ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Maine scallop fishing season opens next Monday, Dec. 1, and, meeting in Newport, R.I. last week, the New England Fishery Management Council gave Maine gave fishermen with both state and federal scallop fishing permits some good news.
“It really is,” said Trisha Cheney, scallop resource coordinator for the Department of Marine Resources.
Under the council’s scallop fishery management plan, Maine harvesters with federal scallop permits were not allowed to fish in state waters once the total allowable catch (TAC) for the northern Gulf of Maine — an area that stretches roughly from Boston to the Canadian border — was landed. The limit for the area is 70,000 pounds.
Maine manages the scallop fishery using a planned 70-day season that begins on Dec. 1 and a daily landings limit of 15 gallons of scallop meats, 10 gallons in Cobscook Bay. The Department of Maine Resources is likely to shorten the season to protect the scallop resource from overfishing.
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