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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 3
November 2008
ME adopts shrimp, scallop, clam changes
HALLOWELL, ME – The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Advisory Council met on Sept. 17 to receive updates on numerous agency rule-making proposals and other departmental matters of business.
The proposed exit-entry ratio rules for Zones F and G were the first items on the agenda. In September 2007, the state’s method for calculating a zone’s exit-to-entry ratio was changed. Instead of being based on the number of old licenses retired, it is now based on the number of trap tags retired.
This change was prompted after the DMR discovered that, on average, only 359 tags were retired per license holder, while newly issued licenses could potentially build up to 800 tags.
Additionally, the DMR proposed setting the trap tag exit-entry ratio at 5:1. So, every 4,000 tags retired would result in 800 new tags being issued in Zone F and G.
DMR resource management coordinator Sarah Cotnoir reported that the public comment period concerning exit-entry ratios had closed for both Zones F and G. The department did not receive any written or verbal comments opposing the rule change, she said.
In a unanimous vote, the DMR Advisory Council approved a motion to adopt the proposed rule change.
Shrimp traps
Federal law requires all trap fisheries, including shrimp harvested by trap, to be fished with clearly marked buoys. Until now, Maine has not required buoy markings for shrimp traps set in the state’s coastal waters.
The DMR proposed a change to this rule, making it “unlawful to set, raise, lift, or transfer any shrimp trap or buoy unless it is clearly marked with the owner’s shrimp fishing license number or lobster and crab fishing license number.”
Cotnoir explained that the rule change would bring the state into compliance with final federal rules issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on Oct. 5, 2007 and implemented on April 5, 2008.
“This rule really came out in response to the whale regulations,” explained Cotnoir.
The new rule also is expected to allow for enforcement consistency between state and federal waters.
“The public commenting period closed on Aug. 29 without the DMR receiving any written or verbal comments on the proposed change,” Cotnoir said.
The DMR Advisory Council unanimously voted to adopt the change. The new rules apply to all shrimp license holders who fish for shrimp by trap.
Scallop reporting
The DMR proposed requiring any person holding a scallop license, scallop boat license, or noncommercial scallop license to “report trip level fishing activity on forms supplied by the department.”
Togue Brawn, DMR resource management coordinator, explained that the rule change was necessary to “ensure accurate data is collected about the scallop fishery.”
Additionally, Brawn said that the public comment deadline had passed.
“There was no opposition to the change, but there were some concerns about how the information collected might be used,” she told the advisory council.
The council voted to adopt the proposed rule change.
Whiting exemption
The council also took action on a proposal to clarify regulatory exemption language regarding the taking of whiting in Maine’s territorial waters.
The exemption would only allow licensed harvesters of northern shrimp to take whiting as a bycatch during harvest of northern shrimp.
The amount of whiting would be limited to less than, or equal to, the amount of shrimp on board, but not to exceed 3,500 pounds.
The rule also clarifies that it is legal to land whiting taken from federal waters as bycatch in the northern shrimp fishery, but limits the amount to less than or equal to the amount of shrimp on board, but not to exceed 3,500 pounds.
Brawn reported the deadline for public comment had passed and the DMR did not receive any objections to the proposed rule change.
Several council members commented that the wording of the proposed rule change was slightly unclear and requested that clearer language be included in the final rule.
The council adopted the exemption rule subject to clarification of the wording.
Clam shellstock
The council considered a proposed regulation that would allow certified dealers to obtain a permit to use vehicles as buying stations for soft shell clam shellstock purchased from licensed harvesters at a location other than the certified dealers’ permanent facility.
According to DMR Commissioner George Lapointe, the proposal “was the result of the Legislature asking the DMR to write regulations for buyers’ trucks.”
The shellfish industry had presented testimony to the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources, requesting legislators allow buying stations, or buyer trucks, to purchase clams directly from harvesters at the wharf or boat landing.
“Buying station” means a truck or other vehicle that is leased, owned, or rented by a certified dealer and is used to transport soft shell clam shellstock purchased at a location other than the dealer’s permanent facility.
The truck or other vehicle must be properly constructed, operated, and maintained to prevent contamination, deterioration, and decomposition of the shellstock.
Council member Bob Baines commented that the proposed regulations were “very restrictive and cumbersome” and that “guys will not be able to comply with the regulations because they are too restrictive.”
Lapointe further explained, “This is our attempt to create a system that is workable. The rules need to protect the public’s health without overburdening marine patrol.”
Council members questioned some portions of the proposed regulation. Several asked whether a buyer truck would be sealed after the last bushel of clams is purchased at the end of the tide or after every bushel of clams is put in the truck.
Lapointe responded, “The legislative intent is for the trucks to be sealed at the end of the tide.”
The council voted to accept the proposed rule subject to legal clarification of that point.
Copies of the current Chapter 15 General Shellfish Sanitation Requirements and Chapter 16 Uniform Physical Plant Equipment and Operation Requirements are available online at <www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/13/chaps13.htm>.
Special license
Paul Farmer, a scallop diver from Cushing, went before the council to request a special aquaculture lease for an area located west of Gay Island in Cushing.
Farmer, who is working with Dana Morse, a Maine Sea Grant marine extension associate based at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, said he will be using the lease site to collect scallop spat.
“There is no hatchery source for scallop spat,” Farmer explained. “The only place to collect spat is in the wild.”
Farmer said he will be using flat bottom cages when first starting his growout efforts because scallops move and need to be contained.
Council member Glen Libby stated he wanted to look at any potential gear conflicts the bottom cages may encounter in the area.
The council passed a motion to grant the special lease.
The DMR Advisory Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 1 pm at the Natural Resource Service Center, 6 Beech St., in Hallowell. The DMR asks that anyone planning on attending always call (207) 624-6553 to confirm the date, time, and location.
Gina LeDuc-Kuntz
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