2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 50 - Fish, Game and Watercraft
Chapter 5 - MARINE RESOURCES ACT
Section 50-5-505 - Net use requirements and restrictions; mariculture impoundment net use permit.

(A) A gill net used in the salt waters of this State must have at least one end buoy, international orange in color, which shows the name and license number of the owner. The operator of a gill net must be within five hundred feet of the net and have visual contact with the net at all times when deployed.

(B) A trotline used in the inshore salt waters of this State must have at least one end buoy, international orange in color, which shows the name and license number of the owner. Recreational trotlines must be marked by the name and address of the owner in lieu of a license number. Any trotline used in the territorial sea must be marked with a buoy not less than twenty inches in diameter at each end, international orange in color, which floats in a manner to be clearly visible at all times.

(C) A haul seine greater than one hundred feet in length must be marked with buoys, international orange in color, not less than twenty inches in diameter, which float in a manner to be clearly visible at all times.

(D) No haul seine may be set within five hundred yards of any public fishing pier.

(E) A buoy must be attached to the float line of any haul seine every three hundred feet, and a buoy must be attached to each end of any haul seine.

(F) No haul seine may be set, hauled, or both, for a period exceeding one and one-half hours without being fully returned to the beach.

(G) The department may grant a permit to the owner of a mariculture impoundment or his authorized agent, either of whom must be a licensed commercial saltwater fisherman, to attach a net on the downstream side or outside of the outlet to harvest fish exiting the impoundment. The department may place conditions on the permit as to season, type of equipment, and times.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 245, Section 3; 2002 Act No. 342, Section 19.