Micropogan undulatus, porgy, Stenotomus chrysops, kingfish, Menticirrhus saxatilis, codfish, Gadus morrhua, seabass, Centroprists striata, and Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus.
(c) It shall also be the policy of the State to manage tidal water finfisheries in accordance with management objectives that maintain optimum yields of fish, that provide a viable experience for recreational fishers and that provide sound business opportunities for commercial fishers and for those providing services to fishers. Management shall be accomplished in cooperation with the federal government, the governments of other states and local fishing interests. Management shall be biologically and socioeconomically sound.
(d) In recognition of these fishes as migratory species which routinely spend some part of their life in the territorial seas and interior waters of different coastal states and the fishery conservation zone (3-200 nautical miles), interstate fishery management plans for each species or group of closely related species may be developed by the Department in cooperation with other interested Atlantic coast states and the appropriate federal agencies in the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The development of each interstate fishery management plan shall include an appropriate Delaware Citizens Advisory Committee whose membership shall consist of individuals who are residents of this State and shall represent the commercial and recreational interest for that fishery. Both the Citizens Advisory Committees and the Department shall abide by the following management principles in the development of an interstate fishery management plan:

(1) Fisheries management shall prevent overfishing while achieving on a continuing basis the optimum yield from each fishery;
(2) Fisheries management shall be based upon the best available scientific and socioeconomic information;
(3) Fisheries management shall, to the extent practical, manage individual stocks of fish as a unit in cooperation with other states and federal authorities throughout the range of fish;
(4) Fisheries management shall, to the extent practical, allocate or assign fishing privileges among fishers to conform to historic fisheries landing statistics and be reasonably calculated to promote conservation;
(5) If it becomes necessary to allocate or assign fishing privileges among the citizens of this State, such allocation shall, to the extent practical, promote efficiency in the utilization of fishery resources, except that no such measure shall have economic allocation as the sole purpose; and
(6) Fisheries management, to the extent practical, shall minimize costs and avoid unnecessary duplications.

Structure Delaware Code

Delaware Code

Title 7 - Conservation

Chapter 9. FINFISHING IN TIDAL WATERS

§ 901. Purpose of chapter; policy of State; interstate fishery management plan; advisory committee.

§ 902. Application of chapter.

§ 903. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; authority; permits; regulations.

§ 903A. Striped bass quotas and tags.

§ 904. Advisory Council on Tidal Finfisheries; establishment; organization; authority.

§ 906. Definitions.

§ 907. Equipment and methods used for fishing for game fish.

§ 908. Equipment and methods used for fishing for bait fish.

§ 909. Fishing for bait fish in tidal waters.

§ 910. Types of fishing equipment and methods used for fishing for food fish.

§ 911. Scientific permit; issuance; information; expiration; report; equipment marking and identification requirements.

§ 912. Sale, trade and/or barter of game fish.

§ 913. Sale, trade and/or barter of food fish.

§ 914. Commercial food fishing license; requirements and fees.

§ 915. Food fishing equipment permit; requirements, fees and restrictions.

§ 916. Finfisheries Development Fund.

§ 917. Areas restricted for using certain fishing equipment.

§ 918. Interfering with fishing equipment.

§ 919. Menhaden fishing; penalties.

§ 920. Marking requirement for fishing equipment; exception for minnow traps; removal of stakes, anchors and lines.

§ 921. Identification requirements for equipment.

§ 922. Length restrictions on certain nets.

§ 923. Gill nets; restrictions on use; seasons.

§ 924. Unattended fishing equipment.

§ 925. Fishing with explosives, chemicals, poisons and other devices; exception for Department and agents.

§ 926. Extracting oil or making fertilizer from food and game fish; penalty.

§ 927. Fishing with trawl nets, purse seines, run around gill nets; penalty; exceptions.

§ 928. Interstate transfer of finfish.

§ 928A. Trade in shark fins; penalty.

§ 929. Size limits on finfish; exceptions [Subject to the provisions of 64 Del. Laws, c. 251, § 4].

§ 930. Striped bass spawning areas.

§ 931. Theft and attempted theft of fishing equipment or finfish from fishing equipment.

§ 932. Removal and inspection of fishing equipment by authorized personnel; confiscation and sale of illegally used equipment.

§ 933. Search of persons, boats, vessels and commercial facilities.

§ 934. Seizure and forfeiture of finfish.

§ 935. Sale of seized finfish.

§ 936. Enforcement; penalties; seizure and forfeiture of illegally used property; injunctions; false statements.

§ 937. Suspension or refusal to issue commercial finfishing license.

§ 938. Creel limits on finfish; exceptions.

§ 939. Fishing seasons; exception.

§ 940. Food fish dealer permits.

§ 941. Headboat/charter boat fishing permits; reporting requirements.

§ 942. Control of invasive finfish species.

§ 943. Tagging striped bass.