Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 322 CMR - Division of Marine Fisheries › Title 322 CMR 6.00 - Regulation of Catches › Section 6.07 - Striped Bass Fishery (Morone Saxatalis)

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Purpose and Scope
. Since approximately October 1981
			 the Atlantic coastal states, through the auspices of the Atlantic States Marine
			 Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), have been developing conservation and management
			 measures for Atlantic striped bass through an interstate fishery management
			 plan.
322 CMR 6.07 represents the
				Commonwealth's response to this cooperative and joint coastal state
				conservation management effort. The objective of
				322
				CMR 6.07 is to allow controlled sustained
				recreational and commercial fishing for striped bass pursuant to the provisions
				of the ASMFC striped bass Fishery Management Plan.
322 CMR 6.07 is designed to
				identify the various user groups, implement conservation and management
				measures tailored to each group, and collects accurate statistics on striped
				bass catch levels. Persons intending to fish for striped bass have the option
				of classifying their activity as recreational or commercial. If a person
				intends to catch striped bass only for personal consumption and not for sale,
				that person must have a recreational saltwater fishing permit, and may fish
				year round, and retain striped bass that measure between 28 inches and less
				than 31 inches, but may not retain more than one striped bass within any
				calendar day.
Any person intending to catch and possess striped bass for the
				purpose of sale, barter or exchange must be fishing under the authority of a
				commercial permit and a regulated fishery permit for striped bass. However,
				322
				CMR 6.07 establishes a commercial fishing
				season that closes upon reaching the commercial catch quota, establishes a
				minimum commercial size of 35 inches, and requires fish to be sold only to
				dealers licensed and authorized by the Commonwealth.
Finally,
				322
				CMR 6.07 allows wholesale and retail dealers
				to purchase and sell striped bass under certain conditions. To purchase striped
				bass directly from commercial fishers, wholesale and retail dealers must be
				authorized as primary buyers of striped bass and must affix a Striped Bass ID
				Tag to all striped bass at the time of primary purchase from the commercial
				fisher. Striped bass imported into the Commonwealth must be marked with a
				numbered tag that identifies the state of origin and must be accompanied by
				documents that verify state of origin. Nonconforming (undersized) striped bass
				that were caught in the wild may be imported into the Commonwealth provided
				those fish were legally taken, shipped and meet documentation requirements of
				the state-of-origin.
(2)
Definitions
. For purposes of
			 322
			 CMR 6.07, the following words shall have the
			 following meanings:
Actively Transport
means the movement
				of lawfully caught striped bass by a commercial fishing permit holder in a
				motor vehicle or a vessel. For purposes of 322 CMR 6.00, this shall include the
				movement of lawfully caught striped bass by a motor vehicle along the roads
				adjacent to the Cape Cod Canal, and also the landing of striped bass lawfully
				caught aboard a vessel and brought ashore at Taylor Point Marina in the town of
				Bourne or in Sandwich Marina.
Bait
means any marine or aquatic
				organism, live or dead, whole or parts thereof.
Cape Cod Canal
means those waters and
				the shoreline, including all adjacent jetties, wharfs, docks, ripraps and
				beaches, extending from the most seaward extent of the state pier at Taylor's
				Point on the campus of Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne; thence
				extending in an easterly direction to the seaward end of the northern
				breakwater jetty at the eastern entrance at Scusset Beach in Sandwich; thence
				in a straightline in a southerly direction across the eastern entrance of the
				waterway to the seaward end of the southern breakwater jetty in Sandwich;
				thence in a westerly direction to the northernmost tip of the peninsula at the
				end of President's Road in Bourne.
Circle Hook
means a fishing hook
				designed and manufactured so that the barb of the hook is not offset from the
				plane of the shank and bend and is turned perpendicularly back towards the
				shank to form a circular or oval shape.
Closed Commercial Fishing Day
means
				any calendar day within the commercial season when the retention, possession,
				and landing of striped bass for commercial purposes is unlawful, as set forth
				at 322 CMR
				6.07(4)(b).
Commercial Fisher
means any person who
				may catch, possess and land striped bass for the purpose of sale, barter, or
				exchange or keeps for personal or family use taken under the authority of a
				commercial fishing permit issued by the Director under the authority of
				322
				CMR 7.01:
Form, Use and Contents of
				Permits
.
Commercial Purposes
means the
				retention, possession, and transportation of striped bass for any fare, rate,
				fee, charge, sale, exchange, trade or other consideration that is directly or
				indirectly made in connection with any business or other undertaking intended
				for profit.
Commercial Quota
means the allowable
				annual Massachusetts commercial harvest of striped bass pursuant to the ASMFC
				Interstate Striped Bass Management Plan, reduced by any overage incurred in the
				previous year.
Commercial Season
means that period
				when commercial fishing is allowed beginning on the first open fishing day on
				or after June 16th and ending when the quota is
				reached or on November 15th, whichever occurs first.
				The commercial season shall be further regulated by open and closed fishing
				days.
Consumer
means any individual who
				obtains striped bass for personal use, rather than resale.
Dealer
means any wholesale or retail
				seafood dealer permitted by the Director pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80,
				and 322 CMR
				7.01(3):
Dealer
				Permits
.
Director
means the Director of the
				Division of Marine Fisheries.
For-hire Vessel
means any vessel that
				holds a for-hire permit, issued in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 17C,
				and 322 CMR
				7.10(5):
Permit
				Requirements Applicable to For-hire Vessels
, that is carrying paying
				customers for the purpose of recreational fishing.
Gaff
means a pole with a hook on the
				end that is used to lift a fish out of the water and onto a vessel or the
				shore.
High-grading
means the discarding of a
				smaller legal-sized fish (previously captured and retained) in favor of a
				larger legal-sized fish.
Land
means to transfer or attempt to
				transfer the catch of striped bass from any vessel to any other vessel or onto
				any land, pier, wharf, dock or other artificial structure, or for a fishing
				vessel with any striped bass onboard to tie-up to any pier, wharf, dock, or
				artificial structure.
Non-lethal Device
means any tool used
				in the removal of striped bass from the water or to assist in the releasing of
				striped bass that does not pierce, puncture, or otherwise cause invasive damage
				to the fish that may result in its mortality.
Open Commercial Fishing Days
means
				those calendar days within the commercial season when the retention,
				possession, and landing of striped bass for commercial purposes is lawfully
				allowed, as set forth at
				322
				CMR 6.07(4)(b).
Person
means any individual, firm,
				corporation, association, partnership, club, bar, restaurant, supermarket, food
				warehouse, or private body.
Primary Buyer
means any dealer
				authorized by the Director, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80, and
				322
				CMR 7.07:
Dealers Acting as Primary
				Buyers
, to purchase striped bass directly from a commercial
				fisher.
Primary Purchase
means the first
				commercial transaction by sale, barter or exchange of any striped bass after
				its harvest between a commercial fisher and a dealer authorized as a primary
				buyer and where both parties to the transaction are present.
Recreational Fisher
means any person
				who harvests or attempts to harvest striped bass for personal or family use,
				sport or pleasure, and which are not sold, traded or bartered.
Recreational Fishing
means the
				noncommercial taking or attempted taking of striped bass for personal or family
				use, sport, or pleasure and which are not sold, traded or bartered.
Striped Bass ID Tags
means the
				lockable, single-use, tamper evident, and nontransferable tags issued by the
				Director to Primary Buyers for affixing to striped bass. Striped Bass ID Tags
				are imprinted with the species, year, state, and unique identification number
				traceable to the Primary Buyer to whom they are issued.
Total Length
means the greatest
				straight line length in inches as measured on a fish with its mouth closed from
				the anterior most tip of the jaw or snout to the farthest extremity of the
				tail. For fish with forked tails, the upper and lower fork may be squeezed
				together to measure the tail extremity.
(3)
Regulated Fishery
			 Permit
. The following special permit shall be required:
(a) A commercial fisher shall have issued to
			 him or her by the Director a regulated fishery permit for striped bass, in
			 addition to any other permits required by the Massachusetts General Laws, in
			 the following categories:
1. resident;
			 and
2. nonresident.