MACHIAS, Maine — August 28, 2013 — The Navy’s plans to run a power cable under Machias Bay to bring electricity to its communications station in Cutler has caused area scallop fishermen to be apprehensive.
There is a possibility that fishermen may be restricted from dragging gear along the bottom of the bay in the vicinity of the cable in search of scallops or urchins.
“It’s a big concern to the fisherman,” Michael Murphy II, chairman of the Machiasport Board of Selectmen, said of the plans.
The issue on restrictions, however, isn’t clear.
Murphy, a scallop fisherman, said Wednesday that fishermen are restricted by state law or regulation from dragging gear within 300 feet of underwater cables.
But Deirdre Gilbert, director of marine policy for Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, said there is no minimum setback per se in state law or regulation.
“It’s not based on a certain number of feet,” she said.
Instead, such a determination would be made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in consultation with the Navy, according to Gilbert. If a designated cable area by NOAA is marked accordingly on marine charts, dragging would be prohibited in the vicinity of the cable, Gilbert noted.
The Navy may not seek such a designation since the cable will be buried 3-5 feet below the ocean floor.