GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999

SENATE BILL 1047
RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE TAKING OF SHELLFISH WITHIN ONE HUNDRED FIFTY FEET OF A PUBLICALLY OWNED PIER BENEATH WHICH THE DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES HAS DEPOSITED CULTCH MATERIAL.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 113-207 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113-207.  Taking shellfish from certain areas forbidden; penalty.
(a)	To the extent that funds are available, the Department shall post oyster rocks or appropriate landing sites to forbid the taking of clams upon such rocks by use of rakes or tongs or any other device which will disturb or damage the oysters thereon.  As used in this section, 'oyster rocks' mean those rocks in the coastal fishing waters upon which oysters grow.
(b)	It is unlawful for any person to take clams on oyster rocks posted by the Department by use of rakes, tongs, or any other device which will disturb or damage the oysters growing thereon.  This section will not apply to the taking of clams by signing.  
(c)	It is unlawful for any person to take shellfish within 150 feet of any part of a publically owned pier beneath which the Division of Marine Fisheries has deposited cultch material.
(d)	A person who violates this section is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor."
Section 2.  This act becomes effective September 1, 1999, and applies to violations occurring on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of May, 1999.

	─────────────────── 
	Dennis A. Wicker
	President of the Senate

	─────────────────── 
	James B. Black
	Speaker of the House of Representatives

	─────────────────── 
	James B. Hunt, Jr.
	Governor

Approved 	.m. this 	 day of 	, 19