Delaware General Assembly

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 25, PART II, TITLE 7, DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO LOBSTERS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware (two-thirds of all Members elected to each Branch thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. § 2501, Chapter 25, Part H, Title 7, Delaware Code, is repealed.

Section 2. Chapter 25, Part II, Title 7, Delaware Code, is amended by inserting therein the following Sections to read as follows:

(a) No person shall catch and take, or attempt to catch and take, lobster from the waters of this State in any manner whatsoever between the first day of September in each year and the last day of April thence next ensuing, or between the hours of two o'clock P. M. of every Saturday and twelve o'clock midnight of the Sunday next ensuing.

(b) No person shall catch and take or attempt to catch and take lobster from the waters aforesaid by means of any device other than a lobster pot or trap, or set; use or fish in said waters at one time more than 50 such lobster pots or traps, or to connect together by means of a trawl line or in any manner, or at any time, two or more of said lobster pots.

§ 2502. Legal size limits; spawning lobsters; violations and penalty

No person shall take in any manner whatsoever from the public waters of this State, including the waters of the Atlantic Ocean within three nautical miles of the coast line, or have in his possession any lobster measuring less than 3-1/8 inches measured from the rear end of the eye socket along a line parallel

to the center line of the body shell to the rear of the body shell, or any spawning lobster.

No person shall take, possess, sell, possess for sale, or offer for sale, any lobster measuring less than 3-1/8 inches as specified in this Section, whether caught within the jurisdictional limits of this State or otherwise.

Whoever violates the provisions of this Section, shall be fined not more than $5 for each lobster taken, possessed, sold, possessed for sale or offered for sale, or imprisoned not more than 15 days for each such offense.

Lobsters of any kind shall not be taken, by any non-resident of this State or alien, from the waters of this State at any time or in any way.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of this Chapter, unless otherwise specifically provided shall be fined not less than $20 and costs for each offense and failing to pay forthwith any such fine, together with the costs of prosecution, unless an appeal be taken, shall be imprisoned for not more than 30 days, unless the fine and costs are sooner paid. For any violation by an alien or non-resident of this State, the minimum fine for each offense shall be $50, together with the costs of prosecution.

Note: The first 2 paragraphs of § 2502 have been codified as § 2502 (a) and (b), respectfully. The last paragraph of § 2502 has been codified as § 2504 (a), title 7, Delaware Code.