With the approval of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) declares an increase in the summertime commercial scup trip limit.  Commercial fishermen may now possess and land 1,500 lbs of scup on any open fishing day (Sunday – Thursday) until otherwise notified. The summertime commercial scup fishery will close once the quota is taken or the Winter II fishery begins on November 1, 2012.   

As of today, Massachusetts has only landed 18.4% of its 2,346,406 lb commercial fishing quota.  The previous 800 lb trip limit was too low to facilitate the harvest of the 2012 commercial quota.  The increased trip limit will provide greater harvest opportunities, particularly as scup move further offshore. 

If harvest levels remain low, MarineFisheries will consider additional liberalizations to encourage the harvest. 

For further information please contact Jared Silva (jared.silva@state.ma.us or 617-626-1534).