NOAA Fisheries Approves State Water Exemptions for Scallop
Fisheries in Maine and Massachusetts
NOAA Fisheries has approved a final rule that would revise the
State Waters Exemption Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Management Plan.
What is the State Waters Scallop Exemption Program?
The State Waters Scallop Exemption Program allows federal permit holders to fish in the state waters scallop fishery on a more equitable basis where federal and
state laws are inconsistent. The Program specifies that a state with a scallop fishery may be eligible for state waters exemptions from specific regulations if it has a scallop conservation program that does not jeopardize the objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.
We have determined that both Maine and Massachusetts qualify for this exemption, and that allowing this exemption would have no adverse impact on the effectiveness of federal management measures for the scallop fishery overall in this area. This will provide continued fishing opportunities in Maine waters and now within certain Massachusetts waters after the Northern Gulf of Maine catch allocation has been reached for a year.
What does this rule allow?
Under this final rule, vessels holding both a Massachusetts
state scallop permit and either a Limited Access General Category (LAGC)
Individual Fishing Quota or LAGC Northern Gulf of Maine federal scallop permit will
be allowed to continue to fish in state waters once the federal Total Allowable
Catch for the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area has been fully harvested.
This action
also modifies the State Waters Exemption for Maine to include vessels that
have both a state scallop permit and an LAGC Individual Fishing Quota permit.
This exemption is already in place for vessels holding state scallop
permits and LAGC Northern Gulf of Maine permits.
Read the final rule as published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletin on our website.
Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175
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