Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 26 - Fisheries and Game › 157c - Taking of Lobsters › Section 26-157c-4 - Management of the lobster pot fishery

Current through July 10, 2024
(a)
Purpose.
The purpose of this section is to implement requirements
			 of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's American Lobster Fishery
			 Management Plan by establishing the number of lobster pots authorized to be set
			 each year by licensees of the Department of Environmental Protection and the
			 provisions by which lobster pot tags will be issued to licensees. This section
			 may be amended in the future in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of
			 the Connecticut General Statutes.
(b)
Definitions.
(1) "ASMFC" means the Atlantic States Marine
			 Fisheries Commission, created under the terms of an interstate compact ratified
			 by the State of Connecticut (section
			 26-295
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes) and approved by the U. S. Congress (
			 Public Law
			 539, Chapter 283, Second Session,
			 77th Congress; 56 Stat. 267, approved May 4, 1942,
			 as amended by
			 Public Law
			 721, 81st Congress,
			 approved August 19, 1950).
(2)
			 "American Lobster Fishery Management Plan" means the plan and its amendments
			 and addendums approved and published by the ASMFC to manage the interstate
			 lobster fishery.
(3) "Catastrophic
			 pot loss" means the loss, between June 1 of a given year through May 31 of the
			 following year, of:
(A) with respect to a
			 personal use licensee, 10 pots; and
(B) with respect to a commercial licensee,
			 more pots than the number of tags issued to such licensee under subdivision
			 (e)(1) of this section, if such loss is due to one or more events beyond the
			 licensee's control such as an act of God, theft or vandalism.
(4) "Commercial licensee" means
			 any person to whom the Commissioner has issued a commercial license under
			 section
			 26-142a
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(5) "Commissioner" shall mean the
			 Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
(6) "Effective pots fished" means, for a
			 given calendar year, the smaller value of:
(A) the maximum calculated number of pots
			 derived from LMA 2 qualifying catch records, or
(B) the predicted pots fished derived from
			 LMA 2 qualifying catch records, or
(C) if provided on reports submitted to the
			 National Marine Fisheries Service, MADMF, the NYSDEC or the RIDEM, the maximum
			 number of pots fished in LMA 2 during a year.
(7) "Federal lobster permit" means a federal
			 fisheries permit issued by the U. S. Department of Commerce pursuant to
			 50 CFR
			 697.4 for a vessel for taking American
			 lobster by pots from a specified LMA.
(8) "Fish" and "fished" means setting,
			 tending, or hauling a pot, or leaving a pot in the water after setting, tending
			 or hauling it.
(9) "Fishing week"
			 means any calendar week within the qualifying period.
(10) "Fishing year" means the period from
			 June 1 of a given year through May 31, inclusive, of the following
			 year.
(11) "FMP" means the American
			 Lobster Fishery Management Plan.
(12) "Haul" means to lift a pot from the
			 water for the purpose of taking lobsters.
(13) "License" means a license to take
			 lobster issued by the Commissioner under section
			 26-142a
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(14) "Licensee" means a person to whom the
			 Commissioner has issued a license.
(15) "LMA" means any of the several lobster
			 management areas defined in the FMP.
(16) "LMA 2" means Lobster Management Area 2
			 as defined in the FMP.
(17) "LMA 2
			 qualifying catch records" means those records that:
(A) are complete and accurate records of
			 lobster catch, landings, pots hauled, and the soak-time associated with those
			 pots, reported to the Commissioner in accordance of the provisions of section
			 26-157b of the
			 Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, or similar such data submitted to
			 the National Marine Fisheries Service, the MADMF, the NYSDEC or the RIDEM,
			 and
(B) represent fishing activity
			 that occurred aboard a vessel that held a federal or applicable state lobster
			 permit for LMA 2 and was conducted between the effective date and expiration
			 date, inclusive, of said permit, and
(C) represent fishing activity that occurred
			 aboard a vessel for which pot tags bearing the LMA 2 designation were purchased
			 for the fishing year in which that activity occurred, and
(D) represent fishing activity that resulted
			 in landings of lobster in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island or New York,
			 and
(E) represent fishing activity
			 from any statistical area provided that at least one trip was reported in catch
			 records for the same calendar year that meets the requirements of subparagraphs
			 (A) through (D), inclusive, of this subdivision and that indicates fishing
			 activity in a statistical area that lies in whole or in part within LMA 2 or
			 the LMA 2/3 overlap.
(18) "LMA 2 qualifying period" means the
			 calendar years 2001, 2002, and 2003 or, if applied under reconsideration
			 granted by the Commissioner pursuant to subsection (g)(4)(B) of this section,
			 the years 1999 and 2000.
(19) "LMA
			 2/3 overlap" means the overlap area between LMA 2 and LMA 3 as defined in the
			 FMP.
(20) "LMA 6" means Lobster
			 Management Area 6 as defined in the FMP, namely those waters of Long Island
			 Sound and any New York territorial waters of Long Island Sound and Fishers
			 Island Sound in which Connecticut residents are authorized by the Commissioner
			 or by the NYSDEC to take lobsters but excluding New York waters on the south
			 shore of Long Island west of 72° west longitude. Unless otherwise specified
			 in this section, LMA 6 includes LMA 6A and the Race.
(21) "LMA 6 qualifying catch record" means a
			 complete and accurate record of pots hauled, and the soak-time associated with
			 those pots, submitted to the Commissioner in accordance of the provisions of
			 section
			 26-157b of the
			 Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, covering any portion of the
			 qualifying period.
(22) "LMA 6
			 qualifying period" means the period from January 1, 1995 through June 8, 1998,
			 inclusive.
(23) "LMA 6A" means a
			 portion of LMA 6 comprising the Connecticut waters of Long Island Sound west of
			 the Loran C 26740 line.
(24)
			 "MADMF" means the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
(25) "Material incapacity" means an event
			 determined by the commissioner to be beyond the control of a license holder
			 that results in a significant reduction in fishing performance by that license
			 holder. A material incapacity shall include, but not be limited to, a
			 significant medical condition or active military service, but shall not include
			 the decision of the license holder to pursue others interests.
(26) "Maximum calculated number of pots"
			 means the larger of the following calculated number of pots:
(A) the number of pot-days from the
			 LMA-specific qualifying catch records attributable to a fishing week divided by
			 seven, or
(B) the largest value for
			 pots hauled on any one day from the LMA-specific qualifying catch records
			 within that fishing week.
(27) "NYSDEC" means the New York State
			 Department of Environmental Conservation.
(28) "Permanent transfer" means the sale,
			 barter, trade or gifting of some portion of the number of pots authorized to be
			 fished by a commercial licensee.
(29) "Personal use licensee" means any person
			 to whom the Commissioner has issued a license under section
			 26-142a
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes to take lobsters for personal
			 use.
(30) "Pot" means any lobster
			 pot, trap or similar device used to take lobsters.
(31) "Pot-day" means the reported number of
			 pots hauled during a day, times the reported soak-time for those same
			 pots.
(32) "Predicted pots fished"
			 means the number of pots, not to exceed 800 pots, calculated using the formula
			 derived for LMA 2 in Addendum VII to the FMP, P=
			 e(a(ln(L))+b+(R/2)), where
P
is the
			 predicted pots fished,
L
is the total annual landings,
e
is the base of the natural logarithm and
ln
is the natural logarithm. The values for
a
, and
R
are dependent on the calendar year of the total annual
			 landings and are:
(A) for 2001, 2002 and 2003,
			 a=0.6473, b=0.4782 and R=0.6525, and
(B) for 1999 and 2000, a=0.6221, b=0.6163 and
			 R=0.5295.
(33)
			 "Qualifying license application" means the application for a license which the
			 Commissioner issued between December 19, 1994 and June 8, 1998, inclusive, and
			 which application was effective for any of the calendar years 1995, 1996, 1997
			 or 1998.
(34) "Race" means a
			 portion of LMA 6 comprising commercial fishery statistical areas 6 and 147 as
			 referred to on the forms which the Commissioner provides for submission of
			 fishing reports pursuant to section
			 26-157b of the
			 Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(35) "Report" or "Reported" means to submit
			 or to have submitted to the Commissioner a complete and accurate qualifying
			 catch record.
(36) "Resident
			 licensee" means a commercial licensee who is a resident of
			 Connecticut.
(37) "RIDEM" means the
			 Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
(38) "Soak-time" means the number of days
			 from the date a pot is set in the water until the date it is next
			 hauled.
(39) "Tag" means a tag sold
			 or authorized to be sold by the Commissioner or another state or the National
			 Marine Fisheries Service, to be used to satisfy the requirements of this
			 section.
(40) "Vendor" means a
			 person authorized by the Commissioner or another state or the National Marine
			 Fisheries Service to sell tags.