WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                         Ch. 227

(II) ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 1995, FOR ANY MANNER OF CATCHES,
NOT LESS THAN THE SIZE LIMITS PROMULGATED BY THE DEPARTMENT IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN ADOPTED UNDER § 4-215
OF THIS TITLE;

(4)     Yellow perch less than 8 inches, if caught other than by hook or line;

(5)     Pike or walleyed pike less than 14 inches;

(6)     Weakfish less than 10 inches;

(7)     Spotted sea trout less than 12 inches;

(8)     Striped bass, less than 14 inches in length or measuring more than 32
inches. However, a person may possess one striped bass over 32 inches per day caught
with hook and line in the tidal waters of the State at any time of the year except from
March 1 to April 30 inclusive, which may not be sold or offered for sale. In any year that
the young-of-the-year striped bass index exceeds 15, the Department may permit by
regulation during the 12-month period beginning April 1 of the following year, the
possession, sale, or offer for sale of striped bass 12 inches in length;

(9)     Sturgeon weighing less than 25 pounds;

(10)   Taylor or bluefish less than 8 inches;

(11)   Summer flounder less than 13 inches except that an amount of
undersized fish not greater than 5 percent of a vessel's load by number, as indicated by a
sample of not less than 200 fish, may be retained by licensed commercial fishermen; and

(12)   Red drum or channel bass less than 14 inches. A person may not possess
more than 2 red drum or channel bass over 32 inches total length each, per day.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Department of
Natural Resources shall undertake studies of croaker harvest and population dynamics to
enhance management of the species. These shall include studies of the availability of
different sizes of croakers, recreational and commercial harvests, the proportion of legal
to sublegal croakers, the survival rate of sublegal croakers that are caught by hook and
line and released, and the percentage of croakers that are sexually mature at various
lengths. The Department of Natural Resources shall report the results of these studies to
the General Assembly by January 1, 1995 in the form of the annual report required by §
4-215 of the Natural Resources Article and to the Chesapeake Bay Program Living
Resources Subcommittee for their consideration in amending the Atlantic Croakers and
Spot Management Plan.

SECTION 2. 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take
effect October 1, 1993 June 1, 1993 is an emergency measure, is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public health and safety, has been passed by a yea and nay vote supported
by three-fifths of all the members elected to each of the two Houses of the General Assembly,
and shall take effect from the date it is enacted.

Approved May 11, 1993.

- 1581 -