December 12, 2014 — The Department of Marine Resources has released the results of its Spring Scallop Survey for state waters between Penobscot Bay and Lubec. For fishermen already barred from harvesting scallops along large sections of the coast, the news was mixed at best.
DMR surveyed all seven of the “rotational management areas” in Scallop Management Zone 2 that are open to harvesters during the fishing season that began Dec. 1. The survey included 139 tows with a standard scallop drag, about 40 fewer than during the 2013 spring survey.
The aim of the survey was to determine the approximate density of harvestable, sublegal and seed scallops in each area. Harvestable scallops have a shell height of 4 inches of more and scallops with a shell height between 2.5 and 3.9 inches are classified as sublegal. Smaller scallops are considered seed.
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