LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, JR., Governor Ch. 413
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Chapter 413
(House Bill 644)
AN ACT concerning
Cecil County – Fishing – Restrictions
FOR the purpose of adding Cecil County to a list of counties to which certain riparian laws
do not apply; prohibiting a person from placing nets or establishing a certain fishery
for a certain purpose in certain waters of Cecil County; repealing certain fishing
restrictions that apply in Cecil County; and generally relating to fishing in Cecil
County.
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Article – Natural Resources
Section 4–712 and 4–717
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2018 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement)
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article – Natural Resources
4–712.
(a) The owner, tenant, or lessee of any property bordering on tidal waters of the
tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, except the waters of the Great Choptank River, lying in
the State, by virtue of his ownership or occupancy, may make first choice of the set or
position to place nets or establish a haul seine fishery to catch fish for commercial use in
front of the property for which he possesses riparian rights. The section does not permit
any riparian owner or anyone acquiring the right of a riparian owner to fish with nets or
seine in any manner prohibited by this subtitle.
(b) In any year, any other person may set any net or haul seine in front of the
property of a riparian property owner if the owner, tenant, or lessee of the riparian rights
does not exercise the privilege of locating the position where he desires to set his nets or
haul seine within 20 days after receiving notice from the other person who desires to locate
his nets or fishery in front of the riparian owner’s property.
(c) The notice required by this section shall be mailed to the owner, tenant, or
lessee of the shore property. If the name and address are unknown, then notice shall be
posted for 20 days on a board fastened to a stake driven in the water directly in front of the
property and within 300 feet of the shore.
Ch. 413 2022 LAWS OF MARYLAND
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(d) This section does not grant by reason of the notice any right to any fisherman
to fish without the permission of the shore owner in water within 1500 feet of any shore
used as a resort so as to interfere with bathing or boating.
(e) (1) The notice provisions of this section do not apply in the waters of
Baltimore, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, and Talbot counties
where the permission of the shore owner always shall be necessary.
(2) The provisions of this section do not apply to Anne Arundel, Calvert,
CECIL, Queen Anne’s, Kent, and Somerset counties.
4–717.
[(a)] A person may not [set a pound net or stake net] PLACE POUND NETS OR
ESTABLISH A HAUL SEINE FISHERY TO CATCH FISH FOR CO MMERCIAL USE in the
waters of the Susquehanna River in Cecil County.
[(b) Unless the written consent of the owner is first obtained, a person may not set
any pound net opposite the shore of any owner of land bordering on the waters of the Elk,
Bohemia or Sassafras rivers and their tributaries, and on the water of the North East River
from Turkey Point to the River’s Head, or any part of it within the limits of Cecil County.
A person, unless he is the owner of the fishing shore, may not set a pound net so that it
obstructs the hauling of any seine on an established fishing shore on these waters.
(c) A person may not catch fish by means of hook and line in the tidal waters of
the following tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in Cecil County, Mill Creek, Furnace Bay,
North East River, Elk River, or Bohemia River two days prior to and extending until the
closing day of the regular ducking season as promulgated by the Department of Interior of
the United States. This subsection does not prohibit ice fishing at any time nor catching
fish by means of hook and line from the shore line, docks, or wharves, or fishing by any
means on Sundays during the regular ducking season.
(d) A person may not set any net within 200 yards of the beach on the Turkey
Point section of Elk Neck State Park. The area that is restricted by this subsection shall be
set off with buoys by the Department.]
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July
1, 2022.
Approved by the Governor, May 16, 2022.