27-4-204. Identification tag required for mariculture cage.

Code 1981, § 27-4-204, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 619, § 1/HB 501; Ga. L. 2024, p. 429, § 9/HB 244, effective July 1, 2024.

This Code section became effective May 6, 2019, for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations necessary to administer the provisions of this Act and became effective on March 1, 2020, for all other purposes.

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, rewrote this Code section, which read: “(a) The first time that a person obtains or renews a shellfish mariculture permit, he or she shall obtain a permit from the department establishing the maximum number of cages that may be deployed at any given time during that license year. Such permits shall be issued in 25 cage increments. The permittee shall pay a fee of $1.00 per cage for the permit, and the permit shall be for the same duration and shall be renewed at the same time as the shellfish mariculture permit. Containers used for the mariculture of clams shall be exempt from this subsection. “(b)(1) No cage permit may be amended to permit the use of more cages except at the time of permit renewal. The permittee, or his or her agent or employee if the permittee is not actively harvesting, shall have the cage permit in his or her possession at all times while harvesting. “(2) It shall be unlawful for any permittee or a person designated by such permittee as provided in Code Section 27-4-202 to employ more cages than the number allowed by the cage permit at any time. “(c) It shall be unlawful to set or place in the salt waters of this state any shellfish mariculture cage which does not have attached to it the identification assigned by the department to the permittee. The identification shall be assigned by the department to the permittee when such permittee is issued his or her shellfish mariculture permit. For subsequent years, the same identification shall be assigned to such permittee.” See Editor’s notes for applicability.

Ga. L. 2024, p. 429, § 11/HB 244, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that, for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations, the amendments to this Code section became effective April 25, 2024.