As specified in 322 CMR 6.28, the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) may, by declaration, establish and adjust the manner and times of taking scup, and the legal size limits, numbers and/or quantities of scup to be taken as prescribed by M.G.L. c.130 §17A and specified by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. As required, prior to any such declaration, DMF has established a public comment period on the following measures for the 2007 commercial scup fishing season:

1. Winter I fishing period from January through April 2007: It is unlawful for a commercial fisherman to possess greater than 30,000-lbs. of scup per 24-hour trip to be reduced to 1,000- lbs. of scup per 24-hour trip when 80 percent of the quota is projected to be reached; and
2. Winter II fishing period from November through December 2007: It is unlawful for a commercial fisherman to possess greater than 2,000-lbs. of scup per 24-hour trip. This possession limit may increase on the basis of 1,500-lbs per 500,000-lbs. of unused Winter I period quota transferred to the Winter II period.

Written comments may be received by e-mail, (marine.fish@state.ma.us), fax (617.626.1509), or mail (DMF; 251 Causeway St., Suite 400; Boston, MA 02114) and will be accepted until 5PM on Wednesday, January 17, 2006.