Links & Maps

Maps & Geographic Information System (GIS) Data

The Commission Engineering and Surveying Department maintains a variety of maps related to shellfish leases, public shellfish grounds, state marsh and meadowlands on the Eastern Shore. Maps are available for a fee from the Surveying Department Offices at Ft. Monroe. An integral part of this mapping function, has been the maintenance of electronic mapping information in CAD and GIS systems. One easily available GIS tool available to citizens is the Commission's online Bay Map. This map presents Surveying Department lease, lease application, and public shellfish grounds, as well as, fixed fishing device (FFD) locations and crab sanctuary areas. The map also displays Virginia Department of Health (VDH) condemnation zones as hosted on the VDH Division of Shellfish Safety web site. In general, MRC lease, lease application, and FFD data is current as of the previous day; VDH closure data may be a month or more old. All users of this GIS map need to be aware that this GIS data is not guaranteed to be accurate and complete at any given time. Although it is expected that the data will be used for regulatory and permitting processes, any user of this data should verify their use of the data with Marine Resources Commission and/or VDH Division of Shellfish Safety staff before taking action or otherwise using the data to make decisions, particularly when related to regulatory and permitting processes, or any other legal action.

[ Chesapeake Bay Online Map ]

[ Chesapeake Bay Online Pound Net Map ] - an online map that shows pound net locations and status for the current license year

[ Map to VMRC Main Office ] - if you are just looking for a Google map to our main office use this link

[ Map to VMRC field offices ]

[ Map to VMRC license agents ]

[ Habitat Management Permits and Applications ] - listing that leads to maps of pending and other recent JPA permit applications

[ Pending Oyster Lease Applications ] - listing that leads to maps of pending shellfish leases applications

[ Search Leases ]- search that leads to maps of shellfish leases

[ Shrimp Trawl Harvest Areas ]

[ Sturgeon Bycatch Reduction Areas ]

[ Virginia Oyster Stock Assessment and Replenishment Archive (VOSARA) ] - Oyster GIS map data from VIMS

Marine Resources Related Web Sites for other Agencies or Organizations

The links below will take you to other web sites related to marine resources in Virginia. The Commission provides these links for informational purposes and is not responsible for their content.

Governor's Home Page

Secretary of Natural Resources' Office

Virginia Home Page

Virginia General Assembly

Dept. of Wildlife Resources (DWR, formerly DGIF)

Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ)

Virginia Department of Health:
Fish Consumption Advisories

Division of Shellfish Safety

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)

Potomac River Fisheries Commission

Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)

DCR Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service

VA Marine Products Board
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NMFS

Southeast Regional Office, NMFS

NMFS Commercial Fisheries Statistics

NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program

U.S Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U. S. Coast Guard

U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association

Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP)

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center

Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association (TOGA)

Sea Grant Mid-Atlantic Region (NJ, DE, MD, VA, NC)

Blue Crab Archives

Chesapeake Bay Commission

Chesapeake Bay Program

ODU Center for Quantitative Fisheries Ecology

Mobile Applications for Smartphones

The Commission has formatted several of our online web resources so that they appear more conveniently on mobile devices:

[ VMRC Maps ] The Commission has developed a mobile app that uses smartphone GPS to show the users position relative to shellfish leases and other map features. Mapped areas include private oyster ground leases, oyster ground applications, fixed fishing devices, public clamming grounds, artificial reefs and the blue crab sanctuary. The app is available from the Apple or Google app stores, search for "VMRC Maps" on your smartphone to install, or click on the following link to learn more: [ VMRC Maps ].

[ VMRC Mobile ] - a mobile device formatted web site that while primarily designed to facilitate FIP registration, also has offers convenient access to saltwater recreational fishing and crabbing rules, artificial reef locations, the online Bay map, other online maps, Habitat Management permit search, shellfish lease search, and MRC contact data.

[ SWJ Mobile ] - The Saltwater Journal (SWJ) is a voluntary recreational fishing reporting web site. To access this mobile web site, please register on the primary SWJ web site on your regular PC to establish your username and password. Once you have created your SWJ login information visit the SWJ Mobile web link to view the version that is formatted for smartphones.

Click here for additional tips on creating convenient links to the VMRC Mobile and SWJ Mobile web pages on your smartphone.