New Lobster Rules Address Second Trap Tags and Swan’s Island Limited Entry

by Laurie Schreiber

ELLSWORTH—At a hearing held Sept. 12, there were few comments regarding several lobster fishery rules proposed by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR).

The proposed rules are as follows:

• Lobster fishermen would be required to use a second zone tag in all traps when fishing those traps in a zone other than their declared lobster zone. The second tag would be in addition to their declared lobster zone tag. According to the DMR, the rule is needed to increase the Marine Patrol’s ability to enforce the current 49/51 percent trap component of the lobster zone limited entry rules.

• The registration period for the Swan’s Island Lobster Conservation area would be removed, in order to allow individuals to register at any time of the year.

• The number of maximum allowable lobster trap tags for the Swan’s Island Lobster Conservation Area would be increased from 475 to 600, for consistency with existing Maine law.

• An island limited entry program would be created for Swan’s Island, in accordance with a recent referendum in favor of the program, which would allow up to 72 commercial island resident lobster licenses to be issued annually.

There was only one fisherman from Swan’s Island at the meeting, and he had no official comment on the proposals.

However, another fisherman spoke in support of Swan’s Island’s right to make its own plans.

“I’m here basically in favor of supporting community,” he said. “I support Swan’s Island because they know their problems. They have their plans. I’m in support of whatever Swan’s Island wants, whatever they need for their community.”

Regarding the second-tag proposal, fishermen mainly asked DMR staffers for clarification. The 49/51 rule already exists, and the use of tags is already required in the Zone B/C and Zone F/G interface. The proposal would make the tag requirement statewide, except for Zone E, which has a lower trap limit of 600 traps.

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