Georgia Code
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 27-1-2. Definitions

As used in this title, the term:
(1.1) “Alligator” means Alligator mississippiensis, commonly known as the American alligator.
(5.1) “Bait shrimp cast net” means a cast net constructed of a minimum of three-eighths inch bar mesh.
(10.1) “Cast net” means a cone shaped net thrown and retrieved by hand without mechanical assistance and designed to spread out and capture fish and shrimp as the weighted circumference sinks to the bottom and comes together when pulled by a line.
(27.1) “Farmed deer” means fallow deer (Dama dama), axis deer (Axis axis), sika deer (Cervus nippon), red deer and elk (Cervus elaphus), and reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and hybrids between these farmed deer species raised for the commercial sale of meat and other parts or for the sale of live animals.
(29.1) “Food shrimp cast net” means:
(29.2) “Fresh-water turtle” means any turtle or its eggs within the families Chelydridae, Emydidae (excluding Malaclemys terrapin and Terrapene carolina), Kinosternidae, and Trionychidae.
(40.1) “License” means any document, decal, stamp, permit, or temporary license identification number which authorizes the holder to participate in any activity regulated by the department and which is issued by the department; provided, however, that a temporary license number shall be a valid license for ten days from the date of issuance.
(61.1) “Salt water fishing guide” means a person engaged in the occupation of taking fee-paying anglers fishing in the salt waters of this state.
(61.2) “Salt water fishing pier” means a permanent structure built and maintained for the purpose of providing fishing access in the salt waters of this state and associated with a hotel or motel.
(63.1) “Seafood dealer” means any person other than the consumer who purchases, ships, consigns, transfers, barters, accepts, maintains, or packs any marine fishery products received from commercial seafood harvesters or marine aquaculturists for the first time.
(65.1) “Shellfish” means common bivalve mollusks which includes all edible species of oysters, clams, mussels, or other bivalves.
(65.2) “Shellfish management area” means a wildlife management area where shellfish are managed by the state or lessees for the propagation of shellfish.
(71.1) “Ten-foot net” means a trawl with a cork line not to exceed ten feet from tie-to-tie between the first and last mesh across the mouth of the net, a lead line not to exceed 13 feet from tie-to-tie between the first and last mesh across the mouth of the net, and leg lines of equal length. No webbing shall extend toward the door beyond the original brail lines which run vertically between the first tie at each end of the cork line and the first tie at each end of the lead line.
(72.1) “Twenty-foot net” means a trawl with a cork line not to exceed 20 feet from tie-to-tie between the first and last mesh across the mouth of the net, a lead line not to exceed 25 feet from tie-to-tie between the first and last mesh across the mouth of the net, and leg lines of equal length. No webbing shall extend toward the doors beyond the original brail lines which run vertically between the first tie at each end of the cork line and the first tie at each end of the lead line.
History. Ga. L. 1911, p. 142, § 11; Ga. L. 1912, p. 113, § 4; Ga. L. 1925, p. 304, § 7; Code 1933, §§ 45-301, 45-328; Ga. L. 1937, p. 675, § 7; Ga. L. 1937-38, Ex. Sess., p. 332, § 4; Ga. L. 1955, p. 483, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 974, § 1; Ga. L. 1961, p. 515, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 497, § 2; Ga. L. 1969, p. 812, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 236, § 1; Ga. L. 1973, p. 274, § 2; Ga. L. 1973, p. 897, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 771, § 1; Code 1933, § 45-102, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1270, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 816, §§ 1-6; Ga. L. 1979, p. 420, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1979, p. 678, §§ 1-12; Ga. L. 1979, p. 800, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 893, §§ 1-3; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1094, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1981, p. 798, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 913, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1047, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1460, § 3; Ga. L. 1988, p. 848, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1207, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1579, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 693, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 27; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1507, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1636, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2863, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 779, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 600, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1742, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 244, § 30; Ga. L. 1995, p. 543, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 946, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 980, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1395, § 3; Ga. L. 1998, p. 783, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1133, §§ 1, 2, 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 27; Ga. L. 2001, p. 323, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1013, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 140, § 27; Ga. L. 2003, p. 654, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 948, § 2-2; Ga. L. 2007, p. 91, § 1/HB 81; Ga. L. 2007, p. 93, §§ 1, 2/HB 100; Ga. L. 2010, p. 952, § 1/SB 474; Ga. L. 2013, p. 611, § 1/HB 36; Ga. L. 2013, p. 771, § 3/HB 155; Ga. L. 2014, p. 85, § 1/HB 740; Ga. L. 2016, p. 432, § 2/HB 840; Ga. L. 2017, p. 27, § 1/HB 208; Ga. L. 2021, p. 105, § 2-1/HB 362.
The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, substituted “has lived any part of its life in a wild, free-ranging state and is currently in such state or has been taken” for “is normally considered domestic but which is living in a wild state and cannot be claimed in private ownership” in paragraph (28). See Editor’s notes for applicability.
The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, in paragraph (60), substituted “subparagraph (c)(4)(A) of Code Section 27-2-3.1” for “paragraph (5) of subsection (e) of Code Section 27-2-3.1” twice and inserted “or discounted” in the last sentence; and added paragraph (63.1). See Editor’s note for applicability.
The 2021 amendment, effective April 27, 2021, substituted the present provisions of subparagraph (36)(A) for the former provisions, which read: “(A) Bass:
“(i) Largemouth bass;
“(ii) Smallmouth bass;
“(iii) White bass;
“(iv) Striped bass;
“(v) Spotted bass;
“(vi) Redeye (Coosa) bass;
“(vii) Striped-white bass hybrid;
“(viii) Shoal bass (Flint River smallmouth); and
“(ix) Suwannee bass;”; deleted “and” at the end of division (36)(B)(ii), added “and” at the end of division (36)(B)(iii), and added division (36)(B)(iv); and substituted “brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and any hybrids of these species” for “rainbow, brook, and brown trout” in paragraph (44).
Cross references.
Recreational fishing for shrimp, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources, Saltwater Fishing Regulations, § 391-2-4-.06.
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1995, the “S” at the beginning of “sunfish” was lower cased in divisions (36)(E)(v) and (vi).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1997, “farmed deer” was substituted for “farmed-deer” in paragraph (27.1).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2016, p. 432, § 6/HB 840, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2016, and shall apply to all offenses occurring on or after such date.”
Ga. L. 2017, p. 27, § 20/HB 208, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment of this Code section by that Act shall be applicable to all offenses occurring on or after July 1, 2017.
Ga. L. 2019, p. 919, § 1-1, repealed the provisions of the Georgia Pacific White Shrimp Development Aquaculture Act, effective July 1, 2019. As a result, the amendment by Ga. L. 2004, p. 948, § 2-2, which was never funded and therefore remained dormant, is now moot.
Law reviews.
For article on principles of water law in the southeast, see 13 Mercer L. Rev. 344 (1962).
For note, “Regulation of Artificial Lakes and Recreational Subdivisions in Georgia,” recommending methods for future regulation, see 8 Ga. St. B.J. 580 (1972).
For note on the 2001 amendment to this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 129 (2001).
For annual survey on workers’ compensation, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 463 (2007).