The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter,
shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
(1) Aquatic products--Any aquatic life, alive or dead,
uncooked, fresh or frozen, which is intended to be used for human
consumption or bait.
(2) Accelerator funnel--a device used to accelerate
the flow of water through a shrimp trawl.
(3) Bait bays--Bait bays are: major bays, Chocolate
Bay, West Bay south and west of Interstate Highway 45 Causeway bridge
and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway inclusive of the area south of
a line extending westward from the Interstate Highway 45 Causeway
bridge at Virginia Point, along the southern edge of Tiki Island to
the northeastern tip of North Deer Island at Channel Marker 48, Trinity
Bay northward from a line extending from the mouth of Double Bayou
in Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel Marker 14, to Separator
C-2, to Point Barrow, Chambers County, the Old Brazos River lying
north of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Brazoria County, Upper
Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, Alazan Bay, Baroom Bay, Lower Laguna Madre
including the Brownsville ship channel, and the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway exclusive of all tributaries.
(4) Bait-shrimp dealer--A person who operates an established
place of business in a coastal county of the state for compensation
or profit for the purpose of handling shrimp caught for use as bait
from the inside water of this state, but does not include a person
holding a wholesale fish dealer's license under Parks and Wildlife
Code, §47.009.
(5) Beam Trawl--A trawl, without wings, the mouth of
which is held open by a rigid beam of wood or metal.
(6) Bycatch Reduction Device (BRD)--a device installed
in the cod end (tail bag) of a shrimp trawl for the purpose of excluding
finfish from the net.
(7) Centerline--the seam that runs along the top center
of the trawl. In the absence of a seam, the centerline runs from the
center point of the length of the head rope to the furthest distance
on the top of the cod end of the trawl.
(8) Coastal waters--All the salt water of this state
(as defined in §65.3 of this title (relating to Definitions)),
including that portion of the Gulf of Mexico within the jurisdiction
of the state extending nine nautical miles from the Gulf shoreline.
(9) Cod end (Tailbag)--the end of a trawl which acts
as the receptacle for shrimp and other organisms caught in the net.
It is closed and secured, at the extreme end, with a line.
(10) Commercial bait shrimp boat--A boat that is required
to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United States or
of this state and that is used for the purpose of taking or attempting
to take shrimp for use as bait and other aquatic products from the
inside water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter,
or exchange.
(11) Commercial bay shrimp boat--A boat that is required
to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United States or
of this state and that is used for the purpose of taking or attempting
to take shrimp and other aquatic products from the inside water of
the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange.
(12) Commercial gulf shrimp boat--Any boat that is
required to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United
States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of taking
or attempting to take shrimp and other aquatic products from the outside
water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or
exchange, or from salt water outside the state for pay or for the
purpose of sale, barter, or exchange, and that unloads at a port or
other point in the state without having been previously unloaded in
another state or foreign country.
(13) Contiguous zone--That area of the Gulf of Mexico
lying adjacent to and offshore of the jurisdiction of the State of
Texas and in which shrimp of the Family Penaeidae are found.
(14) Individual bait-shrimp trawl--An otter trawl used
for the purpose of catching shrimp for personal use.
(15) Inside waters--All bays, inlets, outlets, passes,
rivers, streams, and other bodies of water landward from the shoreline
of the state along the Gulf of Mexico and contiguous to, or connected
with, but not a part of, the Gulf of Mexico and within which the tide
regularly rises and falls and in which saltwater shrimp are found
or into which saltwater shrimp migrate.
(16) Major bays--Major bays include the deeper, major
bay areas of the inside water, including Sabine Lake north of Cameron
Causeway to south of a line marked by the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
(Sabine Neches Canal/Sabine river) between the eastern most tip of
Goat Island to the western most tip of Stewts Island, Trinity Bay
southward from a line extending from the mouth of Double Bayou in
Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel Marker 14, to Separator C-2,
to Point Barrow, Chambers County, Galveston Bay, East Bay westward
from a line extending from Frozen Point to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Marker 12, Matagorda Bay (westward of a line extending from a location
on the mainland (where a line running immediately northwest (bearing
330 degrees) from Shellfish Marker A intersects the mainland) thence
southeasterly to Shellfish Marker A located near the mainland, thence
to Shellfish Marker B located near the end of Shell Island Reef, thence
to the tide gauge located near the Matagorda Peninsula, and thence
southeasterly (bearing 153 degrees) to the Matagorda Peninsula. East
Matagorda Bay, Tres Palacios Bay south of a line from Grassey Point
to the mouth of Pinkerton Bayou, Espiritu Santo Bay, Lavaca Bay southward
of State Highway 35, San Antonio Bay southward of a line from McDowell
Point to Mosquito Point, Aransas Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay exclusive
of the area bounded by a line extending from the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway at the southwest point of the Dagger Island chain, along
Dagger Island to the southeast tip of South Ransom Island, then southeast
to the westernmost point of land north of Marker 14 in the Corpus
Christi Ship Channel, all exclusive of tributary bays, bayous, and
inlets, lakes and rivers.
(17) Northern Shrimp Zone--That portion of outside
waters north of the Corpus Christi Fish Pass Jetties from a line formed
by Latitude 27° 40' 34" to the Texas-Louisiana border.
(18) Nursery areas--Includes tributary bays, bayous,
inlets, lakes, and rivers, which are proven to serve as significant
growth and development environments for postlarval and juvenile shrimp
not including the outside waters, major bays, or bait bays as defined
in this section.
(19) Otter Trawl--A funnel-shaped trawl, with wings,
the mouth of which is held open by floats and weights and spread by
trawl doors fastened to the wings.
(20) Outside waters--All the salt water of the state
contiguous to and seaward from the shoreline of the state along the
Gulf of Mexico as the shoreline is projected and extended in a continuous
and unbroken line, following the contours of the shoreline, across
bays, inlets, outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of
water; and that portion of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the shoreline
seaward and within the jurisdiction of the state.
(21) Permanent structure--A building designed, planned,
and constructed so as to remain at one location.
(22) Place of business--A permanent structure on the
mainland or a barrier island where aquatic products or orders for
aquatic products are received, or where aquatic products are sold
or purchased, but does not include a vehicle, a boat, or any type
of floating device, a public cold storage vault, or the portion of
a structure that is used as a residence.
(23) Possess--The act of having in possession or control,
keeping, detaining, restraining or holding.
(24) Second offense and third and subsequent offenses--Offenses
for which convictions have been obtained within three years prior
to the date of the offense charged.
(25) Shrimping--The taking or attempting to take shrimp
from the public waters of this state.
(26) Shrimp house operator--A person who operates a
shrimp house, plant, or other establishment for compensation or profit
for the purpose of unloading and handling, from commercial gulf shrimp
boats or commercial bay shrimp boats, fresh shrimp and other edible
aquatic products caught or taken from the coastal water of the state
or from salt water outside the state and brought into the state without
having been previously unloaded in another state or foreign country,
but does not include a person holding a wholesale fish dealer's license
under Parks and Wildlife Code, §47.009.
(27) Southern Shrimp Zone--That portion of outside
waters south of the Corpus Christi Fish Pass Jetties from a line formed
by Latitude 27° 40' 34" southward to the Texas-Mexico border.
(28) Tailbag (Cod end)--the end of a trawl which acts
as the receptacle for shrimp and other organisms caught in the net.
It is closed and secured, at the extreme end, with a line.
(29) Trawl--A beam trawl or otter trawl with a bag-shaped
net which is used to catch shrimp.
(30) Turtle Excluder Device (TED)--a device designed
to be installed in a shrimp trawl forward of the cod end (tail bag)
for the purpose of excluding sea turtles from the net and that meets
the dimensions and specifications of an approved device as described
in 50 CFR Part 223 §223.207 on August 13, 2012.
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