§ 113-205. Registration of grants in navigable waters; exercise of private fishery rights. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 113‑205. Registration of grants in navigable waters; exercise of private fishery rights.

(a)        Every person claiming to any part of the bed lying undernavigable waters of any coastal county of North Carolina or any  right offishery in navigable waters of any coastal county superior to that of thegeneral public must register the grant, charter, or other authorization underwhich he claims with the Secretary. Such registration must be accompanied by asurvey of the claimed area, meeting criteria established by the Secretary forsurveys of oyster and clam leases. All rights and titles not registered inaccordance with this section on or before January 1, 1970, are hereby declarednull and void. The Secretary must give notice of this section at least once eachcalendar year for three years by publication in a newspaper or newspapers ofgeneral circulation throughout all coastal counties of the State. For thepurpose of this subsection, "coastal county" shall mean all thefollowing counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret,Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde,Martin, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender,Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington. The provisions of this section shall notapply to the land lying under any private fish pond or irrigation pond.

(b)        The Marine Fisheries Commission may make reasonable rulesgoverning utilization of private fisheries and may require grantees or otherswith private rights to mark their fishery areas or private beds in navigablewaters as a precondition to the right of excluding the public from exercisingthe private rights claimed to be secured to them. Nothing in this section is tobe deemed to confer upon any grantee or other person with private rights thepower to impede navigation upon or hinder any other appropriate use of thesurface of navigable waters of North Carolina. (1965, c. 957, s. 2; 1971, c. 346, s. 1; 1973, c.1262, s. 28; 1987, c. 827, s. 98.)