ELLSWORTH, Maine — New restrictions on Maine’s scallop fishery are expected for next winter’s fishing season, and this past week state officials took their proposal on the road to see what kind of reception it would receive.
By all accounts, legal-size scallops were scarce this season, which ended a week ago, and more so than in the past two years. Declining numbers of scallops prompted the Maine Department of Marine Resources in 2009 to close down a dozen areas along the coast to scallop harvesting for three years.
Because those closures are scheduled to expire this year, state and industry officials have been floating ideas for new measures aimed at rebuilding scallop stocks and keeping the fishery sustainable.
The Scallop Advisory Council, a panel of industry officials appointed by DMR to advise the department on the fishery, last month came up with a list of recommendations that would place tighter restrictions on the industry. The council’s recommendations include that:
• The season be shortened from 70 days to 43 days.
• The daily catch limit per license be reduced from 200 pounds to 135 pounds (which already is the limit in Cobscook Bay).
• Fishermen can fish in only two reopened areas and have to tell DMR which two before the next season starts.
Read the complete article from Bangor Daily News