December 29, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:
Maine participants in the cooperative winter sampling program for Northern Shrimp in the Gulf of Maine have been announced. The program, coordinated by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, is designed to provide biological data on the shrimp fishery which is closed for the fourth year in a row.
The Maine fishermen have been chosen from over 60 applicants, based on a random drawing of those fully qualified in each region. Qualifications include a demonstrated shrimp fishing history, and successfully passing a Marine Patrol review of marine resource violations.
Preference was given to trawlers willing to participate in a test of a compound grate for harvesting. Compound grates are devices used by trawlers to reduce the catch of small shrimp.
Maine harvesters chosen include trawlers Vincent Balzano, Joseph Leask, and Rob Tetrault from western Maine, Troy Benner, David Osier and Arthur Poland Jr. from mid-coast Maine, and Randy Cushman and Glenn Libby from eastern Maine.
Shrimp trappers include Chad Gamage, Daryl Chadwick, George Gilbert and Robert Tracy from mid-coast Maine, and Thomas Riedel from eastern Maine.
In response to the depleted condition of the northern shrimp resource, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section extended the moratorium on commercial fishing for the 2017 fishing season. The Section also approved a 53 metric ton research set aside (RSA) which will be used by the cooperative sampling program to provide managers with much-needed biological data. Biological data gathered will include size composition and egg hatch timing.
In total, the sampling program will include the participation of 10 trawlers (8 Maine trawlers, 1 Massachusetts trawler, and 1 New Hampshire trawler) and 5 Maine trappers, fishing for 8 weeks from mid‐January to mid‐March, 2017.
The trawlers will be allowed a maximum trip limit of 1,200 pounds, with 1 trip per week, while the trappers will have a maximum possession limit of 500 pounds per week, with a 40 trap limit per vessel. All participants will provide shrimp samples to the Maine DMR weekly.
Information on the sampling program can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/science-research/species/shrimp/winter2017.html.