May 1, 2013 — Maine’s scallop season has hardly ended, but the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and its Scallop Advisory Council (SAC) are already debating who should be allowed to fish during the next one.
Two issues dominated the council meeting held Monday afternoon at Ellsworth City Hall: the dates for the upcoming fishing season and how, or whether, the state should adopt an owner-operator requirement for the scallop fishery.
Last week, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher met with representatives from the Governor’s office to discuss submission of a bill in the current legislative session that would require that the owners of boats that drag for scallops both hold a Maine scallop fishing license and operate the boat when it is fishing. The current law only requires that a licensed scallop fisherman be on board the boat.