September 8, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Labor Day Weekend has just ended and the Blue Hill Fair just closed, but winter is almost here.
On Monday, Sept. 12, the Department of Marine Resources will hold the first of three public hearings on a proposed rule setting the dates for the 2016-2017 scallop season. The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Ellsworth City Hall.
In 2015, dealers reported scallop landings of 452,672 pounds to DMR, worth nearly $5.8 million. Those figures cover landings from Jan. 1 through April 11 — considered part of the 2014-2015 “season” — and December of last year. Landings from January through April of this year will be included in the 2016 statistics even though those scallops were harvested in the “last” season.
As there was last winter, the fishery will be subject to daily possession limits. In zones 1 and 2, from the New Hampshire border to Cobscook Bay, the limit is 15 gallons of scallop meats. In Zone 3 — Cobscook Bay — the possession limit is 10 gallons per day.