(a) No person may engage in cultivated oyster mariculture
in this state unless that person either:
(1) physically possesses a valid permit issued by the
department authorizing the activity; or
(2) is acting as a subpermittee as provided in this
subchapter.
(b) A Cultivated Oyster Mariculture Permit (COMP) authorizes
a person to purchase, receive, grow, and sell cultivated oysters.
(c) A Cultivated Oyster Mariculture Permit--Nursery
Only (nursery permit) authorizes a person to purchase, receive, and
grow oyster seed and larvae, and sell oyster seed to a COMP permittee.
(d) No person may conduct an activity authorized by
a permit issued under this subchapter at any location other than the
location specified by the permit.
(e) The period of validity for a permit issued under
this subchapter is 10 years, subject to the limitations of this subchapter.
(f) Unless otherwise specifically authorized in writing
be the department, one year from the date of issuance of a COMP and
by the anniversary of the date of issuance for each year thereafter,
the permittee must provide evidence to the department's satisfaction
that at least 100,000 oyster seed per acre of permitted area has been
planted.
(g) Unless otherwise specifically authorized by the
department in writing, cultivated oyster mariculture is restricted
to seed and larvae from native Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
broodstock collected in Texas waters and propagated in a hatchery
located in Texas.
(1) The department may authorize a person permitted
under this subchapter to, on or before December 31, 2027, import:
(A) triploid, tetraploid seed, larvae, and or semen/eggs
(germplasm) produced in permitted out-of-state hatcheries located
along the Gulf of Mexico for use in cultivated oyster mariculture
in this state; and/or
(B) seed, larvae semen/eggs (germplasm) produced from
Texas broodstock at out-of-state hatcheries located along the Gulf
of Mexico for use in cultivated oyster mariculture in this state.
(2) A department authorization made under the provisions
of this subsection must be in writing and provide for any permit conditions
the department deems necessary.
(3) The department will not authorize the possession
of any oyster, larvae, or oyster seed that the department has determined,
in the context of the prospective activity, represents a threat to
any native oyster population, including to genetic identity.
(h) The department may:
(1) inspect any permitted area, facility, infrastructure,
container, vessel, or vehicle used to engage in cultivated oyster
mariculture;
(2) sample any oyster in a permitted area, facility,
container, vessel, or vehicle used to engage in cultivated oyster
mariculture in order to determine genetic lineage; and
(3) specify any permit provisions deemed necessary.
(i) The holder of a COMP or nursery permit must notify
the department within 24 hours of the:
(1) discovery of any disease condition within a permitted
area; and
(2) discovery of any condition, manmade or natural,
that creates a threat of the unintentional release of stock or larvae.
(3) The requirements of this subsection do not apply
to the discovery of dermo (Perkinosis, Perkinsus
marinus).
(j) The department may take any action it considers
appropriate, including ordering the removal of all stock and larvae
from a permitted area or facility and the cessation of permitted activities,
upon:
(1) a determination that a disease condition other
than dermo (Perkinsosis, Perkinsus marinus) exists;
or
(2) the suspension or revocation by a federal or state
entity of a permit or authorization required under §58.355 of
this title (relating to Permit Application).
(k) The department may order the suspension of any
or all permitted activities, including the removal of all stock and
larvae from a permitted area or facility, upon determining that a
permittee is not compliant with any provision of this subchapter,
which suspension shall remain in effect until the deficiency is remedied
and the department authorizes resumption of permitted activities in
writing.
(l) Size limit.
(1) No person may remove or cause the removal of any
oyster less than 2.5 inches in length (measured along the greatest
length of the shell) from a COMP permitted area.
(2) Oysters greater than one inch in length (as measured
along the greatest length of the shell) produced under a nursery permit
in waters classified as a Restricted Area must be transferred to a
DSHS-approved depuration area and held in that depuration area for
a minimum of 120 days before harvest.
(3) No person may remove or cause the removal of oysters
obtained by a COMP from a nursery facility located in waters classified
as a Prohibited or Restricted Area until a minimum of 120 days following
the date of transfer to the COMP.
(m) Harvest of oysters under this subchapter is unlawful
between sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise.
(n) Except as may be specifically provided otherwise
in this section, activities authorized by a permit issued under this
subchapter shall be conducted only by the permittee or subpermittee
named on the permit.
(1) A permittee may designate subpermittees to perform
permitted activities in the absence of the permittee.
(2) At all times that a subpermittee is conducting
permitted activities, the subpermittee shall possess on their person:
(A) a legible copy of the appropriate permit under
which the activity is being performed; and
(B) a completed subpermittee authorization. The subpermittee
authorization shall be on a form provided or approved by the department
and shall be signed and dated by both the permittee and the subpermittee.
(3) It is an offense for a permittee to allow any permitted
activity to be performed by a person not listed with the department
as a subpermittee as required under this subsection.
(4) A permittee and subpermittee are jointly liable
for violations of this subchapter or the provisions of a permit issued
under this subchapter.
(o) A permittee shall, prior to the placement of any
infrastructure within a permitted area located in or on public water:
(1) mark the boundaries of the permitted area with
buoys or other permanent markers and continuously maintain the markers
until the termination of the permit. All marker, buoys, or other permanent
markers must:
(A) be at least six inches in diameter;
(B) extend at least three feet above the water at mean
high tide;
(C) be of a shape and color that is visible for at
least one half-mile under conditions that do not constitute restricted
visibility; and
(D) be marked with the permit identifier assigned by
the department to the permitted area, in characters at least two inches
high, in a location where it will not be obscured by water or marine
growth; and
(2) install safety lights and signals required by applicable
federal regulations, including regulations of the United States Coast
Guard (U.S.C.G.) must be installed and functional. A permittee shall
repair or otherwise restore to functionality any light or signal within
24 hours of notification by the U.S.C.G or the department.
(p) Permits shall not be transferred or sold.
(q) Permittees must remove, at the expense of the permittee,
all containers, enclosures and associated infrastructure from public
waters within 60 calendar days of permit expiration or revocation.
(r) A valid gear tag must be attached to each piece
of component infrastructure (e.g., containers, cages, bags, sacks,
totes, trays, nursery structures) within a permitted area. The gear
tag must bear the name and address of the permittee and the permit
identifier of the permitted area. The information on a gear tag must
be legible.
(s) It is unlawful for any person to remove or cause
the removal of oysters from a COMP area for purposes of delivery and
sale unless the oysters are in a container that has been tagged in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the NSSP concerning shellstock
identification, and this subchapter. In addition to the tagging requirements
imposed by the NSSP, the tag must clearly identify the destination,
by permit identifier and/or business name and physical address, to
which the shellstock is to be delivered.
(t) Except as provided by subsection (s) of this section
for oysters transported for delivery and sale, it is unlawful for
any person to possess oyster seed or larvae outside of a permitted
area unless the person also possesses a completed Oyster Seed Transport
Document.
(1) An Oyster Seed Transport Document must:
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