[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR640.22]

[Page 271-272]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 640--SPINY LOBSTER FISHERY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND SOUTH ATLANTIC--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart B--Management Measures
 
Sec. 640.22  Gear and diving restrictions.

    (a) Prohibited gear and methods. (1) A spiny lobster may not be 
taken in the EEZ with a spear, hook, or similar device, or gear 
containing such devices. In the EEZ, the possession of a speared, 
pierced, or punctured spiny lobster is prima facie evidence that 
prohibited gear was used to take such lobster. Hook, as used in this 
paragraph (a)(1), does not include a hook in a hook-and-line fishery for 
species other than spiny lobster; and possession of a spiny lobster that 
has been speared, pierced,

[[Page 272]]

or punctured by such hook is not considered evidence that prohibited 
gear was used to take the spiny lobster, provided no prohibited gear is 
on board the vessel.
    (2) A spiny lobster may not be taken in a directed fishery by the 
use of a net or trawl. See Sec. 640.23(d) for the bycatch limits 
applicable to a vessel that uses or has on board a net or trawl.
    (3) Poisons and explosives may not be used to take a spiny lobster 
or slipper lobster in the EEZ. For the purposes of this paragraph 
(a)(3), chlorine, bleach, and similar substances, which are used to 
flush a spiny lobster out of rocks or coral, are poisons. A vessel in 
the spiny lobster or slipper lobster fishery may not possess on board in 
the EEZ any dynamite or similar explosive substance.
    (b) Traps. (1) In the EEZ, a spiny lobster trap may be no larger in 
dimension than 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet (91.4 cm by 61.0 cm by 61.0 
cm), or the volume equivalent. A trap constructed of material other than 
wood must have a panel constructed of wood, cotton, or other material 
that will degrade at the same rate as a wooden trap. Such panel must be 
located in the upper half of the sides or on top of the trap, so that, 
when removed, there will be an opening in the trap no smaller than the 
diameter found at the throat or entrance of the trap.
    (2) A spiny lobster trap in the EEZ may be pulled or tended during 
daylight hours only, that is, from 1 hour before official sunrise to 1 
hour after official sunset.
    (3) A spiny lobster trap in the EEZ may be pulled or tended only by 
the owner's vessel, or by a vessel for which permission to pull or work 
traps belonging to another person has been granted--
    (i) For traps in the EEZ off Florida, by the Florida Division of Law 
Enforcement, Department of Environmental Protection, in accordance with 
the procedures in Rule 46-24.006(7), Florida Administrative Code, in 
effect as of June 1, 1994. This incorporation by reference was approved 
by the Director of the Office of the Federal Register in accordance with 
5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies may be obtained from the 
Florida Marine Fisheries Commission, 2540 Executive Center Circle West, 
Suite 106, Tallahassee, FL 32301; telephone: 904-487-0554. Copies may be 
inspected at the Office of the Regional Director; the Office of 
Fisheries Conservation and Management, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD; or the Office of the Federal Register, 800 North 
Capitol Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC.
    (ii) For traps in the EEZ, other than off Florida, by the Regional 
Director, as may be arranged upon written request.

[57 FR 56520, Nov. 30, 1992, as amended at 58 FR 38980, July 21, 1993; 
60 FR 41831, Aug. 14, 1995]