PORTLAND, Maine โ August 15, 2014 โ Maine regulators want to shut down several waterways to scallop fishing in the upcoming season as they continue attempts to rebuild the fishery.
The news comes as Maine's Department of Marine Resources is warning fishermen that the coming season will likely include emergency closures depending on the amount of scallops harvested. The season runs from December to April.
State officials are considering a plan released this week that would shut down Eastern Casco Bay, Damariscotta River, Ocean Point and Lower Muscle Ridge.
Another area, Muscle Ridge, would be open twice a week. Municipal mooring fields in Blue Hill Harbor, Western Blue Hill Bay, Bartlett's Harbor, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Somes Sound Harbor would also be shut down for scallop dragger boats, officials said.
The regulations are designed to "rebuild the scallop resource" while giving scalloping fishermen a chance to fish, said Trisha DeGraaf, a coordinator with the marine resources department.
Maine's scallop catch typically exceeded a million pounds of meat from the late 1970s to the mid-'90s, but then declined dramatically, spurring new state regulations. The fishery bottomed out at 33,141 pounds in the 2005 calendar year before starting to recover. Fishermen caught 424,547 pounds in 2013 โ the highest mark since 2000.
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