Sec. 77.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Coastal water" means all the salt water of this state, including that portion of the Gulf of Mexico within the jurisdiction of the state.

(2) "Inside water" means all bays, inlets, outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water landward from the shoreline of the state along the Gulf of Mexico and contiguous to, or connected with, but not a part of, the Gulf of Mexico and within which the tide regularly rises and falls and in which saltwater shrimp are found or into which saltwater shrimp migrate.

(3) "Outside water" means the salt water of the state contiguous to and seaward from the shoreline of the state along the Gulf of Mexico as the shoreline is projected and extended in a continuous and unbroken line, following the contours of the shoreline, across bays, inlets, outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water; and that portion of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the shoreline seaward and within the jurisdiction of the state.

(4) "Major bays" means the deeper, major bay areas of the inside water, including Sabine Lake north of Cameron Causeway, Trinity Bay, Galveston Bay, East Galveston Bay, West Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay (including East Matagorda Bay), Tres Palacios Bay south of a line from Grassy Point to the mouth of Pilkerton Bayou, Espiritu Santo Bay, Lavaca Bay seaward of State Highway 35, San Antonio Bay seaward of a line from McDowell Point to Grassy Point to Marker 32 on the Victoria Barge Canal, Ayres Bay, Carlos Bay, Aransas Bay, Mesquite Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay, all exclusive of tributary bays, bayous, and inlets, lakes, and rivers.

(5) "Possess" means the act of having in possession or control, keeping, detaining, restraining, or holding as owner, or under a fishing ley, or as agent, bailee, or custodian of another.

(6) "Commercial gulf shrimp boat" means any boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of catching or assisting in catching shrimp and other edible aquatic products from the outside water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange, or from salt water outside the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange, and that unloads at a port or other point in the state without having been previously unloaded in another state or foreign country.

(7) "Commercial bay shrimp boat" means a boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United States or this state and that is used for the purpose of catching or assisting in catching shrimp and other edible aquatic products from the inside water of this state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange.

(8) "Commercial bait shrimp boat" means a boat that is required to be numbered or registered under the laws of the United States or of this state and that is used for the purpose of catching or assisting in catching shrimp for use as bait and other edible aquatic products from the inside water of the state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange.

(9) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 130, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

(10) "Bait-shrimp dealer" means a person who operates an established place of business in a coastal county of the state for compensation or profit for the purpose of handling shrimp caught for use as bait from the inside water of this state, but does not include a person holding a wholesale fish dealer's license under Section 47.009 of this code.

(11) "Individual bait-shrimp trawl" means a trawl, net, or rig used for the purpose of catching shrimp for one's own personal use.

(12) "Second offense" and "third and subsequent offenses" mean offenses for which convictions have been obtained within three years prior to the date of the offense charged.

(13) "Contiguous zone," means that area of the Gulf of Mexico lying adjacent to and offshore of the jurisdiction of the State of Texas and in which shrimp of the genus Penaeus are found.

(14) "Bait bays" includes major bays, Copano Bay east of a line running from Rattlesnake Point to the northeastern boundary of the Bayside township, Nueces Bay from the bridge at State Highway 181 west to the second overhead power line dissecting the bay, Upper Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, Alazan Bay, Carlos Bay, Baroom Bay, Lower Laguna Madre, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway exclusive of all tributaries.

(15) "Nursery areas" includes tributary bays, bayous, inlets, lakes, and rivers, which are proven to serve as significant growth and development environments for postlarval and juvenile shrimp not including the outside waters, major bays, or bait bays as defined in this section.

Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975. Amended by Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1220, ch. 456, Sec. 20(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1975; Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 1297, ch. 600, Sec. 1, 2, eff. Aug. 27, 1979; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 130, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.