February 15, 2013 – The Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources has announced that there will be no additional closures, reduction of the daily possession limit, or reduction of fishing days for the scallop fishery during the week of February 18.
The Commissioner has closely monitored the fishery since the beginning of the season and used Emergency Rulemaking to make adjustments throughout the season designed to ensure the health of the resource.
This decision comes as a result of input Commissioner Patrick Keliher received during a recent Scallop Advisory Council meeting as well as on-going Department monitoring of the fishery.
However, the Commissioner’s office also anticipates that an Emergency Rule will be issued Monday, February 25 to close the Whiting and Denny’s Bay Zone 3 Limited Access Area for the season, as that area reached the threshold for closure on January 23, with an estimated 28,890 pounds harvested, which represents 35 percent of the available 83,000 pounds.
To ensure that the resource can naturally replace what is removed the Department established a trigger mechanism to close Limited Access Areas when between 30 and 40 percent of the biomass has been harvested.
The remaining portion of the Zone 3 Limited Access Area, Lower Cobscook Bay/St. Croix River, will re-open on Sunday, March 3 for the second half of the split season for at least a week.
The Commissioner will continue to closely monitor the scallop fishery along the entire coast and issue management decisions as needed. For more information on Maine’s sea scallop fishery, visit here.