Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 322 CMR - Division of Marine Fisheries › Title 322 CMR 6.00 - Regulation of Catches › Section 6.26 - Bycatch Lobster Landing/Possession Limits

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Definitions
. For the purposes of
			 322
			 CMR 6.26:
Bottom or Sink Gillnet
means a
				gillnet, anchored or otherwise, that is designed to be, capable of being, or is
				fished on or near the bottom in the lower third of the water column.
Day
means any 24-hour period.
1-day Fishing Trip
means a trip 24
				hours or less.
2-day Fishing Trip
means a trip
				greater than 24 hours up to 48 hours.
3-day Fishing Trip
means a trip
				greater than 48 hours up to 72 hours.
4-day Fishing Trip
means a trip
				greater than 72 hours up to 96 hours.
5-day Fishing Trip
means a trip
				greater than 96 hours up to 120 hours.
Lobster Car
means any container,
				enclosure or any other container or contrivance designed to hold and store
				lobster away from the vessel.
Lobster Crate
means a covered
				container with a volume equal to or less than 3.9 cubic feet.
Mobile Gear
means any movable or
				encircling fishing gear or nets which are set, towed, hauled or dragged through
				the water for the harvest of fish, squid, and shellfish including but not
				limited to otter trawls, beam trawls, mid-water trawls, bottom and mid-water
				pair trawls, Scottish seines, Danish seines, pair seines, purse seines,
				shellfish dredges, and sea scallop dredges.
Net Hauler
means any device capable of
				pulling all or portions of gillnets out of the sea for the purpose of removing
				catches of lobster and fish.
Rigged for Netting
means a vessel
				having a trawl net and doors on board.
Trips Greater than Five Days
means a
				trip greater than 120 hours.
(2)
Bycatch Limits in Commercial
			 Fisheries
.
(a)
Non-lobster Commercial Permit Holders
. It is unlawful
			 for any person without a commercial lobster permit to land or possess any
			 lobsters.
(b)
Mobile
			 Gear
. It is unlawful for any person with either an offshore
			 lobster permit or coastal lobster permit fishing or seen fishing with mobile
			 gear to land or possess:
1. any lobsters
			 harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth; or
2. more than 100-lobsters harvested from
			 federal waters per 24-hour day, provided the vessel they are fishing aboard is
			 properly permitted by NOAA Fisheries to take lobster from federal waters, not
			 to exceed more than 500 lobsters for any fishing trip five days or longer. When
			 the duration of a trip in number of hours, cannot be documented for the Office
			 of Environmental Law Enforcement, the 100-lobster commercial limit shall
			 apply.
(c)
Bottom or Sink Gillnets
. It is unlawful for any person
			 with an offshore lobster permit or a coastal lobster permit to land or possess
			 more than:
1. 100 lobsters per 24-hour day
			 when fishing or seen fishing with gillnets exclusively in waters outside of the
			 Outer Cape Cod Lobster Conservation Management Area.
2. an amount of lobsters exceeding the
			 capacity of two lobster crates, not to exceed 100 lobsters, per 24-hour day
			 when fishing or seen fishing with gillnets in waters within the Outer Cape Cod
			 Lobster Conservation Management Area (OCCLCMA), or authorized to fish with
			 gillnets in the OCCLCMA. All lobsters retained in accordance with
			 322
			 CMR 6.26(2)(c)1. shall be
			 separated from the rest of the catch and stored in lobster crates or placed in
			 lobster crates immediately upon request of law enforcement.
(d)
Presumption
. It is a rebuttable presumption that a
			 vessel:
1. rigged for netting or equipped with
			 a net hauler, and
2. having both
			 lobster and fish in possession, caught the lobsters with gear other than pots
			 or traps and is thereby subject to the lobster limits described in
			 322
			 CMR 6.26.