NEWPORT, RI – Scallopers will not be allowed to stack permits under Amendment 15 to the federal scallop plan.
The New England Fishery Management Council reached this verdict during its Sept. 28-30 meeting here before a roomful of deeply divided industry members.
The stacking proposal was initially developed as a tool to reduce capacity in the fishery. It was meant to allow scallop vessel owners to combine the days-at-sea and access-area trip allocations from two separate limited-access permits onto one boat.
Some said it would allow vessel owners to get rid of aging boats and keep better ones more active. Under current allocations, which for 2010 totaled 38 open-area days and four access-area trips for full-timers, some vessels remain tied to the dock upwards of 240-to-285 days a year.
However, when the stacking question was finally called, the council voted 11-to-6 for “no action,” which defeated stacking.
Read the complete story from Commercial Fisheries News.