Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 322 CMR - Division of Marine Fisheries › Title 322 CMR 6.00 - Regulation of Catches › Section 6.21 - Whelk Conservation and Management

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Definitions
. For the purpose of
			 322
			 CMR 6.21, the following terms shall have the
			 following meanings:
Channeled Whelk
means that species
				known as
Busycotypus canaliculatus
.
Chute Gauge
means an open top
				rectangular gauge made of rigid material.
Commercial Fisher
means any person
				fishing under the authority of a permit issued in accordance with M.G.L. c.
				130, § 80, and
				322
				CMR 7.01(2):
Commercial Fishing
for the purpose of sale, barter or
				exchange, or to keep for personal or family use any fish or shellfish caught
				under the authority of the commercial fishing permit.
Knobbed Whelk
means that species known
				as
Busycon carica
.
Operculum
is the lid that closes the
				aperture of the shell when the animal is retracted.
Recreational Fishing
means the
				noncommercial taking or attempted taking of knobbed or channeled whelks for
				personal or family use, sport or pleasure, which are not sold, bartered or
				exchanged.
Shell Width
means the diameter of the
				shell measured across its greatest width perpendicular to the long axis of the
				shell.
Standard Fish Tote
means a container
				that does not exceed the volume of 6,525 cubic inches.
Trip
means that period of time that
				begins when a fishing vessel departs from a dock, berth, beach, seawall, ramp
				or port to carry out commercial fishing operations and that terminates with a
				return to a dock, berth seawall, ramp or port.
(2)
Commercial Possession of
			 Legal Sized Knobbed and Channeled Whelks
.
(a)
Purpose
. To
			 increase spawning stock biomass of knobbed and channeled whelks, the legal
			 harvest size limit for these species will be gradually increased to correspond
			 to a size where 50% of female knobbed and channeled whelks are sexually mature.
			 The asymmetry of these animals and the propensity for their siphonal canals to
			 break during handling limits the effectiveness of managing harvest with a
			 traditional shell width or shell length minimum size standards. Consequently,
			 legal sized knobbed and channeled whelks shall be determined through the use of
			 a chute gauge meeting the specifications and by applying the methodology in
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(b) and
			 (c).
(b)
Minimum Chute Gauge Width and
			 Chute Gauge Specifications
. The chute gauge used to determine the
			 legal size for knobbed and channeled whelks shall measure at least six inches
			 length and by 1½" height. The internal width of the chute gauge shall
			 be: 3c" through April 14, 2027; 3¼" during the period of April 15, 2027
			 through April 14, 2030; 3d" during the period of April 15, 2030 through April
			 14, 2033; 3½" during the period of April 15, 2033 through April 14,
			 2036, and 3e" on or after April 15, 2036. No person shall modify the chute
			 gauge in any manner that may affect the gauging of knobbed or channeled whelks.
			 It shall be
prima facie
evidence of a violation of
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(c) if a
			 commercial fisher is not in possession of a chute gauge meeting these minimum
			 specifications when fishing for or in possession of knobbed or channeled
			 whelk.
(c)
Methodology
			 of Determining Legal Sized Whelk with the Chute Gauge
. Knobbed and
			 channeled whelks shall be oriented to the chute gauge with its operculum facing
			 down and laying as flat on the chute gauge as possible. It shall be unlawful to
			 retain, possess, or land a knobbed or channeled whelk if it can pass through
			 the chute gauge in this required orientation with its siphonal canal at any
			 angle to the side walls of the gauge. The required orientation of the knobbed
			 or channeled whelk to the chute gage is depicted in the image below:
Click to
				view image
1.
Exemptions for Dealers
. Notwithstanding the
			 requirements of
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(c), a dealer
			 permitted in accordance with
			 322
			 CMR 7.01(3):
Dealer
			 Permits
may obtain, possess and process knobbed and channeled whelks
			 that are not legal sized if such knobbed or channeled whelks were lawfully
			 harvested in the jurisdiction of another state. All containers of such knobbed
			 and channeled whelks shall bear a shellfish tag, as required by M.G.L. c. 130,
			 §§ 81 and 82.
(d)
Tagging of Knobbed and
			 Channeled Whelks by Commercial Fishers
. Because knobbed and
			 channeled whelks are shellfish as defined in M.G.L. c. 130, § 2,
			 commercial fishers who retain such whelks harvested in accordance with the
			 requirements of
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(c) shall place
			 them in containers that bear a shellfish harvester tag as required by 322 CMR
			 16.00:
Shellfish Harvest and Handling
.
(e)
Prohibitions
.
			 Except as provided in
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(c)1., it shall
			 be unlawful for:
1. any person to possess a
			 knobbed or channeled whelk that is less than the legal size as determined in
			 accordance with
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(b) and (c) for
			 longer than it is necessary for immediate measurement and return to the
			 sea.
2. any person to modify the
			 chute gauge specified in
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(b) in any manner
			 that may affect the method of measurement of knobbed and channeled
			 whelks.
3. any person to manipulate
			 the orientation of a knobbed or channeled whelk to the chute gauge so that it
			 is measured in a manner other than the method of measurement prescribed at
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(c).
4. any commercial fisher to not possess on
			 their vessel a chute gauge meeting the specifications in
			 322
			 CMR 6.21(2)(b) when fishing
			 for or in possession of knobbed or channeled whelk.
5. to possess any knobbed or channeled whelk
			 in a condition other than whole in-shell, except by a dealer licensed in
			 accordance with
			 322
			 CMR 7.01(3):
Dealer
			 Permits
.
6. to process
			 whelks at any location other than at a facility of a dealer licensed in
			 accordance with
			 322
			 CMR 7.01(3):
Dealer
			 Permits
for that purpose.