ELLSWORTH, Maine — Rotational closures in eastern Maine, none in western Maine, and a 185-pound daily catch limit from Kittery to Lubec are among scallop fishing measures recommended to the state by industry officials.
The Scallop Advisory Council, made up of fishermen, dealers and other industry officials, came up with its list of recommendations to the Maine Department of Marine Resources late last month. Its recommendations also include a 70-day season, limited access to fishing areas that have been closed, and a still-undefined trigger mechanism that would enable DMR to close down areas without notice.
Trisha De Graaf, DMR resource coordinator, said Monday that the reason the council is not recommending rotating closures west of Penobscot Bay is because the scallop concentrations there are relatively sparse. Members of the council were concerned that if a rotating closure schedule is adopted for western Maine, there won’t be enough harvestable concentrations of scallops in open areas for fishermen to be able to earn a living off their catch, she said.
For Cobscook Bay the recommendations are slightly different. The council could not settle on one recommendation for that area, so instead suggested two options: either a 70-day season with a daily catch limit of 135 pounds, if half of the bay is closed each year; or a 34-day season with a daily catch limit of 90 pounds with no rotational closure system.
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