April 19, 2010
Vol. 40, No. 116

For more information, contact Craig Shirey, 302-739-9914, or Rick Cole, 302-735-2960, Fisheries Section, or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Oyster regulations to be topic of April 29 public hearing

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Thursday April 29 regarding proposed amendments to the Delaware Shellfish Regulations concerning oyster tags. The hearing will be held in DNREC’s auditorium, Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

The first proposed change would require that oyster tags remain in place on oyster containers while being transported for processing and until the containers are opened or emptied by a processor. Processors would be required to retain removed tags for a period of 90 days beyond the end of the calendar year.

The second proposed change would make it unlawful to process oysters aboard a harvest vessel. Possession of broken or used tags aboard a harvesting vessel also would be made unlawful. The terms “processing” and “processor” are defined in the proposed amendments.

Written comments about the proposed changes may be sent to the Fisheries Section, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. Comments may also be emailed to Rick Cole, Fisheries Section, at richard.cole@state.de.us or to DNREC Hearing Officer Lisa Vest at lisa.vest@state.de.us. The record will remain open for written or email comments until 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 30, 2010.

The proposed amendments are available for review on the DNREC website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/Fisheries/Documents/Proposed_2010_oyster_harvest_regulations.pdf.