Delaware Code
Chapter 9. FINFISHING IN TIDAL WATERS
§ 906. Definitions.

Unless otherwise provided in this chapter:

(1) “Active commercial fisher” shall mean an individual licensed by the Department to fish for commercial purposes for finfish or shellfish who has filed landing reports with the Department that account for no less than 0.1% of the landings in a specific commercial fishery identified by gear type during any 1 of the previous 3 calendar years.
(2) “Anchor gill net” shall mean a gill net held in place by anchors on the bottom.
(3) “Bag net or channel net” shall mean a bag-shaped net placed in flowing water that is fastened to poles or anchors so as to strain out finfish.
(4) “Bait fish” shall mean the following species of finfish:

(5) “Bait seine or drag net” shall mean a type of net with mesh webbing not exceeding 100 yards in length with a top line having floats to keep it at the surface and a weighted bottom line. Each end may be attached to poles which 2 or more persons may use to pull the seine through shallow water.
(6) “Bar net” shall mean a single wall of gill netting with ropes or rigid bars attached at right angles between the float and lead lines so that the webbing hangs slack.
(7) “Beam trawl” shall mean a bag, cone or funnel-shaped net without wings that is dragged or towed on the bottom by a vessel or motor power. The mouth of the net is held open by a rigid beam of wood or metal.
(8) “Cast net” shall mean a circular cone-shaped net thrown by hand that has an outer line with attached weights. Once thrown, the weighted line sinks rapidly to the bottom and the weighted line is drawn together by ropes which are attached to a recovery line, closing the net.
(9) “Charter boat” shall mean any vessel-for-hire engaged in recreational fishing that is hired on a per trip basis.
(10) “Commercial finfisher” shall mean any person who takes, catches, kills or reduces to possession any species of finfish taken from the tidal waters of this State by said person and sells, trades, barters or attempts to trade, barter or sell said finfish.
(11) “Common haul seine” shall mean an encircling type of net that is 100 yards or more in length and consisting of 2 wings and a bunt or bag. The top line has floats to keep it at the surface while the bottom line or foot line is weighted. The bunt or bag is flanked by wings to which are attached auxiliary lines. It may be set by a vessel and hauled to shore by hand or power winch.
(12) “Council” shall mean the Advisory Council on Tidal Finfisheries.
(13) “Danish seine” shall mean a trawl net that is rigged for a type of fishing that involves herding finfish with ropes prior to netting. The ropes and trawl net are played out by a vessel. The 2 ropes and trawl net are retrieved by the vessel while anchored with motorized winches. The ropes while being retrieved herd the finfish into the mouth of the trawl net.
(14) “Delaware Bay” shall mean all those tidal waters under the jurisdiction of the State located within an area bordered on the north by a straight line drawn between Liston Point, Delaware and Hope Creek, New Jersey and bordered on the south by a straight line drawn between Cape May Point, New Jersey and Cape Henlopen Point, Delaware, but not including any tributaries thereto.
(15) “Delaware's internal waters” shall mean all of those tidal waters under the jurisdiction of the State, except the Atlantic Ocean, as separated from the Delaware Bay by a straight line drawn between Cape May Point, New Jersey and Cape Henlopen Point, Delaware.
(16) “Delaware River” shall mean all those tidal waters under the jurisdiction of the State located within an area to the north of a straight line connecting Liston Point, Delaware and Hope Creek, New Jersey, but not including any tributaries thereto.
(17) “Delaware's territorial sea” shall mean all of those tidal waters in the Atlantic Ocean separated from Delaware Bay under the jurisdiction of the State, the outer boundary of which is a line 3 nautical miles coterminous with the shoreline of the State.
(18) “Department” shall mean the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
(19) “Dip net” shall mean a mesh bag of netting or wire which is suspended from a circular, oval or a rectangular frame attached to a handle.
(20) “Director” shall mean the Director of the Division.
(21) “Division” means the Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Department.
(22) “Dredge” shall mean any device used to gather, scrape, scoop, fish for or otherwise take bottom dwelling finfish.
(23) “Drift gill net” shall mean a gill net that is free-floating and fished at the surface or at intermediate depths.
(24) “Finfish” shall mean any aquatic vertebrate which has fins.
(25) “Fisheries conservation zone” shall mean that portion of the Atlantic Ocean contiguous to coastal states' territorial seas with an inner boundary as a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of Atlantic coastal states' territorial seas and an outer boundary as a line drawn in such a manner that each point unit is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which coastal states' territorial seas are measured.
(26) “Fishing,” “fished” or “to fish” shall mean to take, catch, kill or reduce to possession or to attempt to take, catch, kill or reduce to possession any finfish by any means whatsoever.
(27) “Fishing equipment” shall mean any dredge, tool, net, line, instrument, device, gear, harpoon, spear, hook or hook and line used or attempted to be used to fish for finfish.
(28) “Fish pot” or “fish trap” or “minnow trap” shall mean a rigid device of various designs and dimensions used to trap finfish with the catching principle based on 1 or more conical funnels to prevent finfish from escaping after they enter the pot or trap. A fish pot or fish trap may be circular, rectangular, cylindrical, cubical or of any other shape. It may be constructed with wire mesh, fish netting over a ridged frame of wood, steel, any other material or any combination of materials. A minnow trap shall have a conical funnel opening of no more than 2 inches.
(29) “Fixed gill net” shall mean any gill net that is not a drifting gill net.
(30) “Food fish” shall mean all species of finfish not specified as bait fish or game fish in this chapter except for eels which are governed by Chapter 18 of this title.
(31) “Food fish dealer” shall mean:

a. Any person licensed under § 2902, § 2903, § 2904, § 2905 or § 2908 of Title 30 who receives food fish from a commercial finfisher;
b. Any commercial finfisher who trades, barters and/or sells food fish to any person licensed under § 2906 of Title 30; or
c. Any commercial finfisher who trades, barters and/or sells food fish to any person whose principle place of business is located outside this State.
(32) “Fyke net” shall mean a hoop net with 1 or more wings or a leader attached and held in place with anchors or stakes to help guide finfish into the hoop net.
(33) “Game fish” shall mean the following species of finfish:

(34) “Gill net” shall mean an upright net or fence of fiber or monofilament netting with a float line also known as a cork line, on top, and a weighted line, also known as a lead line, on the bottom in which finfish are caught in the meshes of the net. Finfish, of a size for which the net is designed, swim into the net and can pass only part way through a single mesh. The finfish becomes “gilled” and can neither go forward through the net nor backward out of the net. Gill nets may be suspended at the surface, in mid-water or close to the bottom by controlling the number of floats on the float line and the size and number of weights on the weighted line. The net may be operated in either a stationary or movable manner.
(35) “Harpoon” shall mean an instrument with pointed barbed blade or blades that is detachable from the pole, shaft or handle of the instrument. It may be thrown by hand or discharged from a gun or a mechanical device.
(36) “Headboat” shall mean any vessel-for-hire engaged in recreational fishing that is hired on a per person basis.
(37) “Hook” shall mean a curved piece of wire, or other material, with or without a barbed end that is used to fish for finfish. A hook may consist of 1 hook, or 2 or 3 hooks that have been united together, and these may be known as a single, double or treble hook, respectively.
(38) “Hook and line” shall mean a single fishing line with 1 or more hooks held by, or attended by, or under the immediate control of, 1 or more persons. The hook and line may be attached to a pole, reel, float or stake or may be held by a person.
(39) “Hoop net” shall mean a conical or cylindrical net distended by a series of hoops or frames covered by web netting or wire mesh and may have 1 or more internal funnel-shaped throats that have tapered ends that are directed away from the mouth of the net.
(40) “Individual” shall mean a human being.
(41) “Interstate fisheries management plan” shall mean a document prepared in cooperation with at least 2 other Atlantic coastal states that ascertains factual circumstances, establishes objectives and proposes management measures that will achieve the objective for single species of finfish or a group of closely related finfishes.
(42) “Lampara net” shall mean an encompassing type of net that has a large central bunt and relatively short wings. The wings have a larger mesh than the bunt. This net is set from a moving vessel so as to surround a school of finfish, and then the 2 wings are pulled simultaneously. There is no pursing devices other than the closing of the lines as the net is drawn through the water by the vessel.
(43) “Lift net” shall mean a shallow bag of netting or wire which is attached to a frame that may have a round, rectangular or other shape, and is suspended by a line or bridle. It is lowered beneath the surface and raised rapidly to the surface.
(44) “Long haul seine” shall mean a type of haul seine that may be over 1,000 yards in length and is towed by 2 motorized vessels. It may be towed and/or hauled to a shoal area where the finfish catch is concentrated in the net and brailed from the bunt or bag.
(45) “Longline” shall mean a fishing line with a series of hooks on separate but attached short lines. It can be anchored or drifted. It may also be known as a trotline or setline.
(46) “Long seine” shall mean a modification of the common haul seine with 1 end of the net fastened to an anchor, stake or another vessel while the other end is pulled by a vessel. The pulled end is swept in a circle so that it will pass by the fastened end.
(47) “Mouth” of a tributary, stream, canal, creek or ditch shall mean any point on a line drawn between the outermost 2 points of land or jetties on each bank of the tributary, stream, canal, creek or ditch.
(48) “Nonresident” shall mean any person who has not continuously resided for 1 year within this State prior to the date in question.
(49) “Otter trawl” shall mean a funnel-shaped net with wings, a throat section and cod or bag end that is dragged or towed on the bottom or off of the bottom by 1 or more vessels. Floats and weights are utilized to keep the mouth of the net open. To spread the net, each wing is fastened to an “otter” board or trawl door. Each door is fitted with chains that can be attached to a towing cable from the trawling vessel. The resistance of the door at different angles forces them to pull in opposite directions and keeps the mouth of the net opened.
(50) “Pair trawl” shall mean any net including a trawl net, gill net or any type of seine net that is rigged for a type of fishing that involves towing the net with 2 or more vessels.
(51) “Parallel net” shall mean a gill net which is set across the mouth of a bay, arc of a beach or other restricted body of water. Finfish are gilled when the tide ebbs or flows.
(52) “Person” shall mean any individual, organization, group, business, partnership, corporation or any other type of entity.
(53) “Pound net” or “trap net” shall mean a type of entrapment gear that consists of an arrangement of netting or wire supported upon stakes or piles and has the head ropes or lines above the water or in a frame that is supported by floats and anchors. A pound net or trap net may consist of an enclosure known as the pound proper, crib or pocket which has a netting floor and section known as a heart, from the entrance of which a straight wall known as the leader or runner extends outward. There may be several combinations of hearts, pounds or pockets. Finfish are voluntarily directed by the leader towards and into the heart and/or pound, and then into the crib or pocket where they are removed periodically by various devices and methods, such as dip nets.
(54) “Power” shall mean any mechanical device operated by an engine, motor or other source of energy other than human muscle.
(55) “Purse seine” or “long net” shall mean an encircling type of net that consists of a long wall of webbing without a prominent bunt or bag. The top edge is floated with a series of floats and the bottom edge is weighted and has a drawstring which is threaded through a series of rings along the bottom of the net below the lead line. A purse seine may be set around a school of finfish by 1 or more vessels. Once the school of finfish has been completely encircled, the bottom of the net is pursed with the drawstring so that the weighted line is bunched or puckered.
(56) “Push net” shall mean a modification of the dip net. It is a shallow wire or netting mesh bag attached to a wooden or metal frame which has a handle. It is pushed over the bottom.
(57) “Recreational finfisher” shall mean any person who takes, catches, kills or reduces to possession any species of finfish taken from the tidal waters of this State by said person and who does not sell, trade or barter or attempt to sell, trade or barter said finfish.
(58) “Resident” shall mean any person who has continuously resided within this State for 1 year prior to the date in question.
(59) “Run around gill net” or “ring net” shall mean a gill net that is set around a school of finfish by 1 or more vessels. Finfish are gilled while seeking to escape the net.
(60) “Scottish seine” shall mean a trawl net that is rigged for a type of finfishing that involves herding the finfish with ropes prior to netting. It is similar to Danish seining but the vessel is moving when it retrieves the trawl net and is not anchored.
(61) “Secretary” shall mean the Secretary of the Department.
(62) “Semidrift gill net” shall mean a drift gill net that has 1 end attached to a stake or a vessel.
(63) “Spear” shall mean an instrument with 1 or more pointed barbed or barless prongs or blades that are not detachable from the handle or shaft of the instrument. It may be thrown by hand or propelled by a gun or mechanical device.
(64) “Staked gill net” shall mean a gill net held in place by stakes or poles which have been pushed or driven into the bottom.
(65) “Stop seine” or “stop net” shall mean any type of net, generally a haul seine, which is set across the mouth of a bay, arc of a beach or other restricted body of water that may cause finfish to be stranded behind the net when the tide ebbs.
(66) “Tidal water” shall mean those waters where the lunar tide regularly ebbs and flows.
(67) “Trammel net” shall mean a type of fishing gear that has 3 panels of netting which are suspended from a common float line and attached to a single bottom or weighted line. The 2 outside webs or walls of netting are of a larger mesh than the inside webbing. The inside net has a greater depth and hangs loosely between the outer panels of webbing. A finfish swimming from either side of the fishing gear passes through the larger mesh outer panel and strikes the smaller mesh middle panel and the finfish is carried through 1 of the openings of the other larger mesh panel, forming a sack or pocket in which the finfish is entrapped. A trammel net can be used to fish in ways that are similar to gill nets.
(68) “Trawl net” or “seine trawl” shall mean a bag, cone or funnel-shaped net with or without wings towed through the water or dragged over the bottom by 1 or more vessels or by motor power.
(69) “Troll line” or “troll lines” shall mean a fishing line or lines with 1 or more hooks at the free end of each line that is drawn or towed with a boat.
(70) “Vessel” shall mean any boat of any length or width.
(71) “Weir” shall mean any fixed type of fishing equipment that consists of fences made of wooden stakes or out of other materials constructed in such a manner so as to intercept or attempt to intercept finfish. The fences form successive enclosures called the heart, pound and pocket into which the finfish are directed by a prolonged fence known as a leader.