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DNR clarifies shellfish application expirations and blue-crab license verification; committee advances both regs
Summary
Department of Natural Resources staff told the committee they will deem shellfish culture permit applications expired after one year without applicant response and will use wholesale dealer reports to verify blue-crab license eligibility on a three-year cycle; both items were advanced to the Senate calendar unanimously.
Blake Kepler, Deputy Director for the Marine Resources Division of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, presented two regulatory clarifications: doc. 5,439 would allow the agency to deem shellfish-culture and mariculture permit applications expired if an applicant does not respond to a request for additional information within a year; doc. 5,440 clarifies that wholesale dealer reports will serve as the primary verifiable documentation to determine blue-crab license renewal eligibility during the three-year review period established by statute.
Kepler told the committee DNR currently has three shellfish permit applications pending for more than a year where the agency requested additional information and received no response. He said the intent is not to automatically remove applicants if the agency has not issued a decision within 12 months, but rather to close applications after a year of unanswered requests for additional information.
Senators asked whether shellfish permits include reciprocity with neighboring states for products such as shrimp, clams and oysters; Kepler said the shellfish rules under discussion apply only to South Carolina waters and that DNR does not have reciprocity for molluscan shellfish with other states.
On blue-crab licensing, Kepler said a statutory three-year harvest-review period will continue and that DNR intends to rely on wholesale dealer reports as the standard verifiable documentation for meeting landing thresholds. Senators asked about DNR’s ability to enforce trap-density rules in areas like Adams Cut and the (transcribed) 'Ashupu' River; Kepler said DNR law enforcement has made some recent cases and will provide details.
The committee moved both regulatory items to the Senate calendar by unanimous vote.
What’s next: DNR will provide follow-up details on the number of enforcement cases and clarify operational procedures for permitting timelines and documentation used in the three-year crab-licensing review.
