J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                     1245

therefor. If the decision of the Department is to close the area in
question, a notice of the date of the closing shall be published for
one week prior thereto in the newspaper bearing the notice of the
hearing. Any person may, by way of appeal from the decision of
the Department ex officio as aforesaid, file petition in the circuit
court of the county, at any time until expiration of thirty days from
the notice of the final determination as aforesaid, and the same pro-
ceedings shall be had as set forth in this section by trial of the circuit
court, de novo and with the same right of appeal from the decision
of the said circuit court.]

[(e)] (c) After closing an area the Department of [Tide-
water Fisheries] Chesapeake Bay Affairs is authorized to reopen
said area whenever, in the judgment of said Department, such re-
opening is advisable. An area shall be reopened by notice of such
reopening published in the same newspaper or newspapers that pub-
lished the notice or notices of closing; provided, however, no area
shall be reopened until a lapse of forty-eight hours from the publica-
tion of the notice of reopening. [The Department of Tidewater
Fisheries shall have authority to close immediately by oral or written
notification to tongers or dredgers any area which has been re-
opened.]

[(e-1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section the De-
partment is authorized with the approval of the county oyster ad-
visory committees established under this section to close without
the holding of a hearing and for a temporary period not to exceed
thirty (30) days any natural oyster bar whenever in the judgment of
the Department such action is necessary or desirable to increase
the productivity of the bar, provided, however, that procedures for
holding a public hearing prescribed in subsections (c) and (d) shall
be initiated within one week after the temporary closing of any
natural oyster bar.]

[(f) Any area which has been closed and on which the De-
partment of Tidewater Fisheries has planted seed oysters or any
area in the Chesapeake Bay dredging territory on which said De-
partment has planted either oysters, shell, or other cultch shall,
upon reopening, have a special tax levied against all oysters caught
upon such area. Said special tax shall be for the purpose of recovering
the expenses of planting said area and shall be at the rate of not less
than ten cents (10¢) per bushel nor more than twenty cents (20¢)
per bushel, said tax to be in addition to any other tax imposed by
law, and to be paid to the Department of Tidewater Fisheries by the
buyer at the place where such oysters are to be no farther shipped
in bulk vessels; provided, however, no such special tax shall be im-
posed upon oysters caught on any area unless the Department of
Tidewater Fisheries shall have planted shells, oysters, or other
cultch thereon as herein provided.

Upon the opening of any reserved area, any buyboat or any person
licensed to take or catch oysters in the Chesapeake Bay may resort to
any such area for the purpose of taking oysters or for the purpose of
buying oysters taken during the period when such area is open; pro-
vided, however, that any such person who takes or catches oysters
from any such reserved area or any person who resorts to any re-
served area for the purpose of buying oysters, shall each day, before
leaving such reserved area, procure a certificate from an officer of