The recent boarding of a scallop vessel off Nantucket may be the first shot fired across the bow of the federal government in a dispute over a Maine tribe's right to fish in federal waters.
Late in the day on Aug. 25 the Coast Guard, as part of an investigation with the Massachusetts Environmental Police, stopped a Maine scalloper off Nantucket on its return from a fishing trip. The vessel had been working out of Nantucket Harbor for an undisclosed amount of time.
According to Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell, the captain did not have the federal fisheries permit needed to catch scallops in federal waters. Instead, he handed officers paperwork from the Passamaquoddy tribe in Maine that he believed authorized him to fish in federal waters. Terrell said there were no scallops onboard when the vessel was stopped.
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